Meet the Team: Thawah
An Introduction to the Members of Glitches.VR
Hello, Bonito here! This interview is very special because Thawah came up with these questions for all of us. They also lovingly edited our answers so they were coherent for you folks. Bless ✨
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I'm Thawah! I'm a VRChat (VRC) adventurer and creator. I love exploring new worlds with my friends in VRC every night. I also dabble in creating worlds and avatars for VRChat. I've mostly worked using publicly available assets, but recently I've been learning how to create my own stuff! I'm trying to break into 3D modeling, although that's not at all what I thought I'd be doing as a career. Originally, I studied and got a bachelor's degree in gender studies, which I still take a huge interest in. I am also interested in animal rights and have been vegan for almost a decade.
When and how did you get into social VR?
In 2019, my girlfriend at the time suggested we play this free game called VRChat. We tried it out, but she didn't really stick with playing it. I, however, ended up lucking out by meeting some amazing people within the first week or so. To this day, I'm still friends with those folks. Through them, I eventually met my current friend group. I got my first headset, a Meta Quest 2, in late 2020. Soon after, I got a proper computer that could run PCVR and have been playing VRC consistently ever since.
“I think many young adults, especially those with social anxiety, find it hard to make friends. Social VR just makes that process much more approachable. A lot of the things one might feel self-conscious about IRL, those aren't as much of a concern in VR.”
What interests you most about social VR?
A large part of what drew me into social VR and kept me interested was how fun and human it all felt. You could meet new and interesting people much more easily than in real life (IRL). I think many young adults, especially those with social anxiety, find it hard to make friends. Social VR just makes that process much more approachable. A lot of the things one might feel self-conscious about IRL, those aren't as much of a concern in VR. It's like a veil is lifted, allowing for more vulnerability while at the same time feeling safer. Sometimes this ability to put yourself forward more in VR results in people being more brash and abusive than they'd normally get away with IRL. But I think for the most part, it usually results in people letting go of what's held them back IRL, allowing them to be themselves more unapologetically. This is all without even mentioning the endless potential for self-expression through avatars in VR that just isn't possible IRL. Also, I especially find the intersection of gender identity/expression and social VR to be fascinating, but I'll just stop here!
What is your go-to way of expressing your creativity?
I've actually struggled with expressing my creativity for a long time. I have this fun little quirky thing where I usually don't want to make anything unless I know it'll turn out perfectly on the first try. And that's really not how art (or being human) works. So, I hope to use Glitches.VR as a medium for my creativity, and as practice for overcoming that issue. But other than that, I do love to work on avatars and sometimes worlds for VRChat. The flood of emotions I felt when I finished my first world was practically euphoric. I loved being able to walk around in an environment I created and worked hard on, and I especially loved hearing all my friends' reactions. Aside from that, I also enjoy expressing myself through dancing, singing, fashion, and I try to motivate myself to draw something every once in a while.
Who or what inspires you?
My friends are my absolute biggest inspiration. Never in my life have I met such a colorful group of amazing people whose creativity knows no bounds. Especially because it's such a large group, there's such a diversity of folks constantly doing stuff I never would've imagined. And I definitely would never have gotten into 3D if it weren't for them. They've helped push me to create things and I'm forever grateful for their support.
What is the origin of your username?
It's just my real first name, Sarah, but spelled/said with a lisp.
How do you feel about the future of VR?
Well, I try to think about it optimistically, but really I'm quite worried in a way. On one hand there's so much potential and I want so many more people to be able to see what we create and experience regularly; I think it would blow the average person's mind in the best way. And I think everyone deserves access to the creative/emotional medium that is social VR. But on the other hand, I fear that some day our creative freedom will be stripped from us if social VR falls into the hands of the wrong companies/people. I can't say I know much about the industry side of things, but I'm just hoping social VR stays as open and free as it is right now. It's a beautiful thing and should be preserved.
Learn more about Thawah HERE.
THANK U THAWAH!!! ✨