Hello, I'm Ines Said, an XR Immersive Artist & Technologist!

I still remember the day that changed everything for me. I was walking along the shore at Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine, Florida. The sun was shining, the waves were calm — but scattered across the sand were little shiny particles glimmering in the light. At first, I thought it was seashells. But as I got closer, I realized with shock that it was Styrofoam.

Styrofoam as far as I could see. On a natural beach. On a state park.

I was horrified. And in that moment, I understood something I had never fully grasped before: seeing something firsthand has more impact than reading or hearing about it.

That experience planted the seed for my exhibition Shadows of Tomorrow, where I use immersive art to let people see their impact on the environment and imagine how we can do better.

It also crystallized a rule I live by: every project I take on has to carry social value. It has to help someone, improve something, or open people’s eyes. Otherwise, I simply won’t work on it.

👋 Hello again — my name is Ines Said. I’m from Tunisia, and I’m an XR Immersive Artist & Technologist. My work blends art, research, and social impact. I create XR (extended reality) experiences that reveal the hidden connections between climate change, cultural heritage, and human responsibility.

🌱 Climate and Culture Are Connected

For me, climate change and cultural heritage are not two separate interests, they are deeply connected. Rising seas, droughts, and extreme heat don’t just damage ecosystems. They also threaten ancient ruins, mosaics, temples, and historic cities. When we lose cultural heritage to climate change, we lose pieces of our collective memory.

Growing up in Tunisia, ruins were everywhere. We visited them on school trips, during family vacations, and sometimes they were just part of the landscape around us. But as a kid, I didn’t grasp their true value.

That perspective changed when I moved to the U.S. and started traveling. Suddenly, I saw how carefully countries preserved and celebrated their heritage. It made me realize how fragile and precious the ruins I grew up with truly were.

At 21, I interned at the 3D Access Lab at the University of South Florida with Dr. Laura Harrison. That was where I first learned about photogrammetry - scanning and digitally preserving heritage sites and artifacts. We worked on scanning ancient island heads and full locations in Florida, and I helped process the data using Reality Capture.

I was fascinated by the idea that technology could be used to protect history. I promised myself that one day, when I had the means, I would bring these tools back to Tunisia to help preserve our cultural heritage before it disappears.

With Tanit XR, I’m finally starting to make that promise real. Our archive is documenting Tunisia’s artifacts digitally so they can live on - even as climate change, urban growth, and neglect put them at risk.

My Path Into XR

Art was always my first language: painting with oils and acrylics, glass and fabric design, Arabic calligraphy, mosaics, sculpting. I loved the feeling of creating with my hands, of turning raw material into something expressive. But at the same time, technology fascinated me.

When my family first got internet in Tunisia, I’d sprint to my dad’s office just to sit at the computer—even though the dial-up connection took minutes just to load a page. That spark of curiosity grew into a Computer Science degree at the University of South Florida.

After graduation, I had offers to work in finance and write code for spreadsheets. But I knew that wasn’t me. Instead, I chose a different path: a Master’s in Digital Arts & Sciences at the University of Florida’s Digital Worlds Institute. That’s where I discovered AR and VR—and it was love at first sight.

XR became my bridge between two worlds: the tactile creativity of art and the logical structure of technology. Suddenly, I wasn’t just making things to look at—I was building experiences people could step inside.

My first real leap wasn’t even in a classroom. It happened at HackHarvard, where I built my very first VR app during undergrad. That weekend cracked everything open: I realized immersive worlds weren’t something I had to admire from afar—they were something I could create. From that moment, I never stopped building. And with every project, every team, and every hackathon, the wins started coming.

Climate + Culture Are Connected

Climate change and cultural heritage may seem like two separate issues, but to me, they are inseparable. Rising seas, extreme heat, and droughts don’t just affect nature — they threaten ancient ruins, mosaics, temples, and cities. When we lose cultural heritage to climate change, we lose our collective memory.

I grew up in Tunisia, where ruins were everywhere — on school trips, family vacations, or even part of the everyday landscape. But I didn’t fully grasp their value until I moved to the U.S. and saw how other countries protected and celebrated their heritage.

