Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts
Course Format: Remote Synchronous - Zoom & Social VR
Course Days/Times: Tuesday and Thursday 3:30-4:50 PM CST
Office Hours: Fridays or by appointment
This syllabus may be subject to change during the course.
This course will begin with individual prototyping assignments in Unity, explore group activities in social VR, and culminate in the entire class forming a VR design studio to create a collaborative project together. There will be short readings, podcasts, videos, and discussion posts throughout.
This course offers a “big picture” introduction to the possibilities offered by virtual reality and immersive 3D experiences, and discusses the broader universe of augmented and mixed reality (colloquially called XR or ‘extended reality’ by some). I will use the term XR often in this class. We will introduce the concepts & vocabulary of this new media and investigate its intersection with other established disciplines including human-computer interaction, user experience, cognitive and social psychology, theatre, game design, and pedagogy. This class is both theoretical and practical, emphasizing the ability to think deeply about the why and not simply the how. The course has no prerequisites other than the Emerging Media Arts (EMA) major. The Carson Center will provide each student one HP Reverb G1 VR headset for the duration of the semester (or other arrangement as discussed with me). This course will be taught remotely but synchronously, meeting both on Zoom and together inside a social VR application. In essence, we will be learning about VR from inside VR. Expect to spend 4-6 hours per week on coursework outside of class time.
We will work to understand both the opportunities and challenges of virtual reality, while learning to creatively problem-solve its present-day technological limitations. One of the biggest current opportunities in XR is shared/multiplayer experiences, which will be a focus of the class. The coursework includes a mixture of play and improvisation, low to high fidelity prototyping, reading, writing, critical discussion, and creative assignments. We will build our design vocabulary by examining the attributes of popular VR applications and use this knowledge to build small, lightweight prototypes in Unity and one or more social VR applications, i.e. AltspaceVR and Mozilla Hubs. 3D modeling is not a focus of this class, however we will construct new environments from existing asset sources (e.g. the Unity Store, Sketchfab, etc). The course will include lightweight scripting in C#, and will make ample use of available scripts for prototyping. We will emphasize the need to be a generalist when prototyping VR experiences early in the course, but learn to value specialization as we come together as a VR design studio in the final weeks of the class.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of new technologies for social activities, productivity, and learning. We will examine the change this has brought about in the business and user experience of XR: both head mounted (i.e. VR headsets) and screen-based (desktop and mobile). In this class, we are actively participating as researchers and creators within a rapidly changing technology and media landscape. We are also humans living through a historically significant time. Acknowledging both realities, we will be documenting our experiences both diaristically and formally as we study and create XR experiences together in 2021. This will take the form of surveys, journaling, interviewing each other, and documenting our investigations together in social VR. This is a small class, which means we will form a close-knit community during the semester. I would like us to collectively decide how we might like to share this meta-documentation or historicization of our experiences through a number of possible outputs: towards publication in a XR journal, as a digital zine (you know I love zines), as an online environment, or as data towards future research. We will discuss further in class.
Internet-based social VR — including Facebook, the biggest player in the VR market currently — is fraught with user experience challenges: not limited to harrassment and abuse, discomfort, privacy and surveillance issues. Our goal in this class will be to learn about this and collectively understand how to make our own virtual space an adaptable, trusting, private, and engaging setting for learning & collaboration. Some time in the class will be dedicated to understanding how virtual reality crosses streams with other media like filmmaking, theatre, and video games. Notably, we will look at historical and contemporary trends in cinematic and theatrical VR, and non-VR massively multiplayer games including Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox.
By the end of this class students should be fluent in the major themes of augmented and virtual reality, including several advanced topics like perception and ethics. Virtual and Augmented reality is a nascent medium with abundant connections (and dependencies) to other disciplines. No student is expected to master all aspects of designing & developing for XR within the scope of this course; however, this class is designed to instill a swath of practical knowledge and creative inspiration through reading, critical discussion, hands-on projects, and practice-based research. Students are expected to be self-motivated in exploring online learning resources (articles, guides, tutorials, etc) and experimenting with third-party AR/VR apps and tools.
- Why does XR matter and why should you care? What is VR good for, and what can be done in VR that cannot be done with any other type of media? How is it different from 360-degree video content?
- Projecting into the future: how does XR change the job market? What new opportunities or roles does it open? How and why has it historically failed?
- How can we understand the priorities of platform owners (like Facebook) and the major ethical considerations of building apps in “walled gardens” where users are the product? How does the open web change this equation?
- What is the meaning of all the different acronyms including XR, AR, VR and MR?
