Meet Francesca Panetta, creative director at the MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality | RadicalFutures

An immersive artist and journalist, Francesca Panetta uses emerging technologies to innovate new forms of storytelling that have social impact. In her previous role at the Guardian, Francesca pioneered new forms of journalism, including interactive features, location-based augmented reality, and most recently virtual reality, where she led an in-house VR studio.

At the intersection of journalistic reporting, scholarly sources, and artistic expression, Francesca’s work ranges in subject matter — from an exploration of solitary confinement in prisons in the United States (“6x9”) to a child development-based story allowing viewers to see the world through a baby’s eyes (“First Impressions”).

Francesca has received numerous awards from all over the world, touring the White House, Tribeca, Cannes, Sundance, and more. She was a 2019 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.