From Art to Gaming: This Is The Creative XR Scene In Bavaria

EMIXAR Continuum

This XR art project stimulates all the senses and merges the physical and virtual worlds in an unprecedented way. At the end of 2024, visitors were able to experience the world premiere of the EMIXAR Continuum - Extended Reality Art Exhibition at the Schwere Reiter venue in Munich; it is currently traveling and delighting art lovers in New York City, Mexico City and Vienna. Together with renowned artists such as Ugo Dossi and Tatjana Busch, Munich-based XR-Studio Govar is staging a combination of traditional physical art with virtual objects, portals and spaces. The boundaries of the imagination are expanded. Up to 60 people with mixed reality glasses can visit the exhibition at the same time. The project is also made possible by funding from the FFF Bayern.

Tamiko Thiel

Munich-based, award-winning artist Tamiko Thiel is one of the pioneers of XR art, which is why she was inducted into the prestigious AWE XR Hall of Fame. She worked with Steven Spielberg on the first Metaverse for children back in the 1990s. Her groundbreaking works, which deal with complex themes such as globalization, environmental issues and cultural identity, have been exhibited worldwide – from the MoMA in New York to the Ars Electronica in Linz. Her work Beyond Manzanar was the first VR installation ever to be acquired by a US museum. Her work also includes major augmented reality pieces such as Unexpected Growth (Whitney Museum), ReWildAR (Smithsonian Institution) and Waldwandel/Forest Flux (Kunsthalle München).

Oktoberfest – The Official Game

Just in time for the start of the Munich Oktoberfest in September 2024, the Wiesn got its official game – in virtual reality. Players can experience the world-famous folk festival together in beautiful cartoon graphics – keyword: social VR –, dress their avatars in traditional costumes, visit rides such as Top Spin with realistic motion effects, play mini-games such as can throwing, “flying frogs” and “Hau den Lukas” or slip into the role of beer tent waiters. The game, funded by FFF Bayern, was developed by Munich-based studio K5 Factory, which specializes in XR projects and has already received international recognition with its VR experience The Walled Off Hotel, which virtually depicts Banksy's art in the hotel of the same name in Bethlehem and conveys the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to users.

#MakeUsVisible x denkFEmale

More than 90 percent of all monuments in Munich depict men. The picture is similar in other cities. But with XR, especially with augmented reality, the cityscape can be made more diverse! This was proven in 2022 by the #MakeUsVisible x denkFEmale project, in which 31 digital monuments of women and trans*people were placed in Munich – as virtual objects that could be discovered free of charge via smartphone or tablet. The participating artists included XR pioneers such as Tamiko Thiel and Will Pappenheimer as well as established digital artists such as Dagmar Schürrer, Carla Gannis and Betty Mü. The project, initiated by Anne Wichmann, Tabitha Nagy and Amadea Pely, is representative of XR art that intervenes in physical public space to promote social debate.

Hologate

Solving the puzzles of an immersive escape room together in virtual reality or mastering adventurous shooters? It's possible with the systems from leading Munich-based company Hologate. The company specializes in location-based VR attractions for multiple players – with great success. The company has installed over 450 turnkey systems in 35 countries around the world, in amusement parks, shopping centers and VR arcades. The games that Hologate has developed now range from virtual ghost hunting training in the Ghostbusters VR Academy to the family-friendly cooking challenge Captain Cook. They have already been played by millions of people.

Digital Theater with XR

Bavarian theatres are among the world's pioneers in the use of virtual, augmented and mixed reality for theater productions. The Staatstheater Augsburg has been offering private theater experiences in XR with its vr-theater@home service since 2020. Audiences can order VR goggles and productions created especially for VR to their homes. In September 2024, the 15th VR production of the Augsburg theater, whose digital division is unique in Germany, was released in cooperation with the Augsburger Puppenkiste with a production of E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Sandman. The Staatstheater Augsburg has also pioneered hybrid productions such as Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice in its own theater, which alternates between classical stage events and VR worlds. Also unique: the digital venue Extended Reality Theater (XRT) in the Schauspielhaus of the Staatstheater Nürnberg, in which digital stage sets and backdrops are used, actors interact with avatars and the Internet becomes part of productions. The Munich Residenztheater also relies on XR for completely new productions.

