Los Angeles-based surface artists, Londubh Studio, and Polish tech company, Nomtek, debuted their collaborative immersive XR art experience at Hollywood’s Infinity Festival on November 3, 2022. For this installation, they invited people Be_Yond, to the realm of Cha Cha, a pattern designed by Londubh Studio and deconstructed into an interactive world unto itself by Nomtek.

Be_Yond demonstrates that both verses (real and tech) can act like the infinity sign, smoothly blending and co-existing together to uplift and connect. An artistic interpretation of the 4th dimension, Be_Yond invites people to consider how technology can be used to expand artistic expression and to shift the conversation from a place of fear, to one of optimism.

Fitted with an Oculus headset, viewers transcend space via AR/VR into the Yond, where Londubh Studio’s Cha Cha pattern, first seen in reality on the surrounding wallcovering and upholstery, has been deconstructed into an interactive world by Nomtek. Named after Londubh’s rescue dog whom they found in a coyote-infested park on the cusp of sunset, Cha Cha is imbued with the spirit of perseverance. The pattern, inspired by the Art Deco architecture of Los Angeles and the optimism the style embodies, represents the four directions: reciprocity, give and take, joy and survival, organic and geometric – all complementary components of harmonic co-existence.

The experience seeks to mimic the enchantment and call to presence one might feel stumbling upon an expansive secret garden and being able to explore as one might only in their supernatural fantasies. In the great Be_Yond, one reconnects with the childlike pure joy that once upon a time led us to embrace with delightful openness and curiosity. 

“In inviting viewers into the depths of Cha Cha, we celebrate how our crafts united us with creators from around the world to help pioneer a metaverse where humanity uses art x tech for the greater good,” say Lisa and Brynn of Londubh Studio.

“We developed Be_Yond as a metaphoric XR experience illustrating one of the most crucial challenges nowadays: deciding how we interact with the omnipresent technology. It’s down to us to define where we want technology to help us and where we say “thanks, but no thanks”. Only with such an agency, can technology really empower us to so much more and so much for the better” says Peter Mezyk, VP of Product at Nomtek.