# Project Description Plastic Traps in the Anthropocene Era Xinyu Shao Summary Final work Xinyu is a digital media designer and creative strategist who examines environmental challenges and their societal ripple effects. Her research integrates sociology and psychology, employing mixed reality and multimedia tools to craft immersive narratives and future speculation. Xinyu is a digital media designer and creative strategist who examines environmental challe... College Central Saint Martins Course MA Narrative Environments Graduation year 2025 Plastic Traps in the Anthropocene Era: REBIRTH (2080) is a speculative VR narrative that explores how environmental fear is commodified. Set in the year 2080, the experience places users in a future archaeological lab investigating the ruins of “Rebirth,” a healthcare giant that thrived by exploiting public panic over microplastic pollution. The project critiques how consumer markets transform ecological crises into economic opportunity. The VR & MR journey unfolds across five emotional scenarios; each designed to evoke and break the emotional state of the “consumerist placebo effect”. Ranging from fake newsrooms to luxury wellness clinics—participants witness the emotional arc of consumer manipulation: fear, desire, relief, and eventual disillusionment. As they scan fake health reports, purchase symbolic safety products, and uncover the artificial creation of panic, they are forced to reflect on how capitalism sells self-comfort, not certainty. Blending speculative fiction, environmental science, and behavioral economics, this project questions the ethics of health-driven consumption. Ultimately, participants are challenged to re-examine whether their conscious purchases genuinely protect their health—or merely serve as comforting acts of self-deception within an exploitative market system. Collaborators： Shuxin Liu, Psychological Sociology Theory Guidancer Haixu Wang, 3D Animation Tec-Director Xiangqi Wen, VR Tec-Director YUHUAN JIN, MR Tec-Director LIANGYU QIN, Visual Director Final work Plastic Traps in the Anthropocene Era: REBIRTH (2080) A speculative VR and MR narrative of future archaeology, exploring microplastic pollution, consumerism, and health anxiety. Narrative structure of future archaeological experience The project image sets a "consumption placebo effect" narrative framework in the future archaeological laboratory in 2080. Full journey: MR experience demonstration By leveraging 3D scanning and modelling, we have integrated real-world museum scenes with VR experiences within an open museum space. Illustrated here at the Tate Modern Gallery. View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery Share this project Plastic Traps in the Anthropocene Era: REBIRTH (2080) is a speculative VR narrative that explores how environmental fear is commodified. Set in the year 2080, the experience places users in a future archaeological lab investigating the ruins of “Rebirth,” a healthcare... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Futures Digital Experiences Places & Spaces Story & Myth Capitalism Consumption VR Future Environment