Drosera Obscura is a deeply immersive XR project that dissolves the boundaries between the organic and the digital through a multisensory environment shaped by sight, sound, scent, and touch. Set within a speculative post-human bogscape, the experience invites participants to explore a living world of animatronic flora, reactive soundscapes, and tactile interfaces that blur the line between virtual and physical space.
Inspired by evolved carnivorous plants and their symbiotic relationships with sound and synthetic biology, the project transforms passive observation into active participation. Participants influence the environment in real time: disturbing digital foliage releases subtle fragrances, alters lighting patterns, and reshapes spatialized sound. These interactions expand VR outward, turning what is often an isolated medium into a performative, theatrical ecosystem that responds to human presence with both eerie intimacy and strange beauty.
At its core, Drosera Obscura examines ecological interdependence, embodiment, and the evolving relationship between technology and living systems, offering an immersive experience that feels at once alien, responsive, and alive.
Credits
Project Direction
- Thomas Tucker (Virginia Tech)
- Tohm Judson (Independent Artist, Seattle)
Creative and Technical Collaboration
- Dongsoo Choi
- Ariana Wyatt
- Brook Kennedy
University Research Partners
- Marcelo Wanderley (McGill University)
- Suresh Krishna (McGill University)
Visiting Artists and External Collaborators
- Matthew Swarts (Georgia Institute of Technology)
- Yamin Xu (Bowling Green State University)
Student Artists and Developers
- Jason Hodge (Virginia Tech)
- Matt Finn (Virginia Tech)
- Sydney Dechow (Virginia Tech)
Vocalists and Puppeteers
- Che Botsford
- Kaeli Berry
- Ellie Dunn
- Anishka Kolli
- Evangeline Menendez
- Mary Stanford Austin
Institutional Support
- Virginia Tech
- Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology
- McGill University
- University of Washington
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Bowling Green State University