Who is WE ARE VR?

Source: https://www.wearevrjozi.org/ (scraped 2026-07-13; refreshed 2026-08-18)

WE ARE VR brings artists, hackers, and dealmakers together. Our stack includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), smartglasses, spatial audio, projection mapping, FPV drones, mixed reality (MR), and more.

WE ARE IMMERSIVE

We work with experiential technologies — tools that provide a sense of immersion, the visceral sensation of being somewhere and feeling something. We’re not just consuming virtual worlds and experiences; we’re shaping them while learning and experimenting together.

Experiential media (VR and AR) turns information into experience. In plain terms, it’s any designed experience where the “content” is a situation we participate in: interactive installations, immersive theater, location-based experiences, interactive documentaries, AR filters, VR simulations, mixed-reality games, and even some highly interactive web experiences.

Instead of just watching content at a distance, we get inside it. We feel the depth, scale, directionality, and movement of immersive experiences. Our brains treat it less like content and more like a place — a lived experience.

XR matters because it’s a new way for us to work with information: through space, motion, and action. It won’t replace screens for everything, but it works in a way flat media can’t match.

For years, WE ARE VR members have developed world-class immersive media projects, but sometimes that work can be hard to find. It’s not in the public eye. We have the entrepreneurs, the artists, and the coders, but we need more visibility. Many of us are artists or engineers — we’re not salespeople. It’s time-consuming and costly to promote our own work. Our creators often don’t have the skills or inclination to showcase our own projects.

WE ARE GROWING

To many of us working in the metaverse, it’s a given that these technologies are a historic opportunity. Immersive, experiential technology is uncovering new avenues for science, philosophy, business, and culture. Artists are pioneering new realities. Engineers are building a new cutting-edge industry. We’re shaping the future.

But the industry is woefully under-resourced. The cost of hesitation is irrelevance. We can’t afford to watch from the sidelines as yet another transformative technology reshapes the world without us. The time to move is now — to adopt swiftly, to position ourselves at the front rather than scrambling to catch up, to embrace experimentation as a discipline rather than a risk.

This demands real investment: of resources, of attention, of conviction.

A collective of artists, technologists, builders, thinkers, and explorers using immersive technology to shape new realities and explore new ways to grow and thrive. We’re an artistic and technological collective with members in academia, business, government, finance, the arts, tourism, media, gaming, conservation, industry, and more.

Since 2018, WE ARE VR has been on a mission to showcase Johannesburg’s budding immersive industry and shape it into a world-class powerhouse.

We’re a diverse, inclusive, self-governing community, dedicated to immersive media, with industry-leading experts at the helm.

WE ARE ESTABLISHED

Founding members (partial)

Started in 2018 by South African VR/AR innovators including: Dale P. Deacon, Daliso Ngoma, Ulrico Grech-Cumbo, Ann Roberts, Brooklyn J. Pakathi, Thando Nomvalo, Sean Devonport, Jade Adair, Steve Pinto, Steven Tu, Matt Benic, Baso Mbangiso, Shmerah Paschier, Gary Steele, and Rick Treweek.

Champions and supporters (partial)

Aluta Null, Malcolm Che, Buzwe Bam, Lebo Lietsch, Andre Hamman, Lex Neville, Tshireletso Tshwenyane, Mic Balkind, Gerald Ferreira, Kirstin Lee Gray, Electric South, Luke Draper, and many more.

Partners and venues

Keyes Art Mile, TMRW gallery, MIX bar, Tshimologong Innovation Precinct, Fak'ugesi Festival, Slayer Energy Drinks, Altspace (VR), VRChat, Mozilla Hubs, Afro Geek Fest, MakeGamesSA, and others.

Scale

Grassroots XR community in Johannesburg; ~250+ active members; ages ~17–60+; gender-inclusive and diverse. Core access (WhatsApp + meetups) is free. Join at /#join.