輪迴
Samsara
《輪迴》作品帶領觀眾進入一場橫亙千萬年的科幻旅途，如同佛家思想中的六道輪迴，觀眾將在VR旅途中轉世成為不同的人與生物，用新的身體重新感受、體驗宇宙，試圖尋求自身性靈最終的超脫。
故事假想歷經巨大激烈戰爭後的自我毀滅與地球浩劫，最終人類被迫逃離地球，但仍難逃劫難。但經過如同神祇般的人工智慧，將集體記憶賦予新的肉身，得以重生，進入生物界的重新循環，最終又再度脫離蓋婭地球，在宇宙中尋求新的家園。以此「末世後」敘事反思當前人類各族群與地球環境的危機，對人類發展造成連串錯誤的未來宿命，傳達諭示與勸世。
本作品從認知理論的「具身認知」（Embodied Cognition）出發，透過VR互動，邀請觀眾感受不同生物與角色的存在與狀態。當觀者從不同人或物種的身體，去認知、感受世界時，我們才會真正理解所謂「他者」的想法，進而產生更深刻的同理心，並反思自身存在的狀態，擁有更圓融與完整的體悟。
《輪迴》屢獲國際大獎及影人、評審團肯定，如：入圍第78屆威尼斯影展，並獲得德州西南偏南(SXSW)影展評審團獎、坎城XR影展的最佳故事大獎及奧地利林茲電子藝術節榮譽獎等……。足證本作的普世性與跨國性，更對應了跨文化與跨語言的共通人性課題。
Samsara guides audiences into a timeless sci-fi journey that resembles the six realms of reincarnation in Buddhism. Audiences transform into different people and creatures in the VR journey, sensing and experiencing the universe with their new bodies and attempting to reach a state of transcendence through their own spiritualities.
The story imagines self-destruction and calamity on earth in the aftermath of a brutal war. Human beings are forced to leave planet earth but are unable to escape destruction. The godlike artificial intelligence grants rebirth and gives new bodies to collective memory, entering a new ecology cycle and eventually leaving Gaia once more, searching for a new home in the universe. This “post-apocalyptic” narrative encourages reflection on the current human community and crises facing the environment on earth, expressing advice and exhortation toward the series of errors of humanity and our future fate.
This work is rooted in the concept of “Embodied Cognition” from Cognitive Theory and invites audiences to experience the existence and different states of creatures and roles through interactive VR. Only when audiences become aware and feel the world through the bodies of different people and species can we become aware of what “others” think. This further allows the generation of profound empathy and encourages a more comprehensive reflection of our own existential states.
Samsara has received countless international awards and has been critically acclaimed by film professionals and juries, including being shortlisted at the 78th Venice Film Festival and receiving the Jury Award of the SXSW in Texas, Best VR Story of the Cannes XR competition, and Honorary Mention at the Ars Electronica Festival, proof of this work’s universal relevance and its touch on humanity that crosses the boundaries of culture and language.
