Francesca Panetta
Francesca Panetta is an immersive artist. She uses emerging technologies to innovate new forms of storytelling that have social impact. Currently, she curating Sheffield DocFest's Alternate Realities programme. She was Creative Director in the MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality. Previous to MIT, she worked at the Guardian for over a decade where she pioneered new forms of storytelling including interactive features, location-based augmented reality, and virtual reality leading the Guardian’s inhouse VR studio. In 2011, she pioneered a series of locative audio guides using the GPS on smartphones. She's interested in the way layered media changes your perception of the real world. Her works have won critical acclaim - receiving awards around the world, and touring the White House, Tribeca, Cannes, Sundance, and more. She was a 2019 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.