Initially, the idea was to create a one-off event. After the cancellation of Burning Man in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of attendees collaborated to replicate the festival in the virtual realm via Altspace, a social VR platform. This online rendition was met with tremendous success, drawing approximately 13,000 participants and earning praise from the Producers Guild of America. The positive response prompted organizers to keep the virtual experience alive, even after the physical festival resumed in 2022. Thus, BRCvr was born, named after the festival’s temporary settlement in Black Rock City, becoming a staple of Burning Man in the virtual world, complete with virtual meet-ups and digital versions of iconic structures, including a replica of The Man, the large wooden effigy traditionally burned in the Nevada desert each year.
However, BRCvr itself faced challenges when Altspace was shut down by Microsoft in early 2023, ending the virtual Burning Man experience. “When Altspace shut down, we felt a bit lost,” said Athena Demos, CEO of Big Rock Creative, the organization behind BRCvr. In search of a new platform, Demos and co-founder Doug Jacobson explored over 40 social VR platforms, often leaving disappointed. “We came to realize that no existing platform offered the necessary features,” Jacobson noted, which included the capacity to handle large volumes of content. This realization led the BRCvr team to embark on creating their own social VR application, now named BurnerSphere, which is set to launch in beta for VR headsets as well as Mac and Windows desktops just in time for the upcoming Burning Man festival.
It’s important to note that Burning Man is not for everyone. Personally, many might prefer more comfortable ways to enjoy the final week of August than dealing with desert sand or mud, all while witnessing extravagant behaviors around them. Nevertheless, Burning Man is recognized as one of the largest and most enduring annual gatherings related to technology. The difficulties faced by this community in finding a suitable home in VR—and ultimately deciding to forge their own path—highlight the existing challenges in this medium and the hurdles companies encounter in convincing users to embrace their vision of the metaverse.
Exploring the BurnerSphere
Upon launching the BurnerSphere app on a Meta Quest headset, users are greeted by a digital recreation of Gate Road, which leads to the festival. From this point, they can view a brief VR documentary featuring immersive footage from past Burning Man events or enter the festival through various interconnected portals. Some portals provide access to showcases of Burning Man art, complete with details about the artists, while others allow users to watch additional immersive videos or discover different camps and gathering areas. During a recent exploration, I encountered art installations including two sphinx statues, a towering 27-foot hollow wooden die, and a complex staircase leading to nowhere. The experience is enhanced as BRCvr merges digital elements with real-life immersive video; for instance, entering a tent overlays its interior with 360-degree footage of real-life gatherings, creating an illusion of being in the midst of the action.
Although the space felt quite empty before the festival, it is expected to feature live broadcasts from the 2025 Burning Man next week. The BRCvr team plans to capture more immersive footage and Gaussian splats at the festival, with aspirations to introduce new content bi-weekly and host regular events starting in September. “Our goal was to combine social VR with a documentary experience,” Jacobson explained, noting that significant efforts have been made to enhance the graphics quality compared to the previous Altspace version.
Despite these improvements, users should not expect cutting-edge video game graphics; avatars and other components still resemble those found on early metaverse platforms like Altspace. Jacobson admits that much of the work remains in development. “We’re just getting started, and our team is quite small,” he remarked.
Building a Unique Community
So, why undertake the effort of developing a platform from scratch rather than utilizing established ones like VRChat or Meta’s Horizon Worlds? The team’s previous experiences with Altspace fostered a sense of anxiety about relying on another company’s infrastructure. Demos highlighted that among the 40 platforms they evaluated, several have since been discontinued, amplifying their concerns. Additionally, Demos and Jacobson pointed out the issue of misaligned incentives. They aimed to preserve Burning Man’s essence, which prohibits commercial activities. “Once you enter the Burning Man environment, there are no hot dog stands or merchandise vendors,” Jacobson explained. “It embodies a non-commercial ethos, operating as a gift economy.” BRCvr strives to reflect these same principles, refraining from selling avatars or accepting corporate sponsorships—elements often outside one’s control on third-party platforms. However, maintaining BurnerSphere incurs significant operational costs, which is why some content and experiences are reserved for members who pay an annual $48 “camp fee.”
The long-term vision, according to Demos, is to provide a permanent digital haven for the more than 100,000 “burners” who participate in Burning Man events annually. This space aims to facilitate year-round gatherings and offer opportunities for those curious about the festival to explore it from anywhere, all without the commercial pressures typically associated with venture-funded metaverse projects. “This isn’t intended to be a massive free platform that experiences exponential growth,” Jacobson clarified.
Will a dedicated social VR platform for Burning Man thrive on member contributions? Demos and Jacobson readily acknowledge the uncertainty. “We’re at the beginning of this journey,” Jacobson stated. “We’re unsure of what the future holds, but if the platform were to fail, at least we would be in control, rather than having it dictated by a corporation.”
Corrections, August 22nd: The Burning Man festival occurs in Nevada, not Utah as previously mentioned. The event officially resumed in 2022, not 2021; a gathering took place unofficially in 2021. Additionally, the text has been updated to reflect that BRCvr is accessible on Mac and Windows laptops.
