Notes on Blindness, a virtual reality companion piece to the feature film of the same name, seeks to render writer John Hull’s experience of blindness. Based on the 16 hours of audio-diary that Hull recorded over three years to document his perception of the world after losing his sight, the interactive film explores memories, moments and locations from his recollections.

Using 360°, binaural audio and real time 3D animations, the film seeks to fully immerse the user in Hull’s interior vision of the world “beyond sight” and his increasing perception of “acoustic space.” The piece is narrated by Hull’s original recordings, during which he guides the user through his sensory musings on his surroundings, accompanied by the sounds of delicate water drops, ethereal choir music and the whooshing wind. The user responds to audio and visual cues and with the Samsung Gear VR’s touchpad interacts with and explores this sonic space. Mimicking the experience described in the narration, the user must focus his or her eyes on a blurry image to decipher the object represented. The result is a visual landscape of ghostly outlines that read like fading memories.