Music Video #1 Chemical Brothers - Wide Open ft Beck.

“I chose this video because I reference this so often when I’m building environments for the subtle reveals and the way the dancer is dancing with the space, with the camera; how she immediately engages with you - from the outset of when she looks you directly in the eye and with the lyric “you’re slipping away from me” she takes an unsure step back… “you’re drifting away from me” comes out to the first reveal. This ‘empty’ warehouse with some items and obvious places; and the simple stencil of Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands putting the Chemical Brothers in the video. My favourite reveal is the mirror shot when you realise that the dancer is the camera watching herself. You are the dancer. This defies anything anamorphic or any Buster Keaton methods!

Brilliant special effects from The Mill. Great Track!

Music Video #2: Wilkinson – Afterglow (ft. Becky Hill)

This video captures the emotional trace of presence over time - a single relationship, visualised through memory, movement and spatial repetition. Its rhythmic edits and time-lapse visuals echo the potential of AR to map stories not just in place, but through duration. Afterglow fits AR Island as a mood for persistence, relational memory and the ephemerality of experience. The track pulses with energy, but the narrative is intimate… perfect for a digital world built on presence, proximity, and trace.

On a personal note: “my teenage son Oscar and I caught a flight with Wilkinson the day he finished this track… on the flight he asked Oscar to check it out fresh. The track went huge worldwide. It’s been a theme song ever since - the theme that comes from making things with talented people…”

Music Video #3: Fatboy Slim – Live at Big Beach Boutique II (2002)

Big Beach Boutique II is iconic. A moment where collective experience, location and sound collided - very on-brand for AR+IQ and spatial storytelling.

This legendary set turns Brighton Beach into an open air temple of shared rhythm. 250,000 people gathered without screens just sound, space and presence. It represents what AR Island could evoke: large-scale synchrony, live location based immersion and the kind of euphoria that only occurs when environment and energy align. It’s analogue XR before the tech but with all the emotion and scale.

Item #1 Greg Carroll’s Teddy Bear

This object holds deep symbolic value. Greg Carroll was a close friend of Bono and part of the U2 touring crew, whose tragic passing inspired the song “One Tree Hill.” A teddy bear, as a childhood token, evokes safety, memory, and loss. Placed on AR Island, this item suggests a space where memory, tribute, and emotional realism intersect… where digital storytelling isn’t abstract but grounded in real human connection. It invites participants to reflect on how we carry grief, honour legacy, and animate remembrance through digital proxies.

Item #2 AirPods Pro

The AirPods Pro represent the personalisation of immersion. On AR Island, they act as a gateway between the audible world and the augmented one balancing presence with privacy. Their spatial audio capabilities mirror the goals of AR+IQ: layered, context-aware environments responsive to user movement and attention. They also symbolise seamless integration… tech that disappears into the experience, letting the user stay connected while remaining mobile and untethered.

Item #3 The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War adds a strategic and philosophical layer to your AR Island. It balances the emotional, sensory, and technical with timeless insight.

This ancient text brings strategy, discipline, and foresight into the immersive domain. On AR Island it serves not as a manual for conflict but as a metaphor for design… understanding terrain, adapting to conditions, and valuing restraint. It reinforces the principle that effective interaction (like effective warfare) depends on timing, perception, and knowing the invisible boundaries of power. In the context of AR+IQ, it’s a nod to intelligent systems that think as well as feel.

UN SDG #9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

SDG 9 speaks to the backbone of AR+IQ: building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and fostering innovation. In the context of AR Island, this goal represents the ethics of the build - not just what is imagined, but how it is made, who it includes, and what systems support it. It aligns with kaupapa Māori values like Tino Rangatiratanga and Whai Oranga o te Taiao, ensuring that the infrastructure of immersive futures is built with sovereignty, care, and purpose.