Su Spotted Bull & Jessica Hawryluk
Biography
Untethered Technologies is an Indigenous owned technology company based in Calgary, Alberta. The company was created from the need to provide authentic Indigenous stories and learning opportunities through high-tech and innovative means. Evaluating the needs of the community we found there was no concrete or minimal learning opportunities that utilized Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality with Indigenous cultural components. At Untethered Technologies, we decided to explore the ways that we could incorporate Indigenous languages and stories into augmented and virtual reality experiences that invite people to have fun, learn and gain a great understanding of Indigenous peoples. Youth today find navigating technology through their phones/computers as a fun way of learning and therefore connecting them through these means is an easy way to introduce new topics, build skills and develop new ways of knowing. The projects we create are all youth-led under Elder guidance and leadership with a focus to help our clients open their interactive potential in fun and digital environments while delivering powerful messages. Through our presentation, we would discuss how to use XR to tell authentic Indigenous stories and decolonize the technological landscape