loneliness and being alone is a week-long festival with daily conversations, Virtual Reality experiences, immersive media, AI companions and visual art at the UNSW Health Translation Hub.
Produced by the Big Anxiety Research Centre, this interactive showcase presents research from across the UNSW facilities of Arts, Design & Architecture; Medicine & Health, and Science. It features a range of creative resources, programs and innovative tools, exploring the experiences of loneliness, being alone and social connection.
Highlights include:
Ngangkari (traditional indigenous healers) from the APY Lands using VR to address loneliness (Monday 13th)
Launch of UNSW's new Chinese AI companion by Vice Chancellor. Created with/for Chinese international students and events in Mandarin (Tuesday 14th)
Leading international researchers and VR creators on how technology helps us deal with loss (Wednesday 15th)
Special day on the loneliness of gendered violence (Friday 17th)
Textures of Loneliness exhibition (ongoing)
Immersive installation soft landscape for nervous systems seeking refuge and repair (ongoing)
loneliness and being alone will be held at the UNSW Health Translation Hub ground floor seminar space from 13 -17 April 2026.
UNSW Health Translation Hub, 55 Botany St, Randwick NSW 2031.
Free for everyone with a range of drop-in and ticketed events via Eventbrite.
Please note that the event encompasses some sensitive topics, viewer discretion is advised. Please contact s.boustead@unsw.edu.au if you would like to find out more about the content.
Edge of the Present is a ‘mixed reality’ (virtual and physical) environment designed to cultivate future thinking.
EmbodiMap is a VR tool that enables users to engage with and map their feelings, thoughts and emotions and how these are experienced within the body.
Fluid by Sherre DeLys explores aloneness—whether as loneliness, solitude, or something between - through attention, dialogue and time.
Panjiti Lewis and Rene Kulitja will host a public yarn about their VR work, Wau-Mananyi – The Song on the Wind.
Wau-mananyi: The Song on the Wind is a virtual reality work, sharing healing practices through creative visualisation.
