At the corner of Third and Linden, the tram’s digital signage glitched exactly once, then resolved into a translucent billboard addressed to her by name: “Blair Williams — Are you ready to see?” The pedestrians around her continued in muted, unaugmented motion. A child splashed in a puddle and shrieked. A man in a navy coat scrolled on his phone. Only she could see the message.
On the night the first legal safeguards were ratified by the council, Blair walked through the courtyard that had opened the whole sequence. Someone had painted a mural on the old brick wall: a radio with its dial centered, waves pouring out as birds. Underneath, in a neat hand, someone had scrawled: Reframe with care.
Blair’s piece prompted a small legal inquiry and a city council hearing. She testified, bringing a demonstration: a replica alleyway where the council could toggle the layers and watch predicted outcomes shift forms of policing and help. She argued for guardrails—transparent training data, opt-in defaults, and community-controlled overlays that local neighborhood councils could moderate.
When the line between code and skin blurs, Blair Williams becomes the ultimate variable in a simulation designed to reset your reality. blair williams reality virtually new
“And if I refuse?” she asked.
Published: 2024 (VR/AR art‑experience) Platform(s): Oculus Quest 2/Pro, SteamVR, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR2 Genre: Interactive narrative / mixed‑reality installation Length: ~45 minutes of core content (plus optional “explorer” mode) Creator background: Blair Williams is an interdisciplinary artist and technologist whose previous work includes the kinetic light‑sculpture (2021) and the AR‑driven public piece “CityEcho” (2022). Reality Virtually New is her first fully immersive VR narrative, commissioned by the New Media Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, and funded through a partnership with the Arts & Culture Innovation Fund.
When the world you inhabit can be both touched and simulated, what does it mean to be you? At the corner of Third and Linden, the
plays the stepbrother, acting as the curator of this subconscious journey.
The generated story unfolds in real-time, operating exactly like a lucid, waking dream where the user acts as the central protagonist.
“Who are you?” she asked aloud, feeling foolish and a little thrilled. Only she could see the message
Primary interaction is via sustained gaze (≈2 seconds) on objects, which “activates” memory fragments. This method is intuitive for newcomers but can become tiring in longer sessions if the user is not accustomed to eye‑tracking.
The apparatus taps directly into the user’s brainwaves.