I am a multidisciplinary media maker and designer who uses emergent technologies to practice new ways to communicate social and environmental issues.

I wear many hats: I am a professor at the University of Miami where I also chair the Department of Interactive Media, I lead the University XR initiative, I am the Director of Creative Computing at the Institute for Data Science and Computing, and am on the advisory board of centers across the University.

My work has been shown at AWE, Smithsonian, HotDocs, SXSWEdu, Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam, Webby Awards, National Press Photographers Association, Montreal International Documentary Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, and others.

SWAMPOCALYPSE

PROJECT: Swampocalypse
TYPE: Location Based Virtual Reality
COLLABORATORS:
Paulina Fiore, Yurisleidys Palacios, Eva Ellis, Bryson Rudolph.
ROLE: Producer
STATUS: In Production
YEAR: 2024

Swampocalypse is an immersive, location-based VR simulator game set in a post-apocalyptic Miami, where players must defend the city from a horde of zombies using an airboat in the Everglades. Combining thrilling action with environmental storytelling, players navigate the swamps, using the airboat’s speed and maneuverability to run over zombies while avoiding obstacles unique to the Everglades’ ecosystem. The game incorporates realistic environmental elements and an engaging narrative, immersing players in a high-stakes battle for survival against the backdrop of Florida’s most iconic natural landscape.

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Mangrove City

PROJECT: Mangrove City
TYPE: Virtual Reality
COLLABORATORS:
Zevensuy Rodriguez, Ruth Ron, Ren Rende,
Rafael Araujo, Bryson Rudolph & students.
ROLE: Producer, scriptwriter & designer
STATUS: Pre-release
YEAR: 2023-24 / Launch in Q4 2024
Website: www.mangrovecity.org

Mangrove City" is a VR experience designed for middle school students to explore the crucial role of mangrove forests in protecting coastal communities and mitigating climate change.

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Remarkable Beasts of the Anthropocene*

Sketch of how the exhibit could be displayed

Ofra Grinfeder taking a photo of the Remarkable Creatures work while in production

PROJECT: Remarkable Beasts of the Anthropocene
TYPE: Augmented Reality
COLLABORATOR: Ofra Grinfeder
ROLE: Producer, technical director
STATUS: In Production
YEAR: 2022-23
DEMO: https://youtu.be/gx6d2lRQyZI

Remarkable Beasts of the Anthropocene is a seventy-three meter (239.5 feet) hand-stitched textile art and interactive installation exploring the Anthropocene epoch and its effects on wildlife. Through an evolutionary lens, visitors are introduced to the stories of several animals that are extinct or currently under threat of extinction, encouraging the audience to build a rapport with and understand the scale of what’s being lost. By using their cell phones (or tablets), participants will be able to augment the tapestry and discover each animal, listen to their sounds and “release” them in 3D so they can wander around us.

Cardiac Auscultation Training

Kim Grinfeder tests the Mixed Reality version of the cardiac auscultation app.

PROJECT: Cardiac Auscultation Simulation for Rare Heart Murmurs
TYPE: MR & VR
ROLE: Producer, creative director
CLIENT: UofM Gordon Center
YEAR: 2021
DEMO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRQPjuPGeXg

An immersive simulation developed in collaboration with the Gordon Center for Simulation and Innovation in Medical Education at the University of Miami that is designed to train medical students how to identify rare cardiovascular conditions in patients of multiple ages and ethnicities.

Climate Change Pinball

PROJECT: Climate Change Pinball
TYPE: Spatial / Physical Computing & VR
ROLE: Producer, creative director
COLLABORATORS: Z. Rodriguez, M. Govindaraju & L. Lopez
YEAR: 2020
WEBSITE: https://climatechangepinball.org/

A game for Magic Leap that uses a custom-built haptic controller to show players not only the consequences of environmental negligence but also the benefits of caring for the environment by listening to the young voices in our society. The game promotes collaboration as a tool to resist the effects of climate on our planet, all within the context of a pinball game.

