The FIVARS team speaks with director Steve F. Anderson about his spectacular dome film “Machine Visions: Mojave.”

What led to the creation of this piece?

A few years ago, I published a book titled Technologies of Vision, which attempted to theorize the evolving relationship between data and images as visual culture becomes increasingly computational. At the same time, I began experimenting with emerging technologies, such as photogrammetry and 360-degree video, to understand on a practical level how we are starting to perceive the world differently through the split optic of lenses and software. The first project to emerge from these experiments was Machine Visions: Mojave, which I intend to be an ongoing series that takes multiple forms, exploring different physical landscapes.

What was the production process for you and your team? What did you learn?

Machine Visions: Mojave began as a VR project, and versions of it can still be experienced as an interactive, navigable 3D environment. For this iteration, I wanted to experiment with different ways of experiencing immersion in a collective, theatrical context that is less isolating than conventional VR, so dome projection offered the ideal solution.

In terms of the production process, I began by capturing numerous hours of aerial 360-degree video of the landscapes surrounding Joshua Tree National Park using a quadcopter equipped with an Insta360 camera. I then used the photogrammetry program Metashape to convert the 360-degree videos into 3D models in various formats, including point clouds, wireframes, and textured models. Working with my Technical Director, Todd Furmanski, these models were incorporated into the Unity 3D game engine.

We then re-captured the virtual landscapes in Unity using a virtual 360 camera that followed some of the same algorithmically predetermined flight paths as the original drone footage.

However, in the virtual environment, you can also do things that are not possible in physical space, such as diving down through the landscape to view boulders and Joshua Trees from within the model. I then used After Effects to edit, composite, and reframe the 360 media for hemispherical projection in the dome environment. It’s not a technique I have seen done before, and the success of this experiment suggests numerous potential variations for the future.

How did you become an immersive content creator and why?

In 2016, I left my faculty position teaching in a game design program at USC to start teaching Digital Media Arts at UCLA. Facebook had just bought Oculus, and I was fortunate to have them outfit a VR lab to encourage film students to experiment with immersive media. The lab at UCLA is dedicated to both research into new modes of media creation and the practical skill development of students working with immersive media, encompassing not only VR but also augmented and mixed reality, projection mapping, and interactive environments.

I don’t much care about what’s cool or not cool about these technologies at any given moment; I’m more interested in creating immersive experiences that utilize the affordances of the medium to create experiences that can’t be had any other way.

What is the VR/AR industry like in your region?

I’m fortunate to be in Los Angeles, where XR is active in many sectors of the entertainment industry and takes on various forms. On the UCLA campus, XR is utilized in multiple contexts, ranging from engineering and neuroscience to the arts and humanities. It makes for a highly vibrant environment for research and development, with cross-pollination across fields that are traditionally siloed.

What do you have planned for the future?

The UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television has recently installed two large-scale LED walls, which are being utilized for both virtual production and theatrical performances.

I was able to put the interactive version of Machine Visions: Mojave up on one of the walls, and it was spectacular to see it at that scale — more than 30′ wide and with a degree of control over the image quality that you don’t have with regular projection.

What would you like to share with fellow content creators and/or the industry?

I’ve been documenting our process using these technologies and have been writing about it in various contexts. It’s equally important for me to work through the conceptual implications of these technologies as it is to create compelling visual experiences. I would like to see this array of immersive media technologies lead to a new visual vocabulary for digital media artists — not just to enhance the conventions of the commercial entertainment industries, but to create genuinely new ways of perceiving our environment.

Do you think VR festivals like FIVARS are important?

There is a significant need for venues that can support a wide range of experiments utilizing immersive media technologies. Many conventional film festivals have added categories for “VR.” Still, very few are welcoming to the range of forms that FIVARS is set up to support. Bringing together artists and technologists who are working in different forms is essential to creating dialogue and stimulating broader experimentation.

Machine Visions: Mojave is screening at the FIVARS 2025 Festival, in the FIVARS online Dome Theater.