Reflections of Little Crimson Dot explores how Singapore’s speedy city improvement has affected its communities.
Created by Chloé Lee, Reflections of Little Crimson Dot is a blended actuality expertise that explores time, reminiscence, diaspora, and place in Singapore via “intimate conversations” and private tales filmed in 2015. Utilizing archival footage all through this 3D setting, this expertise explores how speedy city improvement has impacted Singaporean communities because the nation gained independence in 1965.
“In 2015, I returned to Singapore after an extended absence to get to know the nation higher and perceive the place and its individuals. Many Singaporeans really feel disoriented in a panorama of ever-changing excessive rises,” states Lee. Highlighting what number of kampongs (villages) have disappeared, this makes use of XR to attempt to bear in mind the importance of those locations in a brand new method.
Reflections of Little Crimson Dot premiered a number of months in the past throughout SXSW 2025, just lately returning throughout Venice Immersive 2025. It is right here the place I spent 40 minutes diving into these particular person conversations, taking an fascinating strategy by utilizing a pretend projector. Choose up one of many eight playing cards from the case, place it into the slot, and watch this projected in entrance of you whereas sporting a Quest 3.
Between six fastidiously positioned stools I may sit on emerged a digital desk with a chessboard on it, and sitting in numerous places began enjoying completely different clips. As a result of this demo was time-limited, I did not have time to undergo all of them to completion, so I normally ended up watching two or three completely different clips earlier than swapping to a brand new card.
This novel strategy makes it unlikely that we’ll see a house launch with out appreciable alterations, although I’ll say Reflections of Little Crimson Dot is a watch opener. As somebody who admittedly didn’t know rather a lot about Singaporean historical past, watching residents focus on issues like language and heritage, fashionable life, and the place the “little pink dot” nickname emerged from is very informative.
I’ve some criticisms. Having a bodily desk to lean on can be preferable in these demos, even when the digital desk overlaps it. Not all of them have this subject, however choose clips have the subtitles ghosting over one another, doubling up within the background. Nonetheless, it is a compelling perception into the Asian nation that is deeply private in its mission, questioning how one can foster a way of group when speedy improvement feels relentless.
