Independent jury selects the XR work for its intimate portrayal of dementia and its use of immersive storytelling to engage urgent social issues
March 19, 2026, AUSTIN, Texas — Agog: The Immersive Media Institute announced today that A Long Goodbye has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Agog Immersive Impact Award, created in partnership with South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals. Presented as part of SXSW’s extended reality (XR) programming, the annual award recognizes projects that use immersive storytelling to move audiences from abstraction toward understanding and action on pressing social issues.
A Long Goodbye is an interactive VR experience by Kate Voet and Victor Maes that places audiences inside the fragmented memories of a person living with dementia, using shifting illustrated environments and interactions to reflect cognitive decline. It makes memory loss tangible to others, inviting reflection and dialogue around dementia and caregiving.
Projects considered for this year’s award grappled with issues defining the moment: identity and connection in Inter(mediate) Spaces and Lesbian Simulator, power and rhetoric in The Great Dictator, bodily autonomy in The Baby Factory is Closed, cultural preservation in Fillos do Vento. Together, they reflect the growing role of immersive media in shaping how audiences engage with complex, real-world challenges.
The winner was selected by an independent jury of XR leaders convened by SXSW, including Michele Ziegler, executive director of NewImages Festival, Fred Volhuer, co-founder and former CEO of leading immersive experience studio Atlas V, and Katayoun Dibamehr, executive producer at film and immersive media studio Floréal. The selection reflects the project’s purposeful use of XR as a storytelling medium and its ability to deepen understanding through lived perspective.
Now in its second year, the Agog Immersive Impact Award honors an immersive experience that demonstrates how XR can serve as a powerful medium for social change. Since its launch in 2024, Agog has supported creators and organizations across the XR-for-good ecosystem through grantmaking, community convenings, field-building partnerships, and hands-on creative and strategic support.
“Immersive media lets us step into someone else’s world,” said Chip Giller, co-founder and executive director of Agog. “Not just observe it, but feel it. And when we feel something, we’re more likely to care. A Long Goodbye does this with extraordinary sensitivity, helping us intimately understand memory loss with empathy, and connecting that understanding to broader social realities. We established this award to celebrate creators who use immersive storytelling to deepen understanding of the human experience, and this piece does just that.”
“Being recognized with the Agog award at SXSW for this project is a tremendous honor,” said Kate Voet, director of A Long Goodbye. “We created this work after seeing how Alzheimer’s affected Victor’s grandfather, and wanting to better understand what that experience feels like. The moment you enter VR, you’re often asking, ‘Who am I? Where am I?’—which closely reflects the reality of dementia. We saw an opportunity to use immersive storytelling to share that experience, and to foster greater empathy and awareness around a condition that touches so many lives.”
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About Agog: The Immersive Media Institute
Agog: The Immersive Media Institute is a philanthropic organization founded by Chip Giller and Wendy Schmidt that is dedicated to helping creators and nonprofit leaders use extended reality (XR)—including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality—to imagine and build a more connected, just, and compassionate world. Agog operates as a field builder and creative partner, supporting immersive storytellers whose work addresses urgent social and environmental challenges.
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Media Contact
Alex Capriotti
alex@agog.org
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