Ep 3.3 | VR & Ancestral Intelligence with KeepersXR’s Lorna Okeng and Emmanuel Rukundo

In this episode of Futures Hub, we are joined by Lorna Okeng and Emmanuel Rukundo – the creative minds behind KeepersXR and the VR film Keepers of the Forest: The Batwa Legacy.

Filmed in Uganda, Keepers of the Forest features the Batwa people – ancestral guardians of the Bwindi and Virunga mountain ranges, which is home to half of the world’s mountain gorillas. Once evicted from their forest, the Batwa are now working to preserve their culture, identity, and environmental knowledge.

Using virtual reality, Lorna and Emmanuel preserve knowledge systems and feature African futurist perspectives. During the episode, we explore:

• How emergent tech like VR can preserve cultural knowledge
• The importance of ancient ecological wisdom for climate resilience
• Co-creation with Indigenous communities
• AI (that is: “Ancestral intelligence”) as a futures and design methodology
• Emotional reactions to immersive storytelling, including empowering youth through creative technology; and
• The landscape of African digital creativity and XR innovation

This conversation bridges past, present, and future, showing how intangible heritage, oral traditions, and technology can create better futures.