A tree lit from above by a yellow moon in a dark forest

About

Hello, we're Studio Syro.

A small, wholesome bunch of designers, animators and developers spread across a few countries. We make very high-end VR experiences, one hand-placed stroke at a time.

The studio

How we got here.

Studio Syro is an independent creative studio specializing in immersive storytelling, VR animation, and mixed reality experiences. Known for projects like Tales From Soda Island, The Art of Change, and PondQuest, we push the boundaries of spatial storytelling using innovative tools like Quill and real-time engines.

Our work blends artistry and technology to craft rich, interactive worlds—whether in virtual reality, mixed reality, or beyond. With a passion for cinematic storytelling and cutting-edge production, we create experiences that transport audiences into new dimensions.

Let's build the future of immersive storytelling together.

We met online over a shared obsession with painting in VR: drawing 3D strokes in the air around you and then stepping inside the picture. Our first job was a music video for Slushii, commissioned by Monstercat. The thing we're best known for is Tales from Soda Island, a series made entirely in Quill.

Founded: 2020
Company: Studio Syro LLC
Based in: Florida, USA — team across Europe and North America
Tools: Quill, Unity, real-time engines
Platforms: Meta Quest, VR, mixed reality, YouTube

How we work

What is Quill?

Quill is a VR painting and animation tool. You put on a headset and draw in the space around you, so a scene gets built the way a painting does, one stroke at a time, with the artist standing inside it. Every stroke in our films was placed by hand that way.

From there it goes wherever it needs to: rendered for flat screens, brought into Unity for games and mixed reality, or kept native for the headset.

Founders

Peter Ariet
XR Producer, Co-Founder
Co-Founder of Studio Syro, with 5+ years of experience producing at the intersection of creativity, innovation, and technical execution. I lead artists and developers in crafting groundbreaking VR experiences, blending immersive storytelling with emerging technology. Our work has been showcased at major festivals and conferences, pushing the boundaries of interactive media. Best known for our award-winning series Tales From Soda Island.
Simone Fougnier · Funilab
Director, Co-Founder
Simone Fougnier, aka Funilab, is a visual artist from Northern Italy who spent 15 years in the music industry before discovering VR and Quill in 2017. He served as writer, designer, and director for the award-winning VR series 'Tales from Soda Island', selected for Best of Immersive at the 80th Venice Biennale, and won the Golden Bee for Best VR Work at the 2024 Mediterrane Film Festival.

The team

Dan Franke · Germany
Director, lead animator, cinematographer
Directed the first three chapters of Tales from Soda Island and animated across the series. Came to Quill through Goro Fujita's workshop and never went back. Invented the Flycam, the technique the studio uses for camera moves inside a Quill scene.
Nick Ladd · Canada
Animator, set designer, optimisation
Animator and set designer across the series, and the person who makes the paintings run smoothly on a headset. Lead Quill artist on Namoo and Retropolis, and the creator of Gesture VR.
Felix Stief · Austria
Lead set designer, environments
Leads environment design on the series and wrote the studio's seven-step checklist for building a set in Quill.
Neek Diaz
VFX designer, set designer, technical artist
Owns water and effects across the series. Lead VFX artist on Reimagined Vol. I and III.
Nicholas Saunders · US
Lead developer
Unity and multiplayer programmer behind PondQuest, Cosmic Climbers, Gesture VR and the Dawson College Virtual Vernissage.