OdysseyLab

We Help You Make Emotionally Resonant Immersive Worlds

We know how overwhelming it is to invest in spatial technology when you're uncertain whether the return justifies the cost—and anxious that a complex, flashy experience might be perceived as a gimmick rather than a deeply resonant, human experience.

As an independent design advisory, OdysseyLab helps you bridge the gap between visionary narrative goals and technical development:

A Shared Vocabulary: Using the Odyssey Heuristics(TM) as a common language, we empower your team and stakeholders to articulate deep human presence beyond simple "wow factor" —translating creative vision into clear interaction specs developers respect.

Friction Mapping & Calibration: We audit your concept early to illuminate hidden physical, cognitive, social, and emotional frictions, delivering a clear Calibration Roadmap to navigate production without costly surprises.

Neutral Design Auditing: Navigating spatial technology requires an objective lens. As your independent advocate, we audit key moments during design and development to keep vendors aligned, resolve emerging confusions, and ensure the installation delivers lasting impact.

Research Roots

The Odyssey Heuristics (™) framework was developed through years of experience in immersive human-computer interaction (HCI) research, design and evaluation across world-class research labs and cultural institutions.

Disney Research (Pittsburgh) — User-centered research, design, & evaluation focused on haptics for immersive sports experiences.

Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HVA) — User-centered artistic design research on embodied research in (semi-) public spaces to support an embodied feeling of home (Thuis) as part of the CIIIC Adrie consortium.

Institute for Sound & Vision (Beeld & Geluid) — User-centered research, design & evaluation of immersive and digital heritage experiences, balancing narrative engagement with visitor accessibility and media archives. Including The Space Archivists social VR game, The Curator Studio, the AI4Culture Platform, and cultural heritage game-jams.

DIS Research Group, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) — User-centered research, design & evaluation to support remote artistic co-creation. Including a social media platform (Co-creation Space), a web-based tool to manage remote immersive content for different performance locations (Co-creation Stage), and a Social VR Lobby for opera experiences.

University of Maryland, Human-Computer Interaction Lab — User-centered R&D on ambient multisensory VR (heat, humidity, wind, smell) for citizen science training (Streambed VR). Co-design research with children on participatory music performances.

EU Horizon Projects (e.g., TRANSMIXR, TRACTION) — Collaboration & management of immersive R&D across long-term multi-institution projects.