Name: Elaine McAnally

Title: CEO and Co-Founder

Company: Green Forest XR

LAVNCH [CODE]: We know your title, but what do you actually do at Green Forest XR?

ELAINE MCANALLY: My co-founder and I are launching Yodelz, a series of immersive storytelling experiences designed for the young at heart to foster divergent thinking. Yodelz harnesses immersive technologies to transport users to new worlds, enhancing their ability to look at things from a different perspective and think spatially. We were inspired to create this because we believe “thinking in 3D” is a crucial skill for today’s youth, akin to reading and writing. With immersive technologies and generative tools evolving so rapidly, we are convinced that future careers will demand more creative thinking. My role is to manage operations, turning our creative ideas into reality, and to communicate our vision to the world.

LAVNCH [CODE]: In your opinion, what is the most exciting thing about extended reality?

EM: The ability to experience things that we otherwise couldn’t in our everyday lives is the most exciting thing about extended reality (XR). It brings such wonder and a new level of learning and engagement. Our experiences are guided by the RIDE principle. If the idea is rare, impossible, dangerous, or expensive to experience then it’s something we want to explore in mixed reality!

LAVNCH [CODE]: Where do you see the XR market heading in the next year?

EM: I think more and more people are starting to experience digital content within the physical world, or the illusion of it at least, so I think the XR market is currently in a state of rapid curiosity where content and products are being released in an attempt to solve different problems.

Secondly, I think you are going to see more products/hardware launched in the next year that attempt to solve specific problems. (eg. weight, cost, and use case.) So I see the market fragmenting until someone makes a device that is so different from anything available and people just get why they need it.

LAVNCH [CODE]: What new XR products and services are on the horizon for Green Forest XR?

EM: We are building out a roadmap of various immersive experiences for Yodelz that challenge and develop curious minds. Along with that, we are also developing immersive experiences for brands and events that bring their content and stories to life in new innovative ways.

LAVNCH [CODE]: Anything else you’d like to add?

EM: We are keeping our focus on preparing for the future as these new immersive and generative tools drastically affect our younger generations’ culture, how they consume content and even experience events in their lives. Creativity and Innovation will become a new currency as we’ve seen with the continuation of social tools and platforms.