Social VR
Black Rock City VR (BRCvr)
Black Rock City VR
- 2021
- Released
- BRCvr
An official virtual Burning Man experience created during the pandemic era to bring the culture, art, camps, and community of Black Rock City into social VR. Built on AltspaceVR and accessible on desktop as well as VR, BRCvr recreated key landmarks, theme camps, art installations, and event spaces in a virtual playa, allowing participants from around the world to gather, explore, and attend live experiences when the physical event was disrupted. BRCvr later lost its AltspaceVR platform and the founders went on to create BurnerSphere, a separate successor platform developed in collaboration with Burning Man Project; involvement on this entry was with the BRCvr phase, not BurnerSphere.
- Helped deliver successful virtual Burning Man events during the 2020–2021 disruption period
- Contributed to a platform that BRCvr says hosted over 12,000 unique visitors across more than 150 worlds
- Contributed to a project that won the PGA Innovation Award at the 32nd Annual Producers Guild Awards
Challenge
Recreate the scale, art, culture, and participatory spirit of Black Rock City in a social VR platform during the 2020–2021 pandemic disruption, when the physical event was cancelled and the global community needed somewhere to gather.
Solution
Worked as a world builder and developer on AltspaceVR, assembling and optimising the main playa world, deploying digital theme camps and interactive spaces, and contributing world-building and development support across a large-scale community-driven virtual event.
Outcome
Helped deliver successful virtual Burning Man events across the 2020–2021 disruption period. BRCvr publicly reports hosting more than 12,000 unique visitors across 150+ worlds, and the project won the PGA Innovation Award at the 32nd Annual Producers Guild Awards.
Recognition
Awards
- PGA Innovation Award · Producers Guild of America (32nd Annual Producers Guild Awards) · 2021
Contributions
- Assembled and optimised the main playa world for social VR and desktop access
- Helped stage and deploy digital theme camps and interactive spaces
- Contributed world-building and development support for a large-scale community-driven virtual event
- Supported the translation of Burning Man's art, layout, and participatory culture into a VR-first format
