2026 RAINDANCE IMMERSIVE SUMMIT: WELCOME TO THE FUTURE OF STORYTELLING
Join us at the Raindance Immersive Summit—hosted on Zoom on Friday, 12th June and Friday, 19th June! Learn from some of the world's most visionary XR creators—including 2026 selected artists, game developers, world-builders, musicians, performers, filmmakers, and notable alumni. In a fitting VR twist, some of our speakers and curators will even appear as their avatars from VR. What to expect:
40+ speakers | 15 Talks | 6 Panels | 5 Fireside Chats | 2 Keynotes | Live Q&A after individual sessions
DAY 1: FRIDAY, 12th JUNE - highlights include virtual theme parks & museums, Gaussian splatting, LGBTQIA+ narratives, documentaries, XR for impact, live performances, theatre, dance and “the making of a VR icon”
DAY 2: FRIDAY, 19th JUNE - highlights include live music and jazz in VR, transformative narratives, VR & MR gaming, art, virtual nightclubs, live performances, virtual production & filmmaking, and a special keynote by Kent Bye
TIME ZONES: The schedule below is listed in BST (British Summer Time, our home time zone), CEST (Central European Summer Time), and EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) for your convenience. For sessions that fall too early or too late in your time zone, we highly recommend catching up via our on-demand replays.
EUROPE: 11 AM - 9 PM BST (UK) | 12 PM - 10 PM CEST | 1 PM - 11 PM EET
NORTH AMERICA: 6 AM - 4 PM EDT | 5 AM - 3 PM CDT | 4 AM - 2 PM MDT | 3 AM - 1 PM PDT
ASIA & AUSTRALIA: 6 PM - 4 AM CST | 7 PM - 5 AM JST | 7 PM - 5 AM KST | 8 PM - 6 AM AEST
PASSES: To make the summit as accessible as possible for the global XR community, we offer several options:
Day 1 Pass, Day 2 Pass and Full Pass: Both Days (with discounted student rates available).
'Pay What You Can' option if you are currently facing financial constraints, or just dropping in for a talk.
'Festival Supporter Pass' if you’d like to help support our mission.
ON-DEMAND REPLAYS: Available to Day 1 Pass holders (12 June replays), Day 2 Pass holders (19 June replays), Full Pass: Both Days holders (12 & 19 June replays), Student Passes, and the ‘Festival Supporter Pass’.
DAY 1: FRIDAY, 12 JUNE
11 AM BST / 12 PM CEST / 6 AM EDT
Opening Keynote | Welcome to the 2026 Raindance Immersive Summit and Festival: An Introduction by the Curators | Hosted by the Raindance Immersive Curatorial Team
12 PM BST / 1 PM CEST / 7 AM EDT
Virtual Sanrio Puroland: A Global Social VR Theme Park | Hosted by Rumi Kono, Sanrio
12:30 PM BST / 1:30 PM CEST / 7:30 AM EDT
New Possibilities for the Museum Experience: Inside the Virtual Museum of Virtual Art (VMoVA) | Hosted by Raindance Immersive award winning creator, Jessien Huang, Founder VMoVA
1 PM - 1:20 PM BST / 2 PM - 2:20 PM CEST / 8 AM - 8:20 AM EDT: BREAK
1:20 PM BST / 2:20 PM CEST / 8:20 AM EDT
Capturing the World One Gaussian Splat at a Time: Inside the Creation of "Spatialography" | Hosted by XR pioneer, Voxelkei
1:40 PM BST / 2:40 PM CEST / 8:40 AM EDT
Trippy Dreams: From Open Brush to VRChat, Sculpting an Immersive Odyssey | Hosted by XR artist, Libellule, with Raindance Immersive Curator, Mary Lee Desmond
2 PM BST / 3 PM CEST / 9 AM EDT
Panel | Colourful Narratives: Radical Courage and Growth Through Vulnerability | Featuring XR creators Iris van der Meule (Lesbian Simulator), “JustJaime” Smith (un_comfortable.exe) and Christopher Lane Davis aka Screaming Color (A Wonderful Thing to Realize) | Moderated by Raindance Immersive Curator, Jo Leigh
3:20 PM - 3:30 PM BST / 4:20 PM - 4:30 CEST / 10:20 AM - 10:30 AM EDT: BREAK
3:30 PM BST / 4:30 PM CEST / 10:30 AM EDT
Chornobyl: Inside the New Safe Confinement | Hosted by Henry Stuart, CEO Visualise
4 PM BST / 5 PM CEST / 11 AM EDT
Scaling Social Impact through XR | Hosted by Ingrid Kopp ( Co-Founder Electric South), XR creator Aurelio Mofuga (The Daladala Verse) and Vanessa Lawand Pfeiffer (Community Strategy & Engagement Manager, Agog) | Q&A moderated by Raindance Immersive Curator, Mária Rakušanová
5 PM BST / 6 PM CEST / 12 PM EDT