- What are the limitations of current-generation platforms? How do we deal with major limitations like cybersickness?
- How can we express complex ideas with low-to-medium fidelity prototypes?
- What are the elemental interaction techniques in VR? What is the gestural language of VR? What are the major differences between hand tracking (e.g. Oculus Quest) and controller input (e.g. most headsets)? How do we approach interaction design?
- What are the major components of a 3D environment, and how do we create a pipeline from content authoring, assembly, and publishing (e.g. Maya to Unity to the Oculus Store)?
- What makes an XR experience interesting, fun, engaging, or immersive? How can we critically analyze the art, environment, interactions, and functionality of XR apps?
- How are terms like agency, embodiment, and presence used to evaluate immersive experiences?
- How do connected experiences (social VR) factor into the big picture?
This class meets twice a week for one hour and twenty minutes. That's less than three hours per week of scheduled class time. I want to empasize the importance of coming to class on time with your controllers charged and headset connected. If we are going to meet in Social VR, please visit the virtual location early & familiarize yourself so you can arrive on time to class. The dance between computer and VR headset can be tricky, clunky, and problematic. Setup can easily overtake the time you had set aside to "get work done." So, if we spend 20-30 min per class getting everyone online, it will cut our class time down significantly and it will be a parade of setup and teardown each week. Leave enough time before class for hardware and software debugging so we might anticipate smooth sailing. That's when the real fun begins!
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Class Overview & Intro |
| Lecture 2 | The Challenges of VR & Current Technology |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Intro to Content Creation 101 & Content Ecosystem |
| Lecture 2 | Building VR Environments in Unity |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | VR Through History & Contemporary Trends |
| Lecture 2 | VR & 3D: Materials, Lighting, Geometry, and Asset Formats |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Social VR & Multiplayer Experiences + Avatars |
| Lecture 2 | Social VR: Challenges & Opportunities |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Input Devices & Methodologies (Hand & Controller Tracking) |
| Lecture 2 | Affordances & User Experience Principles (Best Practices) |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Spatial Interfaces in 3D (3D UI, Gestural Interfaces, Laser pointing, Locomotion) |
| Lecture 2 | Interaction in Unity - Working Session |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Cinematic XR + XR in Fine Art & Performance |
| Lecture 2 | Prototyping AR using VR |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Final Project Intro |
| Lecture 2 | Final Project Brainstorm |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Final Project Proposals Kickoff |
| Activity | Final Project Group Review - Working Session |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Final Project Progress Review |
| Lecture 2 | Special Topic: The Psychology of VR: Mel Slater and the “Three Illusion” theory |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Final Project Progress Review |
| Lecture 2 | Special Topic: The Sounds of XR: Understanding the role of spatial audio in AR/VR |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Final Project Progress Review |
| Lecture 2 | Special Topic: Human Perception: Understanding Light: Depth, Motion, Color & Touch |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Lecture 1 | Final Project Progress Review |
| Lecture 2 | Special Topic: A Framework for Ethics & Privacy |
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Activity | Final Project Presentation & Demo Day 1 |
| Activity | Final Project Presentation & Demo Day 2 |
| Grade | Percentage | Performance |
|---|---|---|
| A | 93% to 100% | Excellent |
| A- | 90% to 92% | Great |
| B+ | 87% to 89% | Great |
| B | 83% to 86% | Good |
| B- | 79% to 82% | Good |
| C+ | 76% to 78% | Good |
| C | 73% to 75% | Unsatisfactory |
| C- | 70% to 72% | Unsatisfactory |
| F | 70% and below | Unacceptable |
Contributions to class discussions and active participation in both individual and small group work are essential to both the momentum of the course and the development of your ideas. This requires that you come to class prepared and ready to participate in class activities. This course is based on project-based learning through both solo and collaborative projects, and you are expected to contribute as a responsible member of our design community on an individual and group level. See the participation evaluation in the Grade Allocation table below for more information.
You will be expected to spend at least 4 to 6 hours (per week) outside of class meeting times on your assignments and projects.
If you need any special accommodations or if circumstances arise that may affect your participation, please talk to me as soon as possible.
| Assignment | Percentage Value |
|---|---|
| In-class Participation | 10% |
| Discussion Posts | 15% |
| Homework Assignments | 40% |
| Final Project | 35% |
| Total | 100% |
| Due Date | Assignment |
|---|---|
| 01/30/21 | Unity + VR Technical Setup |
| TBA | VR Demo Room |
| TBA | Worldbuilding in Unity |
| TBA | Storyboarding & Paper Prototyping |
| TBA | Interaction Prototype in Unity |