Create|Connect Project: Horizon Creator CommunitySometimes making room for diverse voices means taking up space in the middle to announce that they deserve to be seen centered also. Over the last 6 months, I have embarked on a social service experiment to prove that healthy VR culture can exist and self-maintain by increasing and centering diverse voices in a social application call Facebook Horizon (beta). Follow this group as it grows here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/horizoncreatorcommunity
Create|Connect Events: Altspace - Human on Purpose (HOP) VRGroup creatures are much more fluid and ever changing in VR. I host two events per week. The first one focuses on one uncomfortable topic per week (like anxiety, awkwardness, revenge, etc.) and whomever shows up is courageously invited share their stories and wisdom on these words and ideas. The second event looks at facets of the D(eepen), O(rient) and T(ransform) conflict resiliency model and how this translates from different archetypal concepts and perspectives. Follow us on Discord here: https://discord.gg/BPaPyURY
What it takes: Boots on the Ground |
Throughout my world and community building time, I have engaged in ongoing education and interventions with VR users (one-on-one and in groups) on the transformational leadership we all hold in this community, inclusive world-building, community building and support for vulnerable or struggling users, and addressing toxic masculinity within gaming culture.
World Creation and Community Development: Facebook Horizon
August 2020-Present
Development and qualitative user testing of dozens worlds on community-based themes that take the user on journeys of play, awe, wonder and learning. Selected worlds are described below as examples of community inclusive world-building stories and experiences (in order of creation):
Belong – An interactive journey that funnels users through considering how one can get along with others in a virtual reality space, and join a movement of inclusivity that delights in world building.
Ele-vate - A playful interaction exploration world with a giant elephant and giraffe that have unique ways to interact with users. For example, if you jump in the center of the water hole, you will fall through a portal into the elephant’s trunk and be sprayed out with water. Users learn how to tell stories together while exploring this world and also learn how to risk falling great distances with rewards.
Transcend – A fractal journey of walking into portals and being transported all over a giant snowflake structure. This world has a hidden wizard circle inside its core where many connections and conversations on community leadership and problem-solving have been held.
Remember – An homage to the Spirit of the Forest found in the Miyazaki film: Princess Mononoke. Users can face the mythical demigod of life and death and choose to pay tribute or attempt to take the creature’s life. Either way they fall to the ground where they encounter a new life animation growing from between its toes. Users describe new awareness on the capacity of this application to embody story-telling and sculpting.
Somewhere – A tribute to a real-life story of a well-known scripter and world creator within horizon (who remains anonymous). This horizon user was homeless for 3 months after running away from an abusive home. As a person of color in a big city who had no resources, he was abused by the community and assumed to be addicted to drugs. The world depicts an opaque statue of a man who is houseless laying in a fetal position with newspapers covering him under a staircase. The stairs lead to nowhere, but most users ignore what is under the stairs and run up them and jump off. Users are then transported to the same scene at 100x scale where they must recognize what they missed underneath the stairs. The only way to return to being normal sized is to touch the man’s heart.
Wizard Seed – A story board of an 8-world series (not yet created) on how to funnel horizon users who want to become world creators or belong in the horizon community through a course of experiences that train them on healthy and diverse inclusive culture through a mythical hero’s journey to meet the wizard world-designer/scriptor. This storyboard was pitched and received positive reviews from top Horizon leadership, but stalled out at the creation stage due to a policy within horizon to not get involved in community development with users.
Learning World Creator Toolkit – A 3-d sculpting kit made to assist in first-experience world creator trainings and tutorials. Horizon tutorials are still missing the 3-dimensional tools to assist experienced users in teaching their new friends on how to navigate and use their 3-dimensional creator menu items and controls. This kit cuts tutorials (where left-hand/right-hand confusion can create significant stress and misunderstanding between teacher/pupil) time down to minutes and has had resounding success in initiating first-time horizon world creators with positive experiences who then go on to become active and supportive community leaders and world-creators.
AMAZEment – This world is a maze of wedges that allow users to explore multiple directions leaving the center of the maze and go on a wondrous journey of shape exploration and color. It exemplifies the non-dichotomous path of belonging in a virtual reality space. It is a work in progress.
Evicern – (Eviscerate + Discern). A mythical exploration of encountering a sense of destiny which turns to frustrating fate and diminishment of power. This is a sword-and-the-stone story where instead of keeping the sword when you attempt to pull it out, the sword begins to float away and get bigger each time the user reaches for it. After a series of attempts where the sword gets farther above the user and the user experiences themselves to be shrinking down to the size of a mouse, the sword falls from the sky through a crack in time and lands on the ground where the user can hop up and run along it without ever being able to grasp it and wield it. This is a 30 second to 1-minute journey that leads users to talking about how we react to feelings of powerlessness and losing control.