At 21, I interned at the 3D Access Lab at the University of South Florida with Dr. Laura Harrison. There, I learned photogrammetry — scanning artifacts and locations, and processing them in Reality Capture. I worked on projects like scanning ancient island heads and historical Florida sites. That’s when I promised myself: one day, I’d bring these tools home to Tunisia.

With Tanit XR, I’m making that promise real. In just a few months since launch, our volunteer team has scanned 50+ artifacts across 10+ archaeological sites. We’ve partnered with Sketchfab, collaborated with Tunisia’s National Heritage Institute, and mobilized senior engineers, designers, and photographers from across the world.

Projects With Impact

🌐 Covid Reflections

Covid Reflections emerged during a moment when science, art, and public health needed to meet in a new way. Together with Austin Stansbury and Erica Del Hagen, I built an AR installation that gives audiences a visceral, embodied way to see how COVID-19 affects the body — from viral entry to respiratory stress — and how different paths (like vaccination) change the outcome. University of Florida News+2Portfolio+2

The piece consists of a large display paired with an iPhone and body-tracking software: as someone stands in front of it, a 3D avatar mirrors their silhouette, visually overlaid with evolving models of internal systems (lungs, heart, etc.), showing the progression or mitigation of disease. University of Florida News+1

We deployed Covid Reflections on the University of Florida campus, integrating it with UF Health’s mobile vaccine units. As people interacted with the AR piece, they were also invited to get vaccinated or engage with health professionals. The intention: turn a public health intervention into a personal, interactive conversation. University of Florida News

This project shifted for me what XR could be — not a tool of escape, but a tool for empathy, awareness, and transparent dialogue between science and society.

🔥 Shadows of Tomorrow

Shadows of Tomorrow is perhaps my boldest experiment in blending self, data, and climate futures. It’s an immersive XR installation co-created with Austin Stansbury, where participants’ silhouettes are transformed — overlaid with animations of flooding, wildfire, melting ice, drought, and shifting ecosystems. Your form becomes a living mirror to climate change scenarios.

By combining LiDAR body tracking with generative visuals, the piece intentionally blurs the boundary between “you” and “nature in crisis.” It asks: are we observers of climate change, or part of it? This visual entanglement pushes people to feel responsibility, not only witness it.

The installation has been shown in major venues — GFAA (Gainesville Fine Arts Association), Parsons in New York, MIT Reality Hack, and Ringling College. It won the GFAA Biennial Award of Excellence, handed over by Miami’s Chief Heat Officer Jane Gilbert and climate author Jeff Goodell. It also advanced to the finals of the AWE XR Prize Challenge to Fight Climate Change.

In many ways, this piece is the emotional core of my mission: transform climate data into personal reflection.

💧 The Future of Energy and Water (Smithsonian FUTURES)

At the Smithsonian’s FUTURES exhibition, The Future of Energy and Water appeared as one of many immersive works envisioning possible tomorrows. This exhibit spanned over 32,000 square feet and invited audiences to navigate interactive, future-forward installations.

Collaborating with Oracle, Froliq, and EDX Technologies, we embedded VR experiences into this larger FUTURES framework — showing how energy systems, water scarcity, and resource flows might shift under climate stress. It reached a broad public: the Smithsonian counts hundreds of thousands of visitors to FUTURES each season.

This project was a chance to scale XR beyond art galleries and into the public square — where policy, imagination, and collective futures intersect.

⚡ Oracle Connected Hub AR Application

This app, developed with Oracle Utilities and Froliq, is a more utilitarian side of my work. It visualizes energy grids and neighborhood-level scenarios for sustainability — letting users see how different behaviors or infrastructure changes could influence energy consumption, load balancing, or resilience in a city.

By embedding AR in everyday spaces — homes, streets, public buildings — we aim to lower the barrier between big-picture research and individual agency. It’s a tool as much as it’s a narrative.

Today - XR Immersive Artist & Technologist

Today, my work bridges two worlds that share the same mission: building immersive technology for social impact.

At Froliq, where I serve as Lead XR Developer, I design experiences that help people understand sustainability and energy. Some of our projects include Recyclotopia, a VR mini-game about sorting recyclables; BungaLoad, where players uncover energy waste inside a virtual home; and Fantastic Wind, an interactive turbine experience. I also co-developed Froliq’s large-scale collaboration with Oracle and Vistra Energy, a digital twin of the Vistra Midlothian Gas Plant that trains workers and simulates energy systems. Over the past two years, these projects have been showcased at industry-leading events like DISTRIBUTECH, Oracle Edge, and Oracle CloudWorld, reaching thousands of energy professionals.