XR in the museum

Bavarian museums have been using XR technologies for years to make museum visits even more interesting for all age groups. Brand new: the augmented reality game Game of the Snake at the recently reopened Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich. Visitors can use a tablet to test their knowledge of archaeology, guided by the virtual pet snake Sissi. The Deutsches Museum Nuremberg – the museum of the future – dedicated a successful special exhibition to the metaverse this year, which not only explained the history of virtual worlds from the science fiction classic Snow Crash to Mark Zuckerberg's visions, but also invited visitors to discuss the future of digital spaces.

Duchampiana

Die Kombination von XR mit anderen Technologien ermöglicht völlig neue Experiences. Ein herausragendes Beispiel dafür ist die immersive VR-Kunstinstallation Duchampiana, die auf den 81. internationalen Filmfestspielen in Venedig Premiere feierte – eine Kollaboration der renommierten Künstlerin Lilian Hess mit dem in München ansässigen Studio mYndstorm productions sowie Tchikiboum aus Frankreich. Im Kern der interaktiven Installation, die von Marcel Duchamp’s ikonischer Arbeit Akt, eine Treppe herabsteigend Nr. 2 inspiriert wurde, steht eine Frau, die ihren Körper zurückfordert. Technisch beeindruckt Duchampiana durch die Kombination von VR und KI-Tracking, das die Bewegungen der Performerin mittels Motion Capture auf digitale Avatare überträgt. Auch der Einsatz eines speziell entwickelten „Stairclimbers“, der die Bewegungen der Benutzer:innen in Echtzeit reflektiert, sorgt für eine überraschende interaktive Erfahrung. Gefördert wurde das Projekt vom FFF Bayern und dem Bayerischen Staatsministerium für Digitales.

ColMIRA: MR-Kunst fürs Web3

Kunst im Metaverse und Web3, den nächsten Entwicklungsstufen des Internets: Die bayerische XR-Szene ist auch hier vorne mit dabei. Ein Beispiel dafür: das WAC NFT-Projekt des XR HUB Bavaria, genannt ColMiRA, in 2024. Es hatte das Ziel, Künstler:innen den Zugang zu Mixed Reality und Web3 zu erleichtern und digitale Ausdrucksmöglichkeiten zu fördern. Mithilfe des Tools „De Vrije Hand“ konnten Künstlerteams in 3D Kunstwerke erstellen, die als NFTs auf der Tezos-Blockchain veröffentlicht wurden. Die Werke wurden auf dem Festival der Zukunft in München ausgestellt und teilweise kostenlos verteilt. Unterstützt wurde das Projekt von der WAC Factory und Nomadic Labs, um Kreativschaffende an neue Technologien heranzuführen.

Blickwinkel Tour

History can be experienced with XR. This is why new offerings are constantly being created around the world to convey the past in an immersive way. The Blickwinkel Tour approach from Nuremberg is particularly innovative in terms of technology and storytelling. VR bus tours for groups to the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds take place there. Participants can see what the site should have looked like and gain exclusive insights into its history – accompanied and moderated by professional tour guides. Blickwinkel Tour has also created a virtual journey through time via the city's main market square for Nuremberg's Fembohaus city museum.

XR STAGE

XR STAGE is a project of the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts that has been supporting the independent art scene in Bavaria since 2022 in implementing innovative projects with XR technologies. Through workshops, networking events and specially designed immersive VR spaces, it offers artists new opportunities to use digital media for their art and to exhibit their art. In cooperation with a seminar at the Chair of Architectural Informatics at the Technical University of Munich, artists were able to develop virtual exhibitions. Katinka Schneweis was able to expand her physical exhibition with a virtual space on xrspaces.de. The Jewish Chamber Orchestra created a virtual memorial to the composer Viktor Ullmann. Other highlights included workshops on topics such as the artistic use of AR glasses, motion capturing, 360-degree videos and the creation of avatars.