Kathleen Cohen – Narrative Architecture vs. Virtual Worldbuilding

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester
 / 
07/20/2022
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Narrative Architecture vs. Virtual Worldbuilding

We will discuss how we hack feelings of safety and happiness in themed attractions as Experience Designers and how these core principles could be considered in virtual world-building and/or the Metaverse. Also, not just via gaming, how community based spaces, placemaking, and urban development are fundamental in how we build our future narratives.

Kathleen Cohen

Tech Humanist, XR Strategist

Kathleen Cohen is a Tech Humanist and an XR Immersive Strategist with over 25 years of building user and guest experiences. Kathleen’s background includes working as an artist and creative producer for DreamWorks Interactive, IBM Centers for Innovation, and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. Kathleen also was the former Vice President of Digital Innovation & Integration for the National Constitution Center, helping to tell the contemporary story of the U.S. Constitution. In addition, Kathleen sits on the Advisory Board of holoride (Munich), a spinout of Audi innovation, think VR in your car. For the past four years, Kathleen also has been the Jury Chair and Keynote speaker for the AUREA Award, a dedicated conference focusing on excellence in immersive entertainment, hosted by Europa-Park, Europe’s 2nd largest themed attraction.

Kathleen’s consultancy, the Collaboratorium, focuses on XR research, XR Strategy/Production, and Public Engagement. Kathleen was recently speaking at the Milken Global Conference alongside Deepak Chopra, taking a look into the Metaverse. Her latest talks are Being Human, Becoming Human and Beyond Human, IRL vs. XR, The Future and Present Converge(s), and Meet Your Digital Twin, a talk about the land rush to recreating humans. 

Kathleen recently completed the 1st immersive artist-in-residence project for an NEA-funded Arts Organization, Surel’s Place, working alongside the University of Idaho's Virtual Technology & Design Research Lab and BlackBox VR with key learnings from Indigenous Science and the Neurodivergent communities.

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