Virtual Reality and Immersive Media Workshop

ABOUT STUDIO IM/RS:

A joint initiative of the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication and the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science, Studio IM/RS (Immersive Media/Responsive Storytelling) is a non-credit workshop that will provide students with the opportunity to learn how to tell multimedia stories utilizing cutting-edge virtual reality technologies and game design skills. Working across disciplinary boundaries, students will be exposed to a dynamic learning environment in which the humanities and sciences work together to solve creative and technical challenges.

• Create innovative immersive storytelling projects
• Learn the foundations of 360 degree cinematography by operating Samsung Gear 360 and GoPro Omni 360-degree camera
• Learn how to edit 360 degree videos using Adobe Premiere Pro
• Learn how to design environments, titles, and interactive elements for VR Storytelling using Unity Game engine
• Learn how to output VR projects for a variety of displays including Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard, and Samsung Gear VR
• Meet leading VR journalists, graphic designers, and programmers on NYC field trips
• Prepare for fast-evolving careers using virtual reality in game design, journalism, graphic design, and prepare for more advanced workshops in cinematography, stitching, and editing of VR content

INSTRUCTORS:

Prof. Aashish Kumar, Department of Radio, Television, Film; Dr. Edward Currie, Department of Computer Science; and Prof. Jackson Snellings; Faculty Computing Services and Department of Radio, Television, Film

WHEN:

TBD

COST:

$650

MORE INFORMATION:

Contact Aashish Kumar at Aashish.kumar[at]hofstra.edu or Edward Currie at Edward.currie[at]hofstra.edu

Project IM/RS (Immersive Media/Responsive Storytelling)

A curricular collaboration between the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication and the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science

Project Description

The use of digital storytelling tools across disciplines has grown exponentially in this decade. From Photovoice to Facebook Live and from interactive web-documentaries to virtual reality, device-specific multimedia or cross-platform web media is enabling a host of storytelling strategies to emerge. Whether it is community members using simple digital tools to communicate their health needs to journalists and local government on Long Island, or the United Nations using VR videos to raise billions for Syrian refugees, or Peruvian villagers using mobile-to-web technology to record their stories about forced sterilization, or graduate students in the counseling program at Hofstra's Saltzman Center using virtual reality programs to assist war veterans suffering from PTSD, this revolution has come to represent the centrality of storytelling in our lived experience.

Why is an interdisciplinary approach needed for academic programs in digital storytelling?
Given the range of expertise required to successfully pull together complex stories communicated using modern delivery systems and devices, it is practically impossible for traditionally-structured departments to deliver them single-handedly. Emerging fields benefit when they incubate inside problem-solving scenarios. These scenarios take place when digital story creators working side-by-side with experts and users from contexts in which the stories will be utilized, allowing for a rich exchange between art, community, and technology.

What is Project IM/RS?
Project IM/RS – short for Immersive Media and Responsive Storytelling – is a collaborative space where immersive content creators and coders work side-by-side with experts from disciplines as varied as psychology, health sciences, engineering, sociology, and medicine.

Project IM/RS and its innovation studio also solicits interest in collaborative media projects involving community sites of practice with assistance from the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University® and the University's Center for Civic Engagement.

Studio IM/RS is a first step towards creating an interdisciplinary major in interactivity and immersive media, combining coursework from the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with consultative assistance from Faculty Computing Services.

For more information, contact Prof. Aashish Kumar, Department of Radio, Television, Film, Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, Aashish.Kumar[at]hofstra.edu.