Vocalize - Training the voices of the future

Training the Voices of the Future

About Vocalize

"A brilliant fusion of art and entertainment."

- Stephen Fry

An interactive installation with Sir Stephen Fry that confronts the future of AI, identity, and truth.

Vocalize is a provocative new interactive installation that invites you to confront one of the most urgent questions of our time: what happens when your voice is no longer your own?

Audience members step into a soundproof booth to enter the fictional world of Vocalize Talent Agency, where an interactive voiceover training session awaits. Led by an AI-powered vocal double of Sir Stephen Fry, they are guided to record their very own professional voice reel. But just as they are finding their voice, things take an unexpected turn.

Vocalize uses immersive storytelling to explore how artificial intelligence can manipulate identity and truth in a world where our voices, faces, and words exist online.

By placing audiences at the center of the conversation, the installation offers a powerful, hands-on encounter with synthetic media, urging everyone to consider how AI is rapidly reshaping our understanding of authenticity and consent.

Hay Festival Premiere

Vocalize premiered at the Hay Festival in May 2025, supported by arts organisation Sage & Jester. An installation was set up in a large tent housing four soundproof booths where audience members were encouraged to have voice coaching sessions with Stephen Fry.

Over 1000 people attended during the 10 days with the project at 90% audience capacity. People left feeling more informed, shocked at the speed of cloning and engaged with the issues around AI harms.

Social psychologist Dr Melisa Basol, a specialist in combatting disinformation conducted 40 in-depth interviews with participants which contributed to her evaluation report with University of the Arts London. She concluded that the piece "invited reflection without prescribing conclusions. It combined psychological insight with creative storytelling, allowing people to think, feel, and respond on their own terms."

Vocalize Goes to Parliament

On the 16th March 2026, the Vocalize experience was hosted by Baroness Kidron at Parliament. MPs, Peers and staff members were invited to interact with a newly adapted version of Vocalize aimed at raising awareness of the speed of deepfakes and the gaps in UK law. Accompanied by researchers at the Ada Lovelace Institute, the session focused on what MPs could do now to keep the public safe from AI harms.

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The Team

Vocalize is produced by Indigo Storm, an immersive studio that harnesses technology and storytelling for social good.

Directors:

Halsey Burgund is a new media artist and Emmy-winning interactive director. Halsey was a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow, a Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab and is currently Creative Technologist in Residence at the MIT Open Documentary Lab.

Shehani Fernando is an award-winning immersive director and founder of Indigo Storm. She specializes in cutting-edge storytelling including VR and AR. Previously, she spent many years at The Guardian, where she led the Audio department and directed acclaimed VR experiences.

Francesca Panetta is Director of UAL's AKO Storytelling Institute and an Emmy award-winning artist. Working at the intersection of artistic practice and social change, the Institute aims to develop the discipline of storytelling-for-change. She led The Guardian's vanguard storytelling initiatives for over a decade including podcasting, immersive features and virtual reality.

Production: Indigo Storm Ltd
Technical Director: Halsey Burgund
Lead Technical Developer: Adam Cole
Lead Writer: Adam Barnard
Additional Writer: Dan Susman
Additional Technical Development: Shreyas Jadhav, Halsey Burgund
UX Designer: Juliet Alliban

DOP & Photographer: David Levene
Executive Producer for The Space: Harmeet Chagger-Khan
Visual Design: Ksenia Slavina, Halsey Burgund
Motion Graphics: Jazz Rumsey
Editing: Shehani Fernando, Prince Yiadom, Dan Susman
Concept Consultant: James Burke
Assistant Producer: Harry Løvstrøm

Our Supporters

Primary Supporter

Sage & Jester, an innovative arts production company. Sage & Jester take critical thinking and wrap it in stories, laughter and immersive experiences that combine curiosity, wisdom and wit. Their unique blend of art, technology and storytelling will move, inspire and provoke – inviting you to question the very notions of truth and trust. We're here to challenge your sense of reality just enough to make you say: "Wait, what?"" Then we'll help you see the world and yourself anew. Their mission: At Sage & Jester, we believe information is power. Understanding its flow is crucial to surviving – and thriving, especially as the silent tide of misinformation rises ever higher.