VR, AR and spatial audio present significant access frictions and barriers for disabled users and creators. The CripTech Metaverse Lab, a collaboration between Leonardo CripTech Incubator and Gray Area, will gather ten disabled creatives to collectively experience immersive artworks, generate participatory aesthetic access, and create new speculative artworks culminating in Gray Area Festival 2023. The lab will imagine new creative pathways for experiencing metaverse artworks amongst participants and future audiences. The findings from this research lab will be shared via the publication of a white paper in Leonardo journal, an online research archive, and culminate in a series of talks, performances, and an exhibition for the 2023 Gray Area Festival this Fall.

The CripTech Lab was conceived by Vanessa Chang and Lindsey D. Felt. Convenings will be facilitated by Frank Mondelli and Jennifer Justice, access doula Claudia Alick, as well as our teams at Leonardo/ISAST and Gray Area.