About

Barna Szász is an XR artist, storyteller, and educator splitting his time between Budapest and San Francisco. He founded and lectures the AR Storytelling course at Stanford University's Department of Art & Art History.

His work is driven by the conviction that Augmented Reality is a medium poised to redefine how we see the world. Viewing this shift as both a societal threat and a profound opportunity, his practice confronts this duality head-on. While critiquing the former, he is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of AR to realize its potential for engaging with complex socio-political layers of history and cultural heritage, and for building humanistic, protopian futures.

As an XR creator, Barna’s projects have been recognized by leading international forums including IDFA Doclab, CPH:LAB, Sheffield Arts Talent, and NewImages XR markets. He has developed Kvöldvaka, a multi-sensory AR documentary about our relationship with nature, and If These Streets Could Talk, a research-driven and ethically grounded AR experience exploring Holocaust memory.

Barna aims to find emotion-driven, impactful stories and present them in the medium that best suits them. Working collaboratively with communities to elevate their narratives, he often brings on researchers – from psychologists to historians – to design new ways of enriching impact and depth.

This focus on immersive media builds on a foundation in documentary film and video journalism. As a Fulbright Scholar, Barna graduated from Stanford University’s MFA Documentary Film program. His documentary work was acquired by PBS (POV Shorts) and The Guardian, and screened at festivals including DOK Leipzig, CPH:DOX, and DOC NYC. Prior to his U.S. studies, he served as Head of Video at Index.hu, Hungary’s leading news portal, and taught Video Journalism at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design.

Contact

hello@barnaszasz.com

acknowledgement

I will be forever grateful for the following fellowships and organizations that helped getting quality education: Fulbright Commission, Rosztoczy Foundation, The Hungary Initiatives Foundation, The Theodore and Frances Geballe Fellowship in Fine Arts.