Plaza Dreams - This world is a puzzle of world-templates put together in a new user exploration of diverse weather and location settings (e.g., a jungle, Egyptian or middle-eastern temple-compound, Asian themed-castle, fall and winter settings, etc) all connected through glowing blue water. Doors will be put in this world to understand creator tools and how they can directly access these templates
Ascend - Collaborative puzzle adventuring as you climb into the the sky on an obstacle course of bridges and secret portals.
Dance - Homage to Horizon Women in VR group that was started in January 2020. Shows 4 giant abstract statues of feminine humans dancing in a bubble of stars.
Howl -Psychologically powerful world on grief and finding that we return to being alone when we least expect it. Sculpture of wolf howling a rainbow light at the moon while their puppy lays crushed under a bolder.
Collaborations
Learning World Gadgets and Scripting – Coordinate with multiple world creators and scripters to put together the most common and practical tools and scripts for world-creating.
Covid-19 – A educational world on Covid-19 that allows users to put masks on, use swabs to collect samples, wash their hands, and read facts and fiction on Covid. They then can look into a magical micro-scope which transports them to a bloodstream where they can “catch” Covid spike viruses and learn about the interaction of Covid with the immune system. Draft of documentary video (WIP) by John Harvey,
Together – (WIP) A homage to the Horizon world commercial that was never created by the horizon teams. A story journey of the “golden noodle” was included as a way to show new-users that they too can be a world creator and make a feast to share with friends.
Between – A Hub of Hub worlds to connect themed worlds together through doors hidden throughout each world. Users can also explore multi-level Easter eggs hangings of abstract and character art and animations.
Arrived – A mystical alien temple in the clouds leads to a swamp of mysterious trees and portals to the tops of the trees. Users can bump their heads on the glowing rings and hear reflections of creative-wounds and how to better understand the darker side of the human psyche and their own relationship as world creators and leaders in the community.
Christmas Doors Hub – A community door coordination world where users have instructions to find an elf hat, grab a “wisp” and light the tree. They can climb a giant Christmas tree in the alps and walk into the ornaments to find Christmas doors. If they reach the top of the tree their guiding ‘wisp” lights the tree up.
Horizon Christmas 2020 - A collaboration of famous world creator items that are hung on a Christmas tree in a cozy lodge. Users can see items that are familiar and share stories of visiting the world they belong too. A book next to a chair near the tree lays open and has the names of outstanding community leaders and scripters that may not have a popular world, but who have contributed to the horizon space in a meaningful way.
Connect - A spin on the world Together where the “creator and community ” “Golden noodle” mythos is exemplified by a group of 5 world builder statues in the sky surrounding a table with a feast. There are additional worlds being planned to show the inside of these creators minds/hearts and how their human values and struggles within Horizon have evolved over time.
Development and qualitative user testing of dozens worlds on community-based themes that take the user on journeys of play, awe, wonder and learning. Selected worlds are described below as examples of community inclusive world-building stories and experiences (in order of creation):
Belong – An interactive journey that funnels users through considering how one can get along with others in a virtual reality space, and join a movement of inclusivity that delights in world building.
Ele-vate - A playful interaction exploration world with a giant elephant and giraffe that have unique ways to interact with users. For example, if you jump in the center of the water hole, you will fall through a portal into the elephant’s trunk and be sprayed out with water. Users learn how to tell stories together while exploring this world and also learn how to risk falling great distances with rewards.
Transcend – A fractal journey of walking into portals and being transported all over a giant snowflake structure. This world has a hidden wizard circle inside its core where many connections and conversations on community leadership and problem-solving have been held.
Remember – An homage to the Spirit of the Forest found in the Miyazaki film: Princess Mononoke. Users can face the mythical demigod of life and death and choose to pay tribute or attempt to take the creature’s life. Either way they fall to the ground where they encounter a new life animation growing from between its toes. Users describe new awareness on the capacity of this application to embody story-telling and sculpting.
Somewhere – A tribute to a real-life story of a well-known scripter and world creator within horizon (who remains anonymous). This horizon user was homeless for 3 months after running away from an abusive home. As a person of color in a big city who had no resources, he was abused by the community and assumed to be addicted to drugs. The world depicts an opaque statue of a man who is houseless laying in a fetal position with newspapers covering him under a staircase. The stairs lead to nowhere, but most users ignore what is under the stairs and run up them and jump off. Users are then transported to the same scene at 100x scale where they must recognize what they missed underneath the stairs. The only way to return to being normal sized is to touch the man’s heart.
