Homestay

Every year, hundreds of thousands of international students head for Canada to study. Many of them rent a room with a host family to make the most of the exchange experience, and both the student and the family get to know another culture. Homestay is a virtual reality story about a Canadian family who hosts a Japanese exchange student named Taro. The stay takes a turn for the unexpected, and changes the hosts’ thinking about family, hospitality and nationality. The VR experience is a linear progression that takes place in a world of delicately folded paper, inspired by the Nitobe Memorial Garden in Vancouver. We can use the control to manipulate the environment, and turned-up corners invite us to pull on the paper and tear it. This makes us aware of the fragility of our environment as we progress through this moving story. It’s a surreal experience in which things are sometimes out of our control, just like in real life. Often things aren’t as easy as they seem. On-site reservation required.