Ep 3: “Synesthesia” feat. Mariam Rafehi

June 24, 2021 Spencer Striker

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Ep 3: “Synesthesia” feat. Mariam Rafehi Spencer Striker, PhD

Welcome back to the Digital Doha Podcast, our new series focused on bringing listeners informative conversations with local experts exploring the cutting-edge of emerging media happening in the dynamic international capital of Doha. Hosted by Spencer Striker, PhD Digital Media prof at Northwestern Qatar, and co-hosted by Natasha Das, Media Info & Tech student at NU-Q.

We’re thrilled to present our third guest of the season, Mariam Rafehi—an interdisciplinary artist and designer, who has lived half her life in Europe and half in the Middle East. Growing up in Berlin, she was looking for Narnia in her closet and a white rabbit in a hurry. In her work, she creates alternative worlds and brings them to life through artifacts or immersive virtual reality (VR). In VR, Mariam can transport an audience to unthinkable experiences, such as flying or shrinking in size.

After receiving her bachelor’s in media and communications, her work developed into transmedia storytelling. During her MFA, she became interested in immersive world-building and sense-stimulation. Some of her recent work deals with sense-stimulation through a synesthesia experience in VR by coupling 3D spatial audio with reactive colorful patterns. As an artist and designer, she has exhibited in the US, Germany, Russia, and Qatar.We hope you enjoy our conversation with one of Doha’s leading innovators in the cutting-edge space of immersive world-building, sense-stimulation, and synesthesia experience in VR.

Hosted by: Spencer Striker, PhD

Co-hosted by: Natasha Das

Special Guest: Mariam Rafehi

Producer: Shaikha Alkubaisi

Sound Design & Editing: Ayah Mohamedain

Social Media Manager: Samson Mbogo

Project Management: Laiba Mubashar

Emerging Media Research: Greg Bergida, PhD, Farina Amir, and Christopher Fwalanga

Emerging Media Research: Venus Jin, PhD, John Pavlik, PhD, and Justin Gengler, PhD

Artwork: Fernanda Jimenez

Music and Sound Effects: Courtesy of Epidemic Music