Wizard Seed – A story board of an 8-world series (not yet created) on how to funnel horizon users who want to become world creators or belong in the horizon community through a course of experiences that train them on healthy and diverse inclusive culture through a mythical hero’s journey to meet the wizard world-designer/scriptor. This storyboard was pitched and received positive reviews from top Horizon leadership, but stalled out at the creation stage due to a policy within horizon to not get involved in community development with users.
Learning World Creator Toolkit – A 3-d sculpting kit made to assist in first-experience world creator trainings and tutorials. Horizon tutorials are still missing the 3-dimensional tools to assist experienced users in teaching their new friends on how to navigate and use their 3-dimensional creator menu items and controls. This kit cuts tutorials (where left-hand/right-hand confusion can create significant stress and misunderstanding between teacher/pupil) time down to minutes and has had resounding success in initiating first-time horizon world creators with positive experiences who then go on to become active and supportive community leaders and world-creators.
AMAZEment – This world is a maze of wedges that allow users to explore multiple directions leaving the center of the maze and go on a wondrous journey of shape exploration and color. It exemplifies the non-dichotomous path of belonging in a virtual reality space. It is a work in progress.
Evicern – (Eviscerate + Discern). A mythical exploration of encountering a sense of destiny which turns to frustrating fate and diminishment of power. This is a sword-and-the-stone story where instead of keeping the sword when you attempt to pull it out, the sword begins to float away and get bigger each time the user reaches for it. After a series of attempts where the sword gets farther above the user and the user experiences themselves to be shrinking down to the size of a mouse, the sword falls from the sky through a crack in time and lands on the ground where the user can hop up and run along it without ever being able to grasp it and wield it. This is a 30 second to 1-minute journey that leads users to talking about how we react to feelings of powerlessness and losing control.
Plaza Dreams - This world is a puzzle of world-templates put together in a new user exploration of diverse weather and location settings (e.g., a jungle, Egyptian or middle-eastern temple-compound, Asian themed-castle, fall and winter settings, etc) all connected through glowing blue water. Doors will be put in this world to understand creator tools and how they can directly access these templates
Ascend - Collaborative puzzle adventuring as you climb into the the sky on an obstacle course of bridges and secret portals.
Dance - Homage to Horizon Women in VR group that was started in January 2020. Shows 4 giant abstract statues of feminine humans dancing in a bubble of stars.
Howl -Psychologically powerful world on grief and finding that we return to being alone when we least expect it. Sculpture of wolf howling a rainbow light at the moon while their puppy lays crushed under a bolder.
Collaborations
Learning World Gadgets and Scripting – Coordinate with multiple world creators and scripters to put together the most common and practical tools and scripts for world-creating.
Covid-19 – A educational world on Covid-19 that allows users to put masks on, use swabs to collect samples, wash their hands, and read facts and fiction on Covid. They then can look into a magical micro-scope which transports them to a bloodstream where they can “catch” Covid spike viruses and learn about the interaction of Covid with the immune system. Draft of documentary video (WIP) by John Harvey,
Together – (WIP) A homage to the Horizon world commercial that was never created by the horizon teams. A story journey of the “golden noodle” was included as a way to show new-users that they too can be a world creator and make a feast to share with friends.
Between – A Hub of Hub worlds to connect themed worlds together through doors hidden throughout each world. Users can also explore multi-level Easter eggs hangings of abstract and character art and animations.
Arrived – A mystical alien temple in the clouds leads to a swamp of mysterious trees and portals to the tops of the trees. Users can bump their heads on the glowing rings and hear reflections of creative-wounds and how to better understand the darker side of the human psyche and their own relationship as world creators and leaders in the community.
Christmas Doors Hub – A community door coordination world where users have instructions to find an elf hat, grab a “wisp” and light the tree. They can climb a giant Christmas tree in the alps and walk into the ornaments to find Christmas doors. If they reach the top of the tree their guiding ‘wisp” lights the tree up.
Horizon Christmas 2020 - A collaboration of famous world creator items that are hung on a Christmas tree in a cozy lodge. Users can see items that are familiar and share stories of visiting the world they belong too. A book next to a chair near the tree lays open and has the names of outstanding community leaders and scripters that may not have a popular world, but who have contributed to the horizon space in a meaningful way.
Connect - A spin on the world Together where the “creator and community ” “Golden noodle” mythos is exemplified by a group of 5 world builder statues in the sky surrounding a table with a feast. There are additional worlds being planned to show the inside of these creators minds/hearts and how their human values and struggles within Horizon have evolved over time.