“Navigating the 4D Space-Time of Climate Change “TesserIce”” presented by T. Waite, Kelley, Foss and Orozco

The perception of the four-dimensional tesseract from three-space relies on motion, lending it an inherently cinematic nature. Virtual reality is uniquely positioned to visualize four-dimensional, cinematic space. The three-dimensional, time-based space and embodied navigability of virtual reality creates a supradimensional media space, providing an opportunity to experience higher-dimensional landscapes and acoustic, cinematic environments from within the fourth dimension. TesserIce is a four-dimensional, VR mediascape that utilizes this feature, allowing participants to enter the 4D space-time of glacial ice. The mediascape constructs an embodied cine-poem examining the effects of climate change in which participants propel themselves through the space-time of Earth’s polar ice. The stark imagery of ice serves as a distinct access point into the overwhelming complexity of climate change and its ramifications, creating an embodied experience of climate change’s time, scale, causes, and effects.