Body of Mine wins XR for Change award
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Body of Mine, a virtual reality experience about what it’s like to be a trans person, has won the XR for Change award at the Games for Change Awards.
Developed by solo creator Cameron Kostopoulos, Body of Mine is a powerful experience that focuses on “body dysphoria,” or the feeling people can get when they feel misalignment between the body they were born with and their gender identity, Kostopoulos said in an interview with GamesBeat.
The honor is a recognition of the empathy that the app can create when people experience it. Kostopoulos, a former USC master’s student, said it’s been gratifying to receive the recognition for Body of Mine.
Kostopoulos said he came out of the closet as gay and it was difficult for the family as well as himself.
“I was raised in a Baptist household in Texas, a very unaccepting environment. I was kind of forced out of the closet and lost contact with my parents. At the same time, a lot of my trans friends were going through the stages of transition. My roommate — she got top surgery. One of my friends — he got pregnant. And so all these really interesting stories were around me,” Kostopoulos said.
Kostopoulos said he was thinking of the isolation such people can feel when they come out.
“I was wondering how we can use VR to build safe spaces when such spaces in the real world can be hard to find,” Kostopoulos said.
Kostopoulos spent the next year learning how to make a game, teaching himself Unreal Engine.
“Basically just spending a lot of all-nighters and a lot of passion on Body of Mine,” Kostopoulos said. “Then, a year later, it premiered at South by Southwest and won the
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