Panel | The New Stage: Crafting the Future of Live VR Theatre | Featuring VR theatre pioneers Alex Coulombe (Founder, Agile Lens), Deirdre V. Lyons (Co-Founder, Ferryman Collective), Jason Moore (Founder, The Metamovie), Mandy Canales (Assistant Professor, Department of Digital Technology and Culture, Washington State University) and Stephen Butchko (Co-Founder, Ferryman Collective) | Moderated by Raindance Immersive Curator, Jiyue Hu
6 PM - 6:15 PM BST / 7 PM - 7:15 PM CEST / 1 PM - 1:15 PM EDT: BREAK
6:15 PM BST / 7:15 PM CEST / 1:15 PM EDT
Panel | Luxe Nova Unveiled: The Art of Live Immersive Performance | Hosted by Trudeus (Head Manager, Luxe Nova) with Raindance Immersive Curator, Mary Lee Desmond
7:15 PM BST / 8:15 PM CEST / 2:15 PM EDT
Fireside Chat | From The Great Pug to Millions of Fans: The Making of a VR Icon | Hosted by artist & VTuber, TFMJonny, with Raindance Immersive Curator, Mary Lee Desmond
8 PM BST / 9 PM CEST / 3 PM EDT
Fireside Chat | Finding the Flow: VR Dance Academy’s Approach to Choreography and Live Dance Performance | Hosted by Dust Bunny, Founder, VR Dance Academy (Love is the Groove) with Raindance Immersive Curator, Mary Lee Desmond
9 PM BST / 10 PM CEST / 4 PM EDT: THE END
DAY 2: FRIDAY, 19 JUNE
11 AM BST / 12 PM CEST / 6 AM EDT
Welcome to Day 2 | Hosted by the Raindance Immersive Curatorial Team
11:15 AM BST / 12:15 PM / 6:15 AM EDT
Fireside Chat | Zero Latency, High Spirit: A Live Jazz Vocalist’s Journey in Social VR | Hosted by jazz performer, Sheena Baobab with Raindance Immersive Curator, Mary Lee Desmond
11:45 PM BST / 12:45 PM CEST / 6:45 AM EDT
Panel | Transformative Narratives: Courage and Personal Growth | Featuring XR creators Menghui Huang (The Big Cube), Owen Hindley (Fallax) and Tomis Fras (Sonderambla) | Moderated by Raindance Immersive Curator, Jo Leigh
1:15 PM - 1:30 PM BST / 2:15 PM - 2:30 PM CEST / 8:15 AM - 8:30 AM EDT - BREAK
1:30 PM BST / 2:30 PM CEST / 8:30 AM EDT
BasisVR: A practical foundation for Open-Source VR | Hosted by Luke Dooly and Yewnyx, Basis VR
2 PM BST / 3 PM CEST / 9 AM EDT
A Hypnotic Journey into Consciousness: Designing Organic Flow in Squingle Arcade | Hosted by Dr. Benjamin Outram, Founder, Squingle Games
2:40 PM BST / 3:40 PM CEST / 9:40 AM EDT
Thief VR: Reimagining a Classic Gaming IP for the XR Era | Hosted by Russ Harding, Chief Creative Officer, Maze Theory
3:20 PM BST / 4:20 PM CEST / 10:20 AM EDT
Compass: Building an Open-World Flying Adventure Set Among Otherworldly Skies | Hosted by Alexandre Pernot Lopes, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Trebuchet
4 PM - 4:05 PM BST / 5 PM - 5:05 PM CEST / 11 AM - 11:05 AM EDT: BREAK
4:05 PM BST / 5:05 PM CEST / 11:05 AM EDT
Panel | Beyond the Brush: Redefining Artistic Expression through Social VR | Featuring Raindance Immersive award winning artists Anders Fray (aka Ders), Durk Van Der Meer (aka Durk＠Work) and Reverse Butcher | Moderated by Raindance Immersive Curator, Mária Rakušanová
5 PM BST / 6 PM CEST / 12 PM EDT
Keynote | Philosophy of Experiential Design & Immersive Storytelling | Hosted by Kent Bye, Host and Producer, Voices of VR Podcast
6 PM BST / 7 PM CEST / 1 PM EDT
Panel | The World Builder’s Blueprint: Crafting Iconic Virtual Worlds | Featuring Raindance Immersive award winning world builders Fins, Juice, MetaRick and NProwler | Moderated by Raindance Immersive Curator, Mária Rakušanová
7 PM - 7:10 BST / 8 PM - 8:10 PM CEST / 2 PM - 2:10 PM EDT: BREAK
7:10 PM BST / 8:10 PM CEST / 2:10 PM EDT
TUBE VR: Architecting the New Underground | Hosted by Laurie Denman (aka Hadean), Founder, Beam Immersive (TUBE VR: In the Dance)
7:30 PM BST / 8:30 PM CEST / 2:30 PM EDT
Fireside Chat | From Spark to Star: Starheart’s Artistic Journey in Social VR | Hosted by Raindance Immersive award winning artist, composer & VTuber, Starheart, with Raindance Immersive Curator, Mary Lee Desmond
8 PM BST / 9 PM CEST / 3 PM EDT
New Frontiers in VR Filmmaking: Innovating Immersive Virtual Production | Hosted by Joe Hunting, Founder, Painted Clouds & Raindance Immersive Curator
9 PM BST / 10 PM CEST / 4 PM EDT: THE END