Dec 13, 2025 – “The Game Show”

CONNECTOME was selected to be included in The Game Show at a gallery called The Vestibule in Seattle (Ballard neighborhood to be specific). The opening show was 12/13/2025 and I was busy demoing from open to close! For many who played, this was their very first experience in VR – what a privilege to be their first memory of immersion! Read more in this Substack post.

Dec 1, 2025 – Piano Single Published – “EXPLORATION.2025.x”

I published this single piano track at the end of the year – a recording from a late night session. It starts slow and builds with a melancholy/searching vibe… search for “Grant Hinkson” on Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal, etc. and you’ll find it. Let me know what you think if you find it and listen!

Nov 15, 2025 – Launched Grant Hinkson: On Creating Substack

I launched Grant Hinkson: On Creating on Substack shortly after presenting The Prototyper’s Mindset at XRCC Online. I’m experimenting with Substack as a platform to both share thoughts on prototyping (creating ;)) as well as product news (e.g. CONSTELLATIONS, CONNECTOME, etc.)

Nov 5, 2025 – Presented The Prototyper’s Mindset at XRCC Online

This presentation is part of #XRCC Online – the world’s biggest XR/AI hackathon by Immersive Insiders (organizing XRCC).

Additional Details:
✨ The world’s biggest XR/AI hackathon
👩‍💻 3000+ Designers & Developers
💡 4 weeks to build something portfolio-worthy
🏆 $10,000+ in prizes
🧠 Mentorship from 30+ industry pros
🚀 2.5M+ impressions from last year’s projects

October 28, 2025 – CONNECTOME “Halloween Update” and Game Audio Single Published

The CONNECTOME “Halloween Update” introduces the first set of new rooms since the May 2025 launch. This playful/creepy experience builds upon the “pinch-to-reveal” and “drag-to-connect”/”drag-to-manipulate” interactions familiar to current players. From the opening room, a new door appears, ushering you into a void. A skull, a tunnel, towering pumpkins and witch’s hats await in a short but delightful Halloween experience, all accompanied by a new music track, custom created for the update.

October 9, 2025 – “Night Sky” art installation at “House in the Woods” (Passable)

This is the second Halloween art show I’ve participated in at Passable, following last year’s “Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe”.

This year I was able to transform the real stars into a projection-based “Night Sky” installation (more on why I have the real sky rendering in Unity later 😊). For this quick exercise, I cycle the natural starscape through a few different layouts – starting with a flocking algorithm that transforms the distant points into what looks like a swarm of… insects, birds, fish… you tell me. This is followed by a circle in the sky, then a grid (naturally 😉). I like the contrast between the familiar, random layout and designed/composed layouts.

From my description:

In “Night Sky,” the stars are not what they seem. From familiar, ancient patterns at once recognizable, emerge formations that feel… unnatural. Stars swirl like swarms of insects, defying their proper places in the distant cosmos. Shapes materialize and hover, then wash away to their “rightful” spots. Is there a glitch in the simulation? An imminent invasion? Or just your visual cortex doing a hard reboot after endless doom-scrolling? Only the universe knows. And it’s not telling.

Sept 27, 2025 – PNW Arts and Tech Symposium

I participated in the first annual PNW Art & Tech Symposium both as a speaker and an artist

My rapid talk “All the Things You Are: Creating The Door” highlights the power of embracing curiosity and how diverse skills can intersect in unexpected ways. My installation The Door, a physical reimagining of a key element of my VR game CONNECTOME, shows how game design, coding, and making can converge into a collaborative, interactive work.

August 31, 2025 – “CONNECTOME” at the Seattle Indies Expo (SIX)

SIX is an annual celebration of Pacific Northwest indie games and game creators sponsored by Seattle Indies and CONNECTOME is included in this year’s line up!

SIX is held during PAX Weekend in Seattle and is FREE to attend. Come play CONNECTOME, meet game creator @granthinkson, and see lots of other amazing games!

Event Details

Where: Hilton Motif, 1415 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98109
When: Sunday, August 31st from 12 – 9PM

👉 Connectome on Meta Quest: https://vr.meta.me/s/1LPnxrBzFu8zc4i
👉SIX Event Page: https://six.seattleindies.org

UPDATE
#SIX2025 was so much fun! Thank you to everyone who made it out and tried #connectomegame for the first time! Your reactions and feedback were amazing. We had two headsets running non-stop all day at the event… from gamers experiencing VR for the first time to VR developers and veterans, it was incredible to see HOW LONG people stayed in CONNECTOME!

Thank you Seattle Indies for making this event happen, and thanks to Sahil and Patrick for being my demo buddies – I couldn’t have done it without you!

August, 2025 – “The Door”, art installation at Public Display Art | ArtLove Salon

What if virtual experiences suddenly made their way to the real world?

I scratch at that idea with “The Door”, an interactive art installation inspired by my recently published VR art/game experience, CONNECTOME.

“The Door” was originally installed a for the “ArtLove Salon”, hosted at Public Display Art/Conru Art Center in downtown Seattle to celebrate Seattle Art Fair

The Door itself plays a central role in the game experience. In fact, learning to create and open the door is one of the very first things the player does in the game. [I’m fighting the urge to write about the intersection of physical and digital, of how bringing certain ideas to life are easier, respectively, in each place. But my main focus with this post is about “The Door”, so I’ll get back on track.]

This installation is intended to evoke a sense of wonder and play, and invites the viewer to touch objects that are both familiar and foreign (stones etched with runes). Opening the door is not something a single viewer can do alone. It requires collaboration, transforming the experience into an act of shared discovery. Where the door leads remains open to interpretation.

In creating “The Door”, I was drawn to the idea of creating a shared experience, an experience that requires collaboration and coordination. In a public space, filled with strangers, you’ll be required (or compelled) to speak to someone you may not know and figure out how to work with them. If you know *how* to open the door, then you can play the role of guide. I’m drawn to the range of social dynamics and expressions that this type of work can lead to.

If you’re intrigued and you’re in the Seattle area, come check it out!

June, 2025 – Guest on the “Pixel Pushers Podcast”, discussing CONNECTOME with Dilmer and Deepak

I had a blast joining Dilmer Valecillos ᯅ and Deepak Nair on their new Pixel Pushers podcast to talk about building CONNECTOME, the VR art/game experience I launched a little over a month ago for Meta Quest.

We went deep into the process: prototyping, learning fast, and making creative decisions under constraints. My favorite kind of conversation with fellow builders!

If you’ve been following CONNECTOME, this is the behind-the-scenes look many of you have asked for (thinking of you Jon Madison!).

May 27, 2025 – CONNECTOME Launched on Meta Horizon Store

After many months of development, I pressed the publish button in a LinkedIn LiveStream. Watch the anti-climactic moment when a single mouse-click delivers countless hours of work to the world.

March, 2025 – Guest Speaker at University of Washing Human Centered Design & Engineering

I was invited by Garret Miller ⚡to join the final student showcase of the Physical Computing & Prototyping class he recently taught at the University of Washington Human Centered Design & Engineering. I had the privilege of sharing my portfolio of physical prototyping and making with this group at the start of the showcase – I probably got more out of the presentation than they did. 🙂

It was such a fun night! I love seeing ideas in their early, raw form (laser-cut draftboard, exposed breadboards, dangling wires) and hearing stories about what didn’t work as expected, surprises that led to new directions, and challenges that turned out to be harder (or easier) than originally thought. This is the process of making and it’s what keeps me going and learning every day!

To Be Continued…