Future of StoryTelling (FoST) Mixed Reality and the Human Experience — Todd Eckert
Feb 5, 2026
Todd Eckert, President and CEO of Tin Drum and creator of mixed reality works like An Ark, talks about blending physical and digital worlds. He describes device-driven rituals, intimate one-to-one interactions with performers, multisensory design choices, and ambitions to scale mixed reality into larger, more fluid spaces. The conversation focuses on presence, communal intimacy, and storytelling as a medium for the human condition.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Public Setting Reinforces Shared Human Experience
- Presenting intensely personal moments publicly reminds viewers of shared humanity and common responses.
- Eckert intentionally stages personal encounters in a group to subliminally show that others are having similar reactions.
Rituals And Anonymous Characters Heighten Universality
- The piece treats life with dignity using secular rituals like removing shoes and barefoot actors to evoke sacredness.
- Characters are unnamed A, B, C, D; they speak universally yet trigger intensely personal recognition in viewers.
Characters Framed As Ghostly Guardians
- The performers are conceived as ghosts or guardians, offering perspective from beyond life to discuss mortality.
- Eckert confirms intentional afterlife/angelic framing to grant the characters wisdom and distance.
