PLAYBACK After Hours at CULTVR

Awkward Studios, Mark Eaglen and Noelle Nurdin, Owain Llwyd & Peredur Glyn will showcase their R&D outcomes from the Media Cymru × CULTVR Immersive Challenge Fund at PLAYBACK After Hours at CULTVR on Wednesday 16 September.

Programme: Wednesday 16 September 2026

5.30pm Doors Open

6.20pm Welcome and introductions

6:30–7:00pm Mark Eaglen – EchoSystem

7:30–8:00pm Awkward Studios – Game of Domes

8:30–9:00pm Noelle Nurdin, Owain Llwyd and Peredur Webb-Davies – Lost in Light

9:00–9:30pm Closing networking, and future-opportunity conversations

Book your free ticket to attend the event.

The bar will be open from 5:30pm–9:30pm, with a food truck on site throughout the evening.

Awkward Studios

GAME OF DOMES explores whether immersive dome environments can serve as low-cost, rapid testing grounds for quiz and gameshow IP. Awkward Studios is piloting an original immersive experience - building and testing television gameshow mechanics inside CULTVR's 360º dome. Through their R&D, they hope to discover that domes don't just offer a new venue for live entertainment - they give the TV production industry a faster, cheaper route from format idea to commissioned series and further licensing opportunities for existing quiz & game IP.

Mark Eaglen

Echosystem investigates ideas of emergence by placing audience interactions as central to the experience. The project explores a responsive environment of sensor stations, each one offering an invitation to play. Interactions ripple through a hybrid world of XR visuals, spatial soundscapes and sculptural interfaces, coalescing towards a space that feels alive; a pan-dimensional playground of collaboration between artist and audience.

Noelle Nurdin, Owain Llwyd & Peredur Glyn

Lost in Light / Ar Goll yn y Golau is a shared fulldome immersive experience combining Welsh legends, dark-sky data, live ensemble performance and motion-reactive spatial audio. Audiences co-create an evolving soundscape as part of an interactive narrative that explores light pollution, cultural heritage, and human connection in CULTVR’s dome and Eryri National Park Authority.

About PLAYBACK

PLAYBACK is Media Cymru’s festival of innovation taking place in Cardiff on 15, 16 and 17 September 2026. The festival consists of a one-day research conference at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism on 15 September, followed by two days of talks, panels and experiences, on 16 and 17 September, showcasing the incredible work from across the Media Cymru programme. Taking place at Tramshed, Tramshed Tech and fringe venues across the city. For programme updates and to book free tickets to PLAYBACK, visit Media Cymru’s website: https://media.cymru/playback/

About Media Cymru × CULTVR Immersive Challenge Fund

The Media Cymru × CULTVR Immersive Challenge Fund focused on immersive innovation to support experimentation and capacity-building within the Welsh media sector, supporting the development of new content. The fund invested in four ambitious projects exploring new approaches to immersive storytelling and audience engagement using XR technologies. Find out more about all the projects: https://media.cymru/media-cymru-and-cultvr-invest-in-shared-immersive-experiences-with-four-new-rd-projects-2/

Description supplied by the event organiser.