Practical with “Traces”, the interactive VR mourning processor

Many interactive installations with the annual XR experience to Sxsw Offer a mixture of experimental and emotional. But in 2025, little of them offer a wilder tour on these two tracks than Traces: the mourning processorAn interactive VR installation from Vali Fugulin and Couzin films.

Unlike many XR experience projects that look at the show, Traces is calm and intimate. It is a multi-user VR experience where four participants fall into a space shaped by those who preceded them.

And while Traces is not a substitute for therapy, it is a unique and almost fun way to treat your sorrow – whatever the type of grief you feel.

Traces It is not clear at the beginning, with a deeply personal choice. You are asked to share a photo that arouses feelings of grief, whether it is a loved one, a lost moment or something else. You also enter a short sentence, something you would say to relieve this emotion.

These elements become a permanent part of Traces, Superimpose the experience with the echoes of previous users. “During the pandemic, while I clashed with deep sorrow, I found myself aspiring in connection, but I don’t know how to express my grief,” said Fugulin in a press release.

Fugulin says Traces does not concern recent losses; She even warns against the use of photos of someone who has just passed. But that did not prevent participants from being visibly moved. A tearful eye user thanked Fugulin and producer Ziad Touma after the session.

And even if I was not faced with a major loss recently, I have always found myself taken in the experience. My contribution was a photo of my cat because I felt guilty let him attend SXSW.

Others have shared snapshots of the past holidays or younger versions of themselves – in mourning not only people, but places, memories and versions of their own lives that no longer exist. And that’s the point.

As Fugulin says, sorrow is not only a question of death. This is the change, time, things that we cannot recover. And in TracesThese fragments of loss become something new – woven together in a virtual space where sorrow is not only personal but shared.

The journey of Traces is led by Fugulin and her longtime friend, Quebecoi actor and ritualist Stéphane Crête. The pair is developing a documentary style VR experience that feels both intimate and immersive – a rare combination in Sxsw.

Without giving too much, Traces Invites you to something personal, reflecting and moving unexpectedly. You will not leave disappointed – and you could just learn something about yourself in the process.