I often wonder about the vast possibilities of this emerging digital evolution and how it can positively impact humanity. I’ve found things like Akili Interactive’s EndeavorRX prescription videogame to the Be Another Lab using VR to play with empathy and perspective. I’ve discovered people visiting digital worlds for pain relief, mental wellness, and eating disorders. Even simulations to help a parent see things from the eyes of their autistic child to inspire compassion and understanding. And I found Krista Kim, mother of the Techism movement and two talented kids. Also, the therapeutic Mars House architect, political activist, healer, real estate and AR community developer, Superworld ambassador, artist, and the list goes on.
“I was always interested in power dynamics and how the world works. There’s so much suffering and injustice and environmental degradation. Why does it have to be perpetuated, even though the world knows better, and we want to do better?” -KK
Talking with Krista, we discussed a vision of cities embedded with healing. When you walk into your home or enter a vehicle, there could be biodata collected by an auditory device like Nuheara. This could detect health status and align settings for an ideal immersive experience that impacts at a cellular level. Let’s go a step further and embed those settings with healing light, sound frequencies, or even something like Dopavision that aims to heal children’s myopia.
Let’s say you had a neurodivergent child that was hypersensitive. When the child enters a space, they could be guided gently into a relaxing, immersive environment conducive for comfort and keeping them calm or focused. When you wake up in the morning, you could set your home to produce an environment that would keep you in the meditative theta state longer and gently ease you through the alpha state into productive beta. Your biodata could be analyzed instantly to suggest ideal parameters for ultimate health and detect abnormalities or early signs of disease. You could set your vehicle to create an environment where you can mentally prepare for a big presentation or relax and unwind after a long day.
Projects like Homeforest use biophilia to bring nature indoors and enhance comfort. There’s a playground of possibilities for our imaginations to explore, and a tremendous need for healing from toxicity we’ve created/endured as a species over time.
Have you seen Krista’s Mars House project? The digital property was born from understanding the value of consistent meditation practice, aligned with her desire to use tech and art to elevate humanity. She made a digital home and designed a complete healing oasis easily accessed in the digital space. The lighting and colours are designed to inspire a meditative state of being, all within the therapeutic world of the metaverse and soon too in the physical world. No wonder it sold for a staggering $500,000.00 USD in ETH! How much will the physical real estate go for, and just how far can this tech go? Office buildings? Transit Systems?
“It’s not all about creating art and selling it; it’s about changing the world, changing how people think, and helping platforms develop in a way that’s humane,” Kim explains. “Surveillance capitalist companies that treat humans as products will have to pivot or die. Data is a human right, and decentralization and the crypto revolution are going to save us.”
Speaking of humanity, that leads me into some of her upcoming projects. This fall, she has an exciting show with Institut taking place at Unit London that will surely catch your attention, having physical components aligned with digital objects within the metaverse. In addition, Kim is involved with 888 The New World, a platform dedicated to empowering artists and creators worldwide by providing tech and resources to previously neglected areas. They also plan on giving them 100% of the profits from the art they sell. The creators involved include 3Lau, Paris Hilton, Fewocious, RTFKT Studios, and several others. Finally, she and an undisclosed hip-hop artist are even reshaping a NY neighborhood using AR/XR and meditation. (Details coming soon)
Continuum, her upcoming Toronto installation, is a healing vessel that will address and give space to Canadians of indigenous communities and all Canadians impacted by the discovery of unmarked mass graves of thousands of indigenous children who were brutally forced to attend Catholic residential schools to erase their heritage. Elders from indigenous communities in the area will lead a time of reconciliation and healing from the tragedy. Additionally, Beirut is seeing her efforts with initiatives alongside Unesco and Vasconi architects to host a conference to rebuild the city after a devastating explosion with the help of DigitalTwinXR, Spatial.io and Superworld app.
Kim imagines a revolution of education in the metaverse. “I want the world to be a better place for our kids,” she states, having already bought her daughter’s (Blender created) digital art and seeing her son at 13 showing talents as a prolific computer engineer. As she looks ahead at what needs to be accomplished to set them up for success, she describes her vision. “Imagine if kids had a couple of lessons a day in the metaverse to learn about wildlife or history and actually visit the places in real-time… They could visit Egypt and even interact and make friends with children there.” With a mom like Krista, there’s no doubt her children will be adding so much value to our future. She’s paving the way for them to have a sound foundation to build and create in the new digital frontier.
“Every human being has the right to live in beauty and dignity. In the metaverse, if we can show people future possibilities, then perhaps they will be inspired to rise above their current circumstances and create just that.”
The digital frontier is an exciting and evolving space. With advocates like Krista setting the standard and integrity level, I have high hopes. We will design a community that will not harm or toxify but complement and benefits our species at a cellular level. Kim didn’t ask to be a leader in this space, but with her warmth, awareness, and courage to take action, she’s a superior model of what I’d hope and envision our leaders of the future will be. Stay up to date with her projects at kristakimstudios.com to track the evolution.
