Projects
Immersive VR Journaling Prototype
Immersive VR Journaling Prototype
This project explores how artificial intelligence and virtual reality can be combined to create an interactive journaling experience, where spoken reflections shape immersive environments, soundscapes - and visuals in real time.
Instead of writing on a page, this experience invites you to step into a world shaped by your own voice. In this project, we explore what happens when spoken reflections begin to influence a responsive virtual environment.
Explore
£5,000
Aims of the project
We are developing a small-scale VR prototype that combines journaling with dynamic environments shaped by artificial intelligence. A user begins by speaking freely to a simple prompt such as “How are you feeling today?”. Their words and tone of voice are processed through speech-to-text, which interprets emotional tone and triggers changes in atmosphere, visuals and spatial audio. Instead of physical sensors, we are testing how responsive design can work through speech and emotional input.
The prototype will explore several core emotional states and how immersive environments paired with sound design can express them. Rather than creating a finished product, this project focuses on experimentation and feasibility – investigating whether immersive journaling can support a more embodied form of personal reflection by creating new ways to engage with emotion.
Meet the artists
Shayan Mawlood
Lead Artist
Shayan Mawlood is a 3D and fine artist working across traditional and digital media, immersive technologies and film. Her work focuses on cinematic world-building, narrative and emotionally driven environments. She is interested in how immersive technology can expand artistic expression and create spaces that feel intimate and reflective.
As Lead Artist, she directs the creative vision and development of the VR journaling prototype, exploring how responsive technology can transform personal reflection into an immersive and sensory experience.
Vorn Smith
Producer & Designer
Vorn Smith is a director and designer working across immersive storytelling and interactive media. He is a graduate of the BFI NETWORK Immersive Storytelling Lab and the founder of Monkey House Entertainment, where he develops narrative-led projects exploring the intersection of games, film and digital art. On this project, he provides production oversight and supports the structural and creative development of the VR prototype.
Lezan Mawlood
Designer
Lezan Mawlood is a multidisciplinary designer with expertise in graphic design, 3D and art department roles in film and television. For this project, she supports the early visual, UI and conceptual development of the VR prototype, helping shape its aesthetic direction.
Renner Mawlood
Sound Designer / Composer
Renner Mawlood is a musician working across multiple genres, including ambient and experimental sound. For this project, he develops adaptive sound design and original music that responds to spoken reflection and enhances the immersive VR environment.
