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Andy Serkis and Josh Nelson Youssef directed Nevatars, a 31-minute XR storytelling installation running in competition at Venice Immersive. The festival runs from 2 to 12 September 2026 on Lazzaretto Vecchio. Viewers watch it on XREAL Aura, Google-powered augmented-reality glasses.
XRMust lists the work as UK, USA and Argentina, in the format “XR glasses, installation”. It is one of 30 works in competition at the festival’s 10th edition.
Nevatars uses XR glasses and installation technology. Animation, virtual reality and mixed reality run together, and the digital characters are placed into the visitor’s physical surroundings. Viewers “interact with characters and objects while remaining aware of the real world around them”, Jeff Moss reported for Yahoo Entertainment on 8 September. Variety reported that the glasses’ voice activation “opened up new storytelling tools”.
The narrative follows Aya, a young artist who hides her imperfect creations in a forgotten computer folder. One of those abandoned characters escapes into her world, and Aya has to face her perfectionism. Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Kathleen Turner and Serkis supply the voices.
The idea had been developing at The Imaginarium, the studio Serkis co-founded with Jonathan Cavendish, since 2011. It gained momentum when Google’s immersive production division approached Serkis and his collaborators about stories built for immersive technology. Variety named that division as 100 Zeroes.
“What happens to all the incredible concept art for characters that never get used?” Serkis said. He described the piece as being born from “those digital rejects, hoping to be noticed”, and called the finished work “a parable about preserving creativity”.
XRMust describes Venice Immersive as the first competition and official selection for extended-reality work at an A-list festival. XRMust’s line-up lists 35 works out of competition alongside the 30 in it.
Margot Robbie voices Galapagos: The Last Eden. Omar Sy is attached to Artou, and Mark Ruffalo voices Solwata, a project about climate refugees.
“Andy Serkis is a massive personality. Having him contributing in this space is important,” said Bob Cooney, a VR consultant and executive director of LEXRA, the trade association for location-based XR. Cooney publishes The VR Collective.
For location-based operators, Nevatars runs on XREAL Aura glasses with installation technology around them. For festival programmers, Nevatars puts Serkis and Google’s immersive production division inside a 30-work competition, alongside Robbie, Sy and Ruffalo on three other projects. For immersive studios, 100 Zeroes approached The Imaginarium, which had carried the idea since 2011.
What is Nevatars? A 31-minute XR storytelling installation directed by Andy Serkis and Josh Nelson Youssef, running in competition at Venice Immersive 2026. XRMust lists it as UK, USA and Argentina, format “XR glasses, installation”.
What hardware does the XR storytelling installation use? XREAL Aura, Google-powered augmented-reality glasses, with installation technology around them. Viewers interact with characters and objects while staying aware of their physical surroundings.
What is Nevatars about? Aya, a young artist who hides her imperfect creations in a forgotten computer folder. One of the abandoned characters escapes into her world, and she has to face her perfectionism.
Who worked on it? The Imaginarium, the studio Serkis co-founded with Jonathan Cavendish, had been developing the idea since 2011. Google’s immersive production division, named by Variety as 100 Zeroes, approached Serkis and his collaborators. Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Kathleen Turner and Serkis supply the voices.
When and where can it be seen? Venice Immersive, on Lazzaretto Vecchio, from 2 to 12 September 2026. It is one of 30 works in competition at the festival’s 10th edition.
