Overview
Designing for Extended Realities is a course that equips students with the skills and knowledge to design extended reality (XR) products in a critical, intentional, and human-centered way. Students will explore and experiment with state-of-the-art technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and the metaverse. Through a practice of design thinking and critical discussions, students will gain an understanding of how these products are shaping people and society.
This is a workshop and activity-centric course, with supplementary readings, discussions, and lectures across domains such as healthcare, entertainment, architecture, and more. The final project will challenge students to design and critique an extended reality product experience that addresses real-world problems, alongside pitching to a panel of guest experts. By the end of the course, students will have the skills and knowledge necessary to become responsible and innovative creators, practitioners, or entrepreneurs in the ever-evolving world of extended reality.
Students will get the opportunity to talk to domain experts, XR experts, entrepreneurs, and users to incorporate desirability, viability, feasibility, and responsibility points-of-view. The course will feature guest speakers from cutting-edge institutions in technology, such as Apple, Google, Unity, or Snapchat, to policy (Stanford Internet Observatory), and civil society (Electronic Frontier Foundation).
As the world invests huge-sums of capital in XR technologies, this course emphasizes the importance of considering the massive shifts in content and wealth creation, equity and justice, social and parasocial relationships, emergent interactions, and more. As the next generation of innovators, we have a responsibility to think critically about who, what, why, and how our creations in extended reality show up in the world.