"Desert Views, Desert Deaths" is an interactive immersive stereoscopic environment (using CAVE technology) addressing the U.S. / Mexico border enforcement policies. The United States / Mexico Border problems have been escalating in recent years.

Strict enforcement of border crossings have forced immigrants away from the main routes and cities they have taken in the past, to more remote desert locations. In the summer the desert temperatures reach 100F-120F degrees for more than three consecutive months. Illegal 'border guides' are dropping people off in the middle of the desert with one jug of water. They are told that the nearest city is an hour away when in fact it is often 12 to 18 hours away on foot. A record number of people die of heat stroke or dehydration while crossing the border. This year hundreds more will have died in the Sonoran Desert.

This virtual unreality is a memorial for those who have died while crossing the desert. When you enter "Desert Views, Desert Deaths" you are in the middle of an elusive graveyard of crosses. In the distance you can see into translucent overlapping caskets composed of desert images. You enter the life size caskets and see the names of those who died of heat and dehydration while crossing the border. As you follow the caskets you find more information about those who died along the way. While traversing the landscape you hear sounds of the desert that follow you as you move through your journey. New portals take you to undisclosed locations.

Exhibitions:
SIGGRAPH 2007 Art Gallery, Global Eyes
August 2007, special thanks goes out to Tom DeFanti from Calit2, UCSD.
Arizona Biennial, Tucson Museum of Art
May-August 2005, received Pat Mutterer Award.
ISEA2004
August, Helsinki, Finland.

The SIGGRAPH 2007 Art Gallery showing was made possible with the support of Calit2, University of California, San Diego. Special thanks to Tom DeFanti, Jurgen Schulze, Greg Dawe, John Graham, Qian Liu, Joseph Keefe and Kathy Tanaka.

Tucson Museum and ISEA2004 showings were made possible by University of Arizona Fine Arts Technology.

software by VRCO, Inc. thanks to Matt Szymanski.