“The Imaginary Friend,” one of the projects at the South by Southwest XR Experience Showcase, running March 10-12 Credit: Courtesy of Studio Biarritz

Between this weekend’s big horror release, Imaginary, and the upcoming, more family-friendly IF, it seems like imaginary friends are everywhere – even at South by Southwest.

One is to be found in “The Imaginary Friend,” part of the XR Experience Showcase at the Congressional Ballroom at the Fairmont Austin Hotel. It’s the newest project from producer Corine Meijers, and SXSW XR regulars may remember her work as part of the team behind 2023 head turner “Symbiosis” in which participants were strapped into elaborate, body-restricting suits to emulate the experience of being a creature from Earth’s post-human future.

This time, Meijers teams with VR director Steye Halleman, and lead designer Koen Koopman for a tale of an imaginary friend: you. In this interactive VR experience, the player has been conjured up by a small child to protect him from manifestations of trauma. But by making his fantasy world more real to him, are you helping or hindering?

New to the team is composer Jens Bouttery. Yet while this may be his first VR project, he knows about the interplay between environment and sound, having previously composed music for Maarten Van Severen: Addicted to Every Possibility, the 2014 documentary about the famous furniture designer. In this exclusive behind-the-scenes clip, Bouttery explains how he engineered the soundscape and score, and how important sound is in creating a truly immersive experience/

The Imaginary Friend

SXSW XR Experience Spotlight, North American Premiere

Sunday-Tuesday, March 10-12, 11am-6pm, Congressional Ballroom

This article appears in March 8 • 2024.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.