#1642: “Cathedral of Witches” Performance Explores Trans & Queer Spirituality in VRChat

PHI Studio sponsored today's episode to highlight that they are expanding their location-based entertainment distribution network to the United States with their EXP Rosemont location in the greater Chicago, IL area that is opening to the public on September 26, 2025. They will be launching with a couple of Excurio pieces including The Horizon of Khufu and Life Chronicles that feature large-scale, free-roaming VR guided tours that I've covered previously in episodes #1430, #1431, and #1588. Both Excurio and PHI Studio are interested in collaborating with creators who are interested in creating large-scale LBE experiences that could draw 100-150 people per hour, and you can reach out to Fabian Barati and/or Julie Tremblay on LinkedIn. Excurio will be making their tools and SDK available to third party developers to expand the number content producers creating this type of large-scale work, and PHI Studio continues to do co-productions across a wide range of formats and throughput scales. I'm excited to see PHI Studio continue to build out their independent distribution network across Canada and North America as they continue to produce and distribute their own experiences as well as distribute the best of large-scale, free roaming experience from Excurio. EXP Rosemont will be launching with a couple of Excurio pieces, but I expect them to eventually distribute some of their own large-scale VR and non-VR, immersive works as well. PHI Studio continues to build out their own independent distribution networks, which will provide new outlets and opportunities for immersive stories that have featured on the festival circuit to have a home beyond this more insular XR industry exhibition network. Not all projects will be a good fit for this high-throughput format, but the revenue generated will help support their other more experimental efforts that are helping to push the boundaries of the medium. Look for my more in-depth coverage of Blur coming out here within the next couple of weeks, which was my personal favorite from Venice Immersive and one of the hottest tickets at this years festival. Thanks again to PHI Studio for sponsoring this episode, and keep an eye on this new location in the greater Chicago area (and apparently only a 10-minute ride from O'Hare Airport if you happen to have an extended layover). I'll be diving more into more 30+ hours of coverage from Venice Immersive within the next couple of weeks, likely after I return from Meta Connect. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

I spoke with Venice Immersive curators Liz Rosenthal & Michel Reilhac about sneak peak of their 2025 selection, which is their largest selection yet. See more context in the rough transcript below. Here's an Venice Immersive Program Cheat Sheet by Voices of VR podcast (PDF), which has an overview of the four categories of immersive experiences ordered by longest booking times to shortest (amount of time required for scheduling purposes) as well as the actual runtime, the number of people who can see it per slot, and then the number of people who can see it per day. This should hopefully help for your scheduling process. I typically book experiences to roughly corresponding to hours. The Biennale scheduling website will open up on Thursday, August 21st, and it will not let you double book yourself. So I personally find it easier to book the longer experiences first, and then fill out my schedule with shorter experiences, and then experiences that generally have higher capacity. Note that Ancestors (capacity of 48 people), and L'Ombre (capacity of 50 people), and each of the VRChat sessions only have one booking time per day, and so these are also worth prioritizing if you want to see them and they should have lots of capacity throughout the week. The One the Other Earth may be one of the more logistically difficult experiences to see as you'll need to make a trek up to the main Venice island. I'd recommend trying to keep your schedule clear for at least an hour before and afterwards. Here's a Venice Immersive Schedule Helper that I put together to help navigate the schedule. Here's a placeholder for my other coverage of Venice Immersive 2025 to be updated after the festival. Venice Airport to Lido Island The best way to get to Lido from the Venice airport is either via the Red or Blue Line of the Alilaguna Public Transport water taxi, which you can get tickets either after you come out of customs or you can go to the water taxi dock at the Venice airport, and there's a booth there.  Picking up badge at Palazzo del Casinò I usually pick up my badge at the bottom of the Palazzo del Casinò, which is at Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi, 1861, 30126 Lido VE, Italy Venezia 2000 to the VR Island (Lazzaretto Vecchio) The best way to get to the VR Island of Lazzaretto Vecchio from the docks is the bus. The buses leave every 15-20 minutes, and it's a 3 minute ride, and another 5 minute walk to the island. Here is a link to the bus route and the addresses. I believe it is either the A, N, or C or CE routes. I believe the bus stop names are S.Maria Elisabetta and then I get off at the Gallo Sant'Antonio stop. The address of the VR island is Isola del Lazzaretto Vecchio, Lazzaretto Vecchio, 30100 Venezia VE, Italy There is a water taxi that you can find the pick-up spot by looking at the google map and get directions there. It takes 1 minute of a ride, but there is only one taxi that can be a 10-15 minute wait depending on how busy it is. Also be sure to check out XR Must's interview with Liz and Michel, which I found a lot of helpful info in. Some of the artist statement videos are starting to get posted onto the BiennaleChannel YouTube page. Here's a list Best of Experiences and Best of Worlds from VRChat that are already available if you'd like to get a head start on this year's program. Already Released - BEST OF EXPERIENCES The Midnight Walk Ghost Town One True Path, Part 1 Wall Town Wonders D-Day: The Camera Soldier - Apple Vision Pro Submerged - Apple Vision Pro Adventure: Ice Dive - Apple Vision Pro Already Released - BEST OF WORLDS - VRChat links included vent. by Premium² What is Virtual Art – Volume 1 by Jessien FLASHING WARNING by xlxxl Flat Earth by Niko Lang Neuron by Juice… Powdergame by Pema Malling [NOT REPLAYABLE YET] FZMZ Pointzero by ReeeznD [VR_SMEJ] よるとうげ -Yorutouge- by mikkabouzu / Kikuo [VR_SMEJ]

