What might Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol look like, in virtual reality?

Performer, director and mixed-reality artist Kevin Laibson has an innovative answer.

As Experience Director for New York immersive design studio Agile Lens, Kevin is the producer of A Christmas Carol VR, now in its fifth year and offering free live performances on Meta Quest!

The goal of Agile Lens, as stated on their website, is to "redefine storytelling through immersive technology... to create transformative spatial experiences."

They accomplish this goal with their nontraditional interpretation of Carol.

With some reimagined characters, A Christmas Carol VR maintains the magic of the timeless story. A talented two-actor team brings the show to life, in under an hour, amid some "magical" VR elements.

And incidentally, earlier this year, the show received a nomination for Best Immersive Theatre, during a special run at the Raindance Immersive Festival!

How to attend

Performances begin with a matinee on Saturday, November 29th, and run through weekends up to Sunday, December 21st. Here's the link for information.

There will also be an all-day "stream-a-thon" on Agile Lens' YouTube channel, on December 24th!

In addition, Kevin will be performing his solo show, "The Harmnf", in New York and Los Angeles! Here's the link for tickets.

Kevin talked about his background, offered a preview of what A Christmas Carol VR Audiences will see, and shared some guidance for fellow educators and theatre professionals who might like to take their work into virtual reality.

"I thought, this is a good way to motivate and inspire students to learn," explains VictoryXR Co-Founder and CEO Steve Grubbs.

He's recalling both his first VR experience--and the genesis of his Iowa-based educational technology company, founded in 2016.

VictoryXR, now used by educators in more than 30 countries, is transforming education through virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence.

In real-world-based immersive settings, students become interactive, rather than passive, participants: encouraged to explore, be curious and create content.

Applications are available for learners of all ages, from kindergarten to postgraduate and technical/career training.

Hands-on and virtual

Among VictoryXR's applications is the VXRLabs platform, which is free to download. Simulations on VXRLabs include an interactive field trip to Egypt, a virtual biology lab and a "create space" for students to input their own content.

There are also more than 140 fully-immersive field trips on the "Victory XR: Global Traveler" app, which takes students all over the world.

Without ruining the fun, let's just say that these approach travel destinations from some highly imaginative perspectives, while teaching.

"Because you're immersed, students retain dramatically more information," Steve explains.

AI for all learners

One of VictoryXR's newest offerings is HOLOTUTOR: an AI student tutor, available, 24/7, that can tutor students in virtually any subject. (It's also free to download.)

Steve talked about his background, shared the story of creating VictoryXR and offered a closer look at some of the ways his company continues to transform the ways we learn--and teach.

Just one more week till Immersive X!

For three days, starting Tuesday, November 11th, this free all-virtual festival will explore the ways XR will transform the future.

The arts, academia, health, and society will be among the areas covered in ten different tracks.

And in addition to exploring the exciting innovations happening with VR and XR, the event is all about connecting in the metaverse.

"We always look for people that want to contribute to the development of this community," says Immersive X Organizer and Curator Thomas Zorbach, who is the Founder and CEO of Berlin-based full-service agency vm-people..

While the sessions are popular, and space may be limited, prospective visitors are still welcome to apply for an invitation--just with the warning that some sessions may already be full.

Thomas says there will be a training day on Monday, November 10th, and then, sessions start on Tuesday, the 11th, with his opening remarks at 6 am, Pacific time.

In this interview from September, 2025, Thomas shared the story of creating both vm-people (check out their YouTube channel, for past IMMERSIVE X sessions!) and the IMMERSIVE X festival, as well as offering a preview of this year’s events.