Serkis' 'Nevatars' Gives Life to Discarded Concept Art at Venice Immersive
Andy Serkis' immersive project 'Nevatars' debuts at Venice Immersive, drawing from his background in performance capture. The work imagines a world where discarded character concept art gains sentience. It is presented as part of a showcase for Google's XREAL Aura smart glasses.
Serkis conceived the project with co-founder Jonathan Cavendish at their performance-capture production house, The Imaginarium. The premise grew from a real-world observation about the fate of unused visual development.
These fully realized character designs, often archived alongside future project files, are imagined as sentient beings seeking attention. The immersive piece serves as a demonstration platform for Google's XREAL Aura smart glasses during its Venice Immersive premiere.
This project could influence how audiences perceive the unseen labor of concept artists, potentially elevating their discarded work to narrative significance. By pairing a celebrity-driven immersive story with emerging smart glasses technology, it may also accelerate mainstream adoption of location-based XR entertainment. Furthermore, Serkis's focus on digital "rejects" could inspire studios to reconsider archival practices, possibly leading to new revenue streams or second-life opportunities for unused creative assets. The impact may extend to filmmakers exploring AI or digital sentience themes.