SSX is a community-building research & creation project using Extended Reality (XR) (ie. Virtual, Augmented, Mixed Realities) to foster new works by artists from the Asian diaspora.

Asians are generally underrepresented and misrepresented in new media such as games, VR, and AR. We also recognize the lack of diverse representation of the Asian community’s everyday experiences on major digital asset platforms. Inspired by the concept of the Sari Sari store in the Philippines —small neighborhood convenience stores run by women within the home as part of the local economic ecosystem — we are building a diverse and accessible “glocal” digital asset network for media art creation, including XR, games, and animation. Beyond serving as an online asset repository, SSXA seeks to use the digital asset library as a storytelling platform to represent individual stories. By deploying different tiers of copyright associated with digital assets, SSXA embraces an ethics of care for these assets, considering the labor involved in their creation and their emotional and sentimental value. SSXA engages in community collaboration with local partners to disseminate knowledge in digital creation through activities such as asset creation workshops and tech jams. Additionally, SSXA invests in innovative and accessible educational modules to further benefit community members at large. By leveraging horizontal modes of operation, SSXA empowers various stakeholders to challenge systemic injustices and inequalities in the current technological infrastructure.