“‘Arden’s Wake’ is one of the rare VR films with a premise that could hold up in an older, more sophisticated medium. . . . The piece is a simple but effective example of spatial storytelling. You’re given a god’s-eye view of an environment, but each piece of it is like an individual comic panel. The set is small enough that you’re not missing out on pieces of the story, but the setup makes you feel like you’re actively following the plot, playing the role of the camera.”

“Collaborating inside the actual virtual world they were creating was so crucial that Penrose developed its own in-house tool for the job: Maestro. Imagine a VR Slack with moonlike faces for avatars, and chunky articulated hands. Maestro allows everyone involved in a project, creatives and engineers alike, to step out of their separate professional worlds, into the same virtual one. . . .

“Inside Maestro, we're once again in Meena's world, this time joined by a huddled crowd of artists and developer avatars. Animator Bruna Berford is holding virtual court, scrubbing back and forth a part of the scene in which Meena walks across the mezzanine in her wooden house. Berford thinks one, maybe two steps don't quite look natural enough and draws a virtual path within the scene to show how she thinks it would feel more natural. Virtual heads nod, and the occasional chunky hand waves a gesture. Meanwhile, I have a very real sensation of standing in someone's virtual way. Even digital worlds still have human problems.”