Building Sandcastles in XR: My Takeaways from AWE

On resilience, wonder, and the strange magic of spatial storytelling

I just attended AWE (Augmented World Expo), and like every year, it was a heady mix of inspiration, exhaustion, delightful people, and a whole lot of learning.

As I’ve had some quiet time to process, I wanted to share a few reflections — part personal, part professional — from inside this strange, beautiful industry we’re all exploring.

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The state of the tech: slow burn, steady movement

This year didn’t feel like a giant leap forward — but the industry continues to build, bravely and boldly. Sorry for the alliteration. My brain tends to do that. :) Ok, on to a few bright spots:

• Snap Spectacles will be available to the public next year. That could open new doors for creators to reach audiences directly. Personally, I’ve been patiently waiting for this moment for years. I genuinely think that we need to move beyond mobile XR for the mediums to really mature. More fundamentally, I make my work for people, so I want people to have access to those devices.

• Gaussian splats and moving point clouds continue to evolve. The potential for memory capture and spatial storytelling here is enormous. Loved seeing this panel (Kevin Ang, Mary Matheson, Josette Sietz, Navjeet Chhina, & Rachael Newport) talk about their tips and tricks for capturing good scans. I left feeling super inspired.

• Jasmine Robert’s talk was a serious standout — brilliant, funny, honest, and fierce. If you’re not already following her, you should be. Total. Badass.

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XR builders don’t quit

If you’ve built anything in this space, you know:

• The documentation is often wrong.

• The software is usually buggy.

• Firmware updates break things. Frequently.

• Entire platforms can disappear overnight.

Every XR project I’ve worked on has required at least one full rebuild along the way. You patch, rebuild, and try again. And again.

We’re essentially creating temporal art — much of it will stop working as platforms shift and update. So: document your work. Share it while it’s alive. You may not get a chance later.

It’s not an easy industry to live inside, at the moment. Real talk: I see the wear on many people — myself included. But alongside the frustration is real joy, surprise, and moments of wonder. It’s all about balance, boundaries, and choosing when and how to stay engaged.

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This year’s project: Wage Love, Ancestral Dance

I participated in the MIT Reality Hack + Snap Spectacles Community Hack with Lafiya Watson and Dulce Baerga. We created a piece inspired by Sultan Sharrief’s Wage Love — a beautiful project exploring heritage and healing.

Sultan traced his DNA and uncovered the stories of his ancestors. Inspired by their histories, the team used AI to imagine what they might look like, and—thanks to Dulce—turned those into 3D characters. With a little mocap magic, the ancestors came to life… so you can have a full-on dance party with them.

We presented several demos at AWE and at the very AWE-ish after party: three floors of themed spaces (dance club, Irish pub, meets hidden tiki bar with a secret ancestral lodge w/MR & DJ. XR folks know how to throw a party, especially Sultan.

And yes — demoing speech recognition in a nightclub really reinforced the core lesson: always build a backup interaction path.

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How I’m learning to do conventions better

For me, conventions have always been a bit tricky. I’m an introvert that really likes people (in smallish doses). The combination of crowds, noise, constant data flow, and non-stop social energy can be overwhelming.

The difference this year? I finally honored my own nervous system.

Since the pandemic, meditation has become a regular practice for me (3x daily if I can swing it). Add in quiet art-making time w/friends, small windows of solitude, a sprinkle of ocean, and the entire experience became much more manageable.

It’s still a lot — but it felt better. And that feels like progress. Luckily, I was surrounded by folks who are also learning to honor their lives with intention and REST.

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Pack sneakers. And socks. And sunscreen.

Trust me on this one. Your future self will thank you.

On my last night, I finally made it to the beach. After days of constant information and crowds, standing in front of the ocean was the perfect reset.

Large bodies of water have a way of reminding me how small I am — in the best possible way. Next time, I’ll get there sooner. Priorities! I’m learning!

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TL;DR:
AWE was, as always, a fascinating ride. The tech keeps moving forward. The community keeps showing up. And personally, I’m learning how to exist in this world with more grace and a little less burnout. And I’ve got friends that are practicing the same thing, right along side me. That feels like a win. And, maybe even a movement.

If you were there — I’m so glad we got to connect. If not, maybe I’ll see you next time.

🌊💙
Heather