In October 2023, we partnered with the Innisfil IdeaLab, Uplift Black and Georgian College to bring live, XR production to Simcoe County with “The Adinkra Forest VR!”. Words Matter was an initiative of UPlift Black created to demonstrate the power of language. This was an event of spoken word, dance, music and a special immersive experience performed by members of the UPlift Black Artists Collective. We created a dynamic VR experience, produced by Debbie Deer Productions and Orion Digital Inc.

Using the Flipside XR platform via the Meta Quest 2, The Adinkra Forest is a VR immersion where the audience experiences a land where humans once shared awareness for accessibility and unity. Using a few principles of the ancient, West African Adinkra symbols, the Words Matter poets guide the audience campfire style through concepts of unity. By expressing empathy, the audience experiences what it's like to deal with themes of variable physical and mental abilities, racism, misogynoir, patriarchy and socio-economic disparities. This experience is supported by Georgian College in Simcoe County. They contributed VR headsets and are currently constructing curriculum with Orion Digital Inc. to beta test using XR production in their SDG10 Reduced Inequities and SDG16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions during winter 2023 - 2024.