Exploring the Mixed Reality Landscape

Overview

The media of mixed reality allows for increasingly immersive experiences that blend the virtual and real, and that change how we perceive and think about what is real. This course attempts to place the evolution of mixed reality in the long history of humans hacking perceptions of reality: from pyramids to cathedrals to google earth VR, from cave paintings to novels to film to immersive cinema.

This course will introduce you to the different forms mixed reality takes. We will:

Learn about the different hardware platforms mixed reality spans, like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and understand their differences.
Practice creating by taking a short story from Italo Calvino and seeing how it translates into mixed reality.
Understand the context of mixed reality as it relates to philosophy and psychology.
Critically review currently available mixed reality experiences to be inspired and understand best practices.

Syllabus

Introduction to Mixed Reality

In this session, we'll take a look at an overview of mixed reality, the brief history of virtual reality and examine the array of virtual and augmented reality hardware currently available.

Hacking Reality: Rendering Space + Unity Basics

In this session, we discuss the two main approaches to rendering content for mixed reality, and then we dive into Unity!

Perspectives from Philosophy and Psychology

In this session, we address the concept of perception from historical, research-based, to artistic perspectives.

Inspiration: Deconstructing Today's Experiences

In this final session, we will critically deconstruct current mixed reality experiences (ie: video games to Google Tilt Brush) to understand how they use perception.