At the same time, I’m building Tanit XR, Tunisia’s first open-source digital archive of cultural heritage. In just a few months, we have scanned more than 50 artifacts across 10 archaeological sites. Our partnerships with Sketchfab Cultural Heritage Program and our connection with Tunisia’s National Heritage Institute (INP) make it possible to bring these scans to global audiences.

Both roles connect seamlessly: whether through energy education or heritage preservation, I am proving how XR can help us imagine better futures while protecting the past.

Beyond Work

Beyond my professional life, I return often to the roots of what made me love creating: drawing, pottery, and traveling. These practices remind me that art doesn’t always need a headset to carry meaning. When I paint or shape clay, I’m reminded of Tunisia’s long tradition of artisanship — and I see how heritage connects to my XR practice. I also spend time biking and exploring nature, especially along parks that inspire my environmental work. These moments outside recharge me and remind me what’s at stake in the fight against climate change.

Closing

This blog is just the beginning. My goal is to use this space to document my journey as an artist, technologist, and founder. I want to share not just finished projects but also the process, the challenges, and the lessons learned along the way.

At its core, everything I do comes back to one idea: art and technology can be powerful tools for social change. They can protect endangered heritage sites, raise awareness about climate change, and spark global conversations.

I’m proud to carry my Tunisian roots into this work. By blending the legacy of my culture with the tools of immersive technology, I hope to show that XR is more than entertainment — it is a language for connection across borders.

My name is Ines Said and I'm an XR technologist. I'm happy to connect!

Awards & Recognition

• IEEE ISEC 2023 – Best Paper (2nd Place): Developing Mini VR Game Engines as an Engaging Learning Method (with Prof. Angelos Barmpoutis & W. Guo).

• GFAA Biennial Award of Excellence: Shadows of Tomorrow.

• AWE XR Prize Challenge Finalist: Climate XR impact.

• Hackathons: 10+ Major League Hacking (MLH) wins at events like HackHarvard, ShellHacks, VandyHacks, and KnightHacks.

• MIT Reality Hack (Art Grant).

• Smithsosnian Exhibit. welcomed 650,000+ visitors.

List of Hackathon Wins

• HackViolet (Virginia Tech) — Monet’s Garden, an AR wellness experience — Best Self-Care Hack (Estée Lauder). Team: Ines Said, Austin Stanbury, Patrick Molen, Bingyu Li. Devpost - The home for hackathons

• VandyHacks VII (Vanderbilt) — VoteR (Google Cardboard VR civic engagement) — Best Use of Google Cloud (COVID-19 Fund), Best Hardware Hack (Digi-Key), and Best Use of Google Cloud – 2nd place. Team: Ines Said, Austin Stanbury, Jordan Smith, Aadithya Gowthaman. Devpost - The home for hackathons

• TechTogether Boston 2020 — Keep It Green (XR sustainability) — Best Overall Hack, Best Use of Google Cloud, Best Hardware Hack (Digi-Key). Team: Ines Said, Austin Stanbury, Linda Kirova. Devpost - The home for hackathons

• HackGT 7 (Georgia Tech) — WonderLab (STEM maker community) — IBM “Community Response to COVID-19” Winner. Team: Ines Said, Austin Stanbury, Patrick Molen, Roshaan Siddiqui. Devpost - The home for hackathons

• KnightHacks 2020 (UCF) — TRASH SIMULATOR (IoT + XR) — Best Hardware Hack (MLH & Digi-Key). Team: Ines Said, Austin Stanbury. Devpost - The home for hackathons

• Hackatown 2021 (Polytechnique Montréal) — Fresh Match (food access + hardware) — 1st Place – Building the Economy of Tomorrow and 1st Place – Best Hardware Hack. Team: Ines Said, Austin Stanbury, Patrick Molen. Devpost - The home for hackathons

• Technica 2019 (UMD) — technicAnatomy (VR anatomy learning) — Best #GoBeyond Hack. Team included Ines Said, Sabreen Margieh, Andy Blendermann, Lauren Antt. Devpost - The home for hackathons