Know Your Grove

PROJECT: Know Your Grove
TYPE: Locative Media / Mobile App
ROLE: Producer, creative director, researcher
COLLABORATOR: Margaret Cardillo
YEAR: 2020
WEBSITE: knowyourgrove.com

Know Your Grove is an augmented bike tour of the historic neighborhood of Coconut Grove. Presenting a unique intersection of it's past and present, this app allows us to learn about important topics such as gentrification, segregation, and our environment.

SwampScapes

Kim Grinfeder inspects checks the scene in the 360 camera. Photo by Grant Bemis

Mike Owen - Fakahachee Strand, FL - Photo by Grant Bemis

Kim Grinfeder jumps into alligator infested waters to get the perfect shot. Photo by Grant Bemis

Betty Osceola on her airboat. Photo by Grant Bemis

PROJECT: SwampScapes
TYPE: Multimedia
ROLE: Producer, cinematography
COLLABORATORS: Elizabeth Miller and Juan Carlos Zaldivar
YEAR: 2018
WEBSITE: SwampScapes.org

SwampScapes is an immersive documentary that offers a journey to remote regions of the Everglades, one of the most diverse swamps in the world. From the treetops of urban swamps to the sloughs of the Fakahatchee, discover protectors of Florida’s wetlands. SwampScapes explores the complexity between humans and this extraordinary ecosystem. A 2D version is available for accessibility purposes.

ARMAGNAC

PROJECT: Armagnac
TYPE: 360º film/VR
ROLE: Producer, cinematography, audio, script, direction
YEAR: 2018
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3DorPsSMdQ

Distilled from wine, oldest brandy distilled in France. This virtual reality documentary delves into the history of Armagnac and shows how to sip Armagnac correctly.

DocGen

PROJECT: Doc Gen / Formative Journalism
TYPE: Open Source software
ROLE: Design, production, and ideation
COLLABORATORS: Loup Langton and Mike Davis
YEAR: 2019
SOURCE: https://github.com/the-mikedavis/doc_gen

DocGen is a documentary generation algorithm that doesn't impress bias on the audience. The software generates a customized documentary experience allowing users to select topics of their interest. The software was first used successfully on "Addressing the Urban Agenda" a documentary about a series of issues affecting affordable housing and related gentrification issues in Lisbon.

The Ghost, the Sphinx, and the Thief

PROJECT: The Ghost, the Sphinx, and the Thief
TYPE: Immersive interactive dance installation
ROLE: Producer, cinematography, interaction designer
COLLABORATOR: Juan Carlos Zaldivar, Zeven Rodriguez and Liz Miller
YEAR: 2019
Documentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WlHf-9scJ4

Photo of the installation at Filmgate in 2019

The Ghost, the Sphinx, and the Thief is an interactive video dance installation exploring the relationship between the mythical ghost orchid, the sphinx moth, humans, and the swamp. Visitors enter a room where the walls are covered with a 360º video of a Florida swamp. In the center of the room, a drum mounts on a wooden stand. Participants interact by beating the drum which affects the choreography and each dancer becomes a plant, insect, or human. When the drum is dormant, the dancers disappear from the video and visitors find themselves immersed in a live, peaceful swamp forest landscape.

Revista POYLatam

PROJECT: Revista POYLatam
TYPE: Website
ROLE: Technical Director
COLLABORATOR: Pablo Corral Vega
YEAR: 2020
Watch: http://revista.poylatam.org/

The POYLatam Magazine is a mosaic of dozens of written and visual stories that confirm the resilience and the ability of human beings to make sense of the pandemic. The idea was to portray our cities and their new rituals, save for the future the memory of this shared experience. Despite the pain and grief, this pandemic has also been an opportunity to reconnect with ourselves and others.

Recognition

Kim’s work has been honored at festivals and competitions, including the Webby’s, the Atlanta Film Festival, Hotdocs, SXSWedu, Online News Association, National Press Photographers Association, amongst others. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, galleries, and other venues. These are a few:

AWE
Online News Association
Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam
AEJMC
National Press Photographers Association

Atlanta Film Festival
Society of Professional Journalists
Webby Awards
Pictures of the Year International

HotDocs
The Taste Awards
Montreal International Documentary Festival
Tacoma Film Festival

Full CV available upon request.
Religion & Sacred Space in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality

Kim Grinfeder