INTRA 2121 by SparkedEcho

Did you come and experience our glimpse into the futuristic Chatham Intra?
It is the year 2121…...a lot has changed in the past century. Things look very different along the Chatham Intra now…...

Intra 2121 was co-created by SparkedEcho and 60 young people aged 11-14 as part of the Ebb & Flow Festival which ran 21-23 May 2021.​

It presented young people’s hopes, fears and dreams for Chatham in 100 years time. Accessible by QR points along the road, the public were transported into a mobile VR environment of the future, imagined by the young minds of Medway. This was created by pupils from the Cedar Children's Academy in Strood as well as online workshops. 
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With the use of 360° photo technology, the team were able to transform the Intra as we know it today, with layered drawings, animations, soundscapes and stories. 

The VR trail took us along into 3 different portals, each unique in their own right; taking the public on a journey of worlds filled with equal measures of utopia and dystopia. 

This really was an opportunity for the young people of Medway to let their imagination run wild, and express their feelings towards the future.  

Some futures were bright, with themes of space, nature, new technology and scientific breakthroughs, which would cure all illnesses. There was a great sense of optimism within these environments, emulating the excitement felt by the young people of the possibilities the future holds.

​Other stories took us on a dystopian journey full of fear, violence and dismay. A world now lived predominantly underground, with everything we know today on the high street boarded up and destroyed. Another pandemic is coming, and talk of Covid-19 is still happening. Global warming has hit its peak, with temperatures soaring and there’s also water shortages.

If you didn’t have a chance to come down at the weekend, you can still access the trail here. 

Written by Isabel Jaques.