Join us for a fascinating look inside BarrowlandsVR, a virtual-reality experience created by Macclesfield College’s Chris Godber and inspired by Scottish music producers Copperknob and their album Barrowlands. Originally developed for an art exhibition in Macclesfield in November 2023, this project blends creative coding, procedural design, and music-driven world-building to create a truly immersive digital adventure.
BarrowlandsVR drops players into a shifting maze of rooms, tunnels, and portals — all generated on the fly. Using gaze-based movement, players travel through the space, blast through walls, and try to reach as many portals as possible before the 10-minute timer ends. Every run creates a new layout, a new challenge, and a new “miner’s report” at the end.
In this talk, Chris will share how the experience was made, from the music that sparked the idea to the technical challenges of building procedural VR worlds using A-Frame, JavaScript, Electron, and his own custom design tools. He’ll also give a glimpse into using AI and generative textures, and what it’s like experimenting at the intersection of art, sound, and immersive technology.
A brilliant session for anyone curious about VR, creative tech, gaming, or how music can inspire entirely new worlds.