Fourth VR

Building on the use of ‘Fourth Cinema’ to describe Indigenous Cinema, we use the term ‘Fourth VR’ to capture the rich array of VR work that maintain Indigenous visual sovereignty. Fourth VR spans all the major platforms with projects available via the Oculus Store, Viveport, Steam, and YouTube. The works also display a variety of genre forms from VR games to non-narrative experimental artworks to cinematic VR experiences.

We have also sorted works into 3 categories:

Indigenous Led refers to works where the project has been driven by Indigenous creators, frequently meaning that leadership roles such as director and producer are performed by Indigenous practitioners.

Indigenous Partnership refers to works where Indigenous practitioners contribute to and are extensively involved in various levels of production, for example as producer, writer or designer, even though non-Indigenous practitioners may perform key creative and technical roles.

Indigenous Collaboration refers to works where Indigenous practitioners do not normally fulfill substantial creative or technical roles but have participated and contributed to the way their stories are told. This latter category can include extensive consultation and/or input into the final work but can also include scenarios where Indigenous organisations contract non-Indigenous companies to create the work.

We recognise that these categories are fluid and heuristic. They are not hierarchical but rather identify the dynamic ways Indigenous communities are engaging with VR worlds.