About Flipside XR

Made by creators,
for creators, with heart

We're building a world where everyone can
access the tools to bring their imagination
to life, and share it with the world.

Flipside XR is a small team full of passionate creators, developers, and technologists who are empowering others to express themselves through content creation.

Our vision is to give the world a voice through virtual and augmented reality. We're building the future of entertainment, a future where everyone has the tools to bring their imagination to life and to share it with the world.

Flipside XR started in 2014 as The Campfire Union by founders John, Les, and Rachael. We started developing Flipside in early 2016, evolving out of a series of experiments in virtual performances and social VR. Flipside has been used to connect creators and share creativity throughout the world, first being introduced through interactive VR performances including Pixels, Live From the 8th Dimension, and The Galaxicle Implosions.

Flipside was developed for creators, by creators. We’re connecting folks across the globe and developing technology to help you express yourself, monetize your creations, and share your passions!

Founding Leadership

'Lux'

Co-Founder and CEO

John Luxford, aka Lux, is a Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Flipside XR.

Lux brings 25 years of industry experience to the Flipside XR team and has used his deep technical knowledge and product vision to oversee product development in his prior role as Chief Technology Officer. A serial entrepreneur, Lux ran two companies, Simian Systems and Dojo Learning, before co-founding Flipside XR.

Lux is also a seasoned public speaker and has presented on topics including VR, AI, tech, music, and personal identity at events such as Buffer Festival, Hyper Festival, and TEDxWinnipeg. He’s been a regular participant in hackathons and game jams throughout his career, as well as offering mentorship to students studying in multimedia fields.

When not working, Lux spends his free time on creative code-based projects, making and performing music, writing, and gardening.

'Les'

Co-Founder and Head of Creator Relations

Lesley Klassen is a Co-Founder and Head of Creator Relations at Flipside XR.

With his past experience in the film and television world, including working as a producer, director, technical director, and cinematographer, Lesley is the perfect person to focus on content strategy and creator relations at Flipside XR. He enjoys working closely with Flipside creators to keep pushing the boundaries of real-time immersive content creation.

Lesley has worked in virtual reality since 2013 and has co-created and produced over a dozen virtual reality apps and experiences.

Lesley serves on the AIRXR Advisory Board for Entertainment and Games. He’s spoken at events including Augmented World Expo (AWE), the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), PXR conference, AR/VR Association Global Summit, and Oculus Connect. Lesley also served as a judge for the VR Awards and previously mentored students, helping them write and develop virtual reality experiences.

Lesley’s current passion is exploring new immersive show formats and exploring VR for personal growth.

Rachael

Co-Founder and CPO

Rachael Hosein is a Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Flipside XR.

Having worked in interactive digital media production for almost two decades, she applies her UX and design experience to product development.

Rachael has been part of many creative collaborations, including with FANDCO where she was part of a five-episode VR-generated animated sci-fi improv comedy using Flipside Studio.

She’s passionate about the Interactive Digital Media community and focuses on endeavours that help support inclusiveness and diversity in the tech space.

Rachael serves on several advisory boards, has judged for Skills Manitoba for years, and mentors students. Rachael co-founded and co-organizes the Winnipeg Alternate Reality Club.

Our History

2015

Virtual reality was a catalyst for their creativity, and together, they launched two apps for the now-discontinued Oculus Gear VR: Lost Cities, the world's first VR board game, and Yana Virtual Relaxation. They also collaborated with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on a 360 video project showcasing stories of women's cooperatives in Guatemala.

2017-2019

The idea for Flipside Studio received pre-seed funding from Boost VC. The trio also won a major pitch competition which allowed them keep building it. At this time the political comedy “Earth From Up Here” launched and was arguably the first VR-produced animated show on YouTube. Flipside XR was proving out that fully realized content can be produced in virtual reality through Flipside Studio. We loved it. We wanted to see what creator would make and we released Flipside Studio on Steam Early Access and Oculus Early Access soon after.

2023

Flipside Studio launched! With valuable feedback from beta users we’re excited to bring Flipside Studio to market. We have a robust, creative, and hard-working team, plus incredible backers and the creator community, who carry forward the values and spirit of Flipside XR. We cannot wait to see the future of our company, the industry, and the creative community!

2014

Flipside XR started as Campfire Union, which was founded in 2014 by Rachael, John, and Les. They were leading the first VR project in Manitoba while working at an e-learning company. They discovered their strong connection as a team and decided to go out on their own to start the company they wanted work at. At first they made web application and games but the VR was on the horizon.

2016

Les, Lux, and Rachael wanted to make something meaningful to the creator community. As artists and performers, they continued to come back to creating a way for people to express themselves through VR. Developing a creator tool was an obvious fit and the seeds of Flipside Studio were planted.

2020

Flipside XR wrapped up a large project with Caffeine Studios where “Live From the 8th Dimension” used Flipside Studio to create 46 hours of live variety show content. The VR market showed signals of growth and the importance of stand alone VR became very obvious. We recognized the value of bringing Flipside Studio to headsets and with support through Prairies Can, we had additional funding to bring Flipside Studio to the Quest. The team grew significantly as we took learnings from the past few years and implemented them in the new Flipside Studio app for stand alone VR.