EDTECH: What prompted UArts to invest in the Center for Immersive Media?
PRICE: It came out of the desire to incorporate more new and emerging technologies into all disciplines at UArts. The concept was initiated by university President David Yager, and a committee of faculty and staff was formed to develop a strategy for what a center of this kind would be like.
UArts also established a new mission statement, which is on the advancement of human creativity, and I think that’s right in line with the contemporary technologies and topics that are in our domain today.
CIM’s mission is really to connect, engage and be a catalyst for creativity with faculty, students and the professional community. Research and development are integral to that — not only through the adoption of new technologies but the anticipation aspect of it as well.
EDTECH: How was the facility designed, and what does it offer?
PRICE: We worked with AV specialists, lighting designers and architects to create a space that’s highly versatile and accessible not only to students but to faculty and staff and others in the professional community. We wanted the design to be forward-looking, to have the high capacity for the kind of technology we installed and will be installing. Right now, we have tools like optical motion capture systems, video projectors, lighting equipment and a 360-degree camera. We also have multiple virtual reality head-mounted display systems, like Vive Pro and Oculus Rift S.
We wanted to have individual spaces for the development of immersive media projects and installations, as well as a classroom. We were also interested in offering courses that are relevant across multiple disciplines here. Right now, we have three: Projection, Body and Storytelling; Art Making in VR; and Spatial Audio Composition. They’re all full — we capped them at 15 students each. To accommodate that, we have a 16-station computing classroom with PCs optimized for real-time computer graphics rendering. We also have two project rooms that are multifunctional. They have ceiling grids that allow for the creation of projection installations, virtual reality environments and responsive spaces.
At the facility, we’re also going to offer workshops for faculty to come and gets hands-on experience working with the systems we have. Their interest in doing that is to then take that knowledge back to their classes and have students working with some of those systems. We’ve also been talking with people in the professional community and other universities, as well as doing some grant writing toward some projects. But there isn’t anything in production right now; it’s just way too early. I am excited for what’s on the horizon.