The Waiting Room ; VR Experience

The Waiting Room;VR – A 16 minute VR experience , commissioned by the EPSRC –
50 K received - Written, filmed, produced and directed by Victoria Mapplebeck

In 2019, I was awarded an EPSRC Immersive Documentary Encounters Commission, to create a VR project which told the story of my breast cancer (as patient and film-maker) . This multi platform project also includes a 30 minute smartphone short film which premiered on The Guardian website in 2019.

The Waiting Room;VR features a 9 minute durational 360 take, a reconstruction of my last session of radiotherapy , which marked the end of a year of breast cancer treatment. This experience is counter balanced by two CGI sequences which travel inside my body. Working with 3D artists, I have bought to life the medical imaging I’ve collected through out treatment. Cancer cells, CT scans, mammograms and ultrasound provide a 3D portrait of her body from the inside, out. The Waiting Room VR begins with a personal journey but as cancer affects one in two of us over the course of a lifetime, it also tells a very universal story. Moving beyond sentimentality and survivor/victim binaries, The Waiting Room VR explores illness from a patient’s POV and reminds the audience of the person behind the diagnosis

The Waiting Room VR project premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival , won IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling and was also featured on BBC Click . It was also selected for Forbe’s Top 50 XR experiences of 2019 and chosen by MIT as one of ‘The Best of International 360 Cinema in VR’ projects over the last decade. The Waiting Room VR is archived on the MIT Docubase site, a curated platform, ‘of the people, projects, and technologies transforming documentary in the digital age’. The Waiting Room VR was also showcased at the Unity for Humanity Summit, a call to ‘imagine, design and create a healthier and more inclusive, equitable and sustainable world for all using Real Time 3D technology’ .

In 2023/24 , The Waiting Room VR was selected for several exhibitions showcasing XR works written and directed by women and non binary creators including , BFI Expanded’s Shifting Perspectives. This exhibition was seen my over 500 visitors and I took part in this interview promoting this exhibition for BBC News . In 2024, The Waiting Room VR was selected for GLoW: Illuminating Innovation, a multi-sited London exhibition featuring ‘ groundbreaking artworks by leading women artists working with cutting-edge technologies’