I spoke with TrainingFangs & TehArbitter about Raindance Immersive Closing Night music and VR performance (now available as a replayable event in the Moon Pool VRChat World) as a part of my Raindance Immersive 2025 coverage. (Photo by Kaerun). See more context in the rough transcript below. Here's a recap of my Raindance Immersive 2025 & VRChat coverage: #1566: Raindance Immersive Curators on the 2025 Selection of Immersive Art on Social VR Platforms [VRChat Story] - #1634: User Claims Potential Gaps in VRChat's Moderation of NSFW Avatars [VRChat Story] - #1635: VRChat's Avatar Marketplace is Targeting Demographic of New Users [VRChat Story] - #1636: Planned Improvements of VRChat's Trust & Safety from New Lead Jun Young Ro #1637: VRChat Doc "The Architect Across Realities" Features MR Design Innovations in Japan #1638: Virtual Photographer Kaerun's Japanese Friendships Featured in Documentary at Raindance #1639: Playing Live Jazz in VRChat with EMN Records enabled by Yamaha SYNCROOM in Japan #1640: "Tonevok" features Real-Time Audioreactive MIDI Visualizations in VRChat #1641: "Siholette of Memories" Cinematic VR Concert Experience Features Live Choreography #1642: "Cathedral of Witches" Performance Explores Trans & Queer Spirituality in VRChat #1643: Studio Penrose's "Our Precious Autumn" Short Film Shot in VRChat Wins Raindance Award #1644: Julianna Loh on Creating Immersive Art in VR and AR #1645: "Hommage" Adventure Inspired by Moebius' Art Collaboratively Built in Resonite #1646: "The Continuous Present" Combines Poetry, Music, & Giant Immersive Sculptures to Win Raindance Immersive's Best Art Experience #1647: Virtual Art Exhibition Innovations in Jessien's "What is Virtual Art?" VRChat World #1648: Vast Hand-Painted "Natura's Queendom" Wins Raindance Immersive's Best Art World #1649: Fangs & Arbi Close Out Raindance with a Breathtaking Music and VJ Show at the Moon Pool This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

I spoke with Anders Fray (aka Ders) & Starheart about Natura's Queendom as a part of my Raindance Immersive 2025 coverage. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

I spoke with Jessien about his Virtual Museum of Virtual Art as well as his latest What is Virtual Art? VRChat World exhibition as a part of my Raindance Immersive 2025 coverage. We also talk about his previous Raindance award-winning world Thickness Of Calligraphy. See more context in the rough transcript below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xOZhfAMORw This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

I spoke with ReVerse Butcher & Kylie Supski about The Continuous Present as a part of my Raindance Immersive 2025 coverage. See more context in the rough transcript below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL_2L0jzUhA This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

I spoke with Nanotopia & Rixx about Hommage as a part of my Raindance Immersive 2025 coverage. See more context in the rough transcript below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqOjHRWRAfM This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

I spoke with Juliana Loh about creating immersive art in VR and AR as a part of my Raindance Immersive 2025 coverage. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

I spoke with Khang Lu, Quinn Heptig, & Eliza Zhang about their short film shot in VRChat called Our Precious Autumn as a part of my Raindance Immersive 2025 coverage. See more context in the rough transcript below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxrbWg5vYdk This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

I spoke with hexe.exe, T_Braun, Shadowwulf82, RingSystem, Casperillion, Venixia, LadybugVR, & Starheart about Cathedral of Witches as a part of my Raindance Immersive 2025 coverage. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality