Large scale public adoption of profit motivated digital and digitally mediated environments,
has proceeded largely unabated. Some of these environments have proven to be harmful,
exploitative and yet remain largely unregulated. With seemingly unlimited resources, the
companies behind these systems expand their reach at an astonishing rate; constantly
finding new ways, devices and strategies to keep as many active users in these digital
realms for as often and as long as possible. Much has been written about the negative
effects of these spaces, and their addictive capacity, however, as they become embedded in
our social and working lives, very few users have chosen to disengage with them. With
expansion into VR, XR and AR, the future of these environments seems aimed at total and
almost permanent engagement. synk uses an experiential allegory to pose the question:
How can we understand the consequences of both our current levels of engagement with
virtual systems and the possible futures of immersive versions of these environments?

synk is an immersive, interactive installation facilitated by substantial technical innovation.
Real time volumetric video, involving novel methods of camera alignment and fast point
cloud meshing, facilitate a proprioceptive disconnection from the body. A fluid narrative that
is edited by bodily interaction through higher order ambisonics contextualises this perceptual
rupture. synk immerses visitors in a dystopian version of a virtual future, breaking the real
time image of self from the physical body until perception and corporeality are completely
interrupted by the system. synk uses this experience to present, without explicit explanation,
a dystopian reality stemming from our engagement with virtual environments.