The expo, celebrating innovative storytelling in video games, XR, virtual production, and AI, highlights world-class Canadian and Indigenous works. Running from September 27 to October 6, Signals is a partnership between DigiBC and the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).
Signals co-curator Debi Wong can walk through the finished space in her mind’s eye: “When they come in, people are going to cross this threshold, and it will be like the portal from their world into Signals,” she says. “Then we want them to consider their connection to the land, so we’re curating three works on that theme near the entrance.”
It sounds ambitious, but Signals has become known for this kind of thought-provoking programming. The expo is co-presented by DigiBC and VIFF and is now in its third year of “pushing the boundaries of collaboration and convergence between different art forms; between different uses of technology and storytelling,” as DigiBC executive director and Signals co-founder Loc Dao puts it.
One highly anticipated exhibit for 2024 is “Huckleberry XR,” a work by Syilx Nation artist and filmmaker Tracey Kim Bonneau. This interactive & immersive video installation allows visitors to virtually pick huckleberries, interacting to learn nsyilxcən words.
Another exhibit is “Yourself As Point Of Reflection” by Trevor Twells, a meditation on identity, where “you can have a delayed video conversation between yourself and yourself,” says Wong. Another aim is to stretch the limits of human imagination with “a completely magical and immersive world you can step into,” inspired by Star Trek’s Holodeck.
Where does the Signals team find its inspiration? “We always have our eye on the immersive programming at big festivals like Tribeca, Sundance, Venice and Cannes,” says Wong. “But what makes us a little different is that we don’t just pull existing works and present them. Instead, each piece gets a unique ‘Signals’ spin.”
In some cases, this means drawing upon Vancouver’s extensive local video game and VFX production expertise. “Other film festivals with an interactive or immersive element do it from a film perspective. But we’re able to tap into what’s unique about our ecosystem here,” says Dao.
Also setting Signals apart is a strong partnership between Kyle Fostner the Executive Director of VIFF, and Dao. This has led to a unique diversity of leadership where Dao, Wong, and Loretta Todd have created an equal partnership as co-curators of Signals. Loretta Todd is also the founder and creative director of IM4 Lab, the indigenous media lab that has trained over 350 indigenous artists in XR and virtual production technology.
Diverse perspectives underpin the entire Signals program, including several features geared to platforming underrepresented artists and voices. One example, new this year, is XR Lab, created to mentor new and diverse XR producers through hands-on workshops and the opportunity to exhibit at the show.
“I’ve been to a lot of festivals, and I have to say that Signals, to me, feels the most diverse. It also feels like it doesn’t have the same hierarchies,” says Todd. “It’s really about the work.”
How DigiBC’s 25th Anniversary Sparked the Creation of Signals
That’s how it began, too. In 2022, DigiBC was celebrating its 25th anniversary—and planning to mark the occasion with an industry-wide party. Coincidentally, around the same time, VIFF approached Dao to ask for input on how to showcase the growing trend of XR as part of its programming. So, he invited a group of cross-industry creatives to get together and brainstorm.
“Loc brought together a little think tank. There were people from music, games, EDM; there were interactive platform developers,” recalls Wong. She was in that room, too—coming from the world of classical music and opera, as founding artistic director of Vancouver’s re:Naissance Opera in Vancouver.
Out of these conversations grew the early concept of a creative tech expo and the seeds of the first exhibits. For one creative exercise, participants paired off and were tasked with envisioning the future of their respective fields together. Wong’s partner was Dan Turcotte of electronic dance music (EDM) label Monstercat. In 30 minutes of brainstorming, they devised an idea for an interactive XR opera-EDM experience.
This concept came to life in subsequent months, evolving into what would become Canada’s first volumetrically captured music video: “The Dark XR” by Crimson Child, Jasiah, and Whipped Cream. Achieving DigiBC’s economic development goals of supporting new IP from a BC artist, record label, creative tech studio, the work also became the feature exhibit in 2022’s Descend Room, part of a small-scale creative tech expo attached to DigiBC’s anniversary party during VIFF.
Although the 2022 exhibits were spread out across several venues, they were well-attended and liked. “We learned a lot about putting on an interactive immersive festival,” says Dao.
For 2023, Signals gelled into a more cohesive event, with 35 projects across 15 installations, centred in a downtown venue. “It was a really interesting space, and we were able to create a wow factor,” recalls Wong. “The magic in the first year was how we brought different collaborations to life, and the second year was the wow factor. So, this year, we’re thinking, how do we make that all come together?”
Signals 2024: A Platform for Innovation, Collaboration, and Connections in Creative Tech
With 50+ artists and 45+ projects on the program, Signals 2024 is well underway.
The program is also stacked with industry events geared to spark collaboration. One of these is Beta Lounge, a B2B networking pace for industry professionals to connect, pitch, and explore partnerships. Several projects came out of last year’s Beta Lounge, such as Fresh Tracks, a VR ski game now funded and in production.
This year, Signals has also added XP Indie Biz Connect, a forum for independent game developers to connect with business leaders, publishers, investors and industry experts in a day of networking and knowledge-sharing. This builds on Signals’ past success with propelling local indie game developers into the limelight. For example, 1,000xResist, an indie sci-fi adventure game by Sunset Visitor Studios, debuted last year at Signals. It achieved market and critical success when officially released earlier this year.
The two-day FutureCraft: AI Symposium, a multidisciplinary summit on the future of creativity, AI, and entertainment, will also run during Signals. “By connecting diverse thinkers in this way, we aim to imagine and co-create new futures while providing hands-on workshops to explore new tools,” says Wong.
Beyond Signals 2024, what are their plans for the future? “We dream about making Signals into a permanent studio and exhibition space—a centre for innovation and collisions of storytelling to drive innovation,” says Wong.
Todd is on the same page: “It would be nice to have a real lab, with all the toys and equipment, where everyone could come in and experiment. That would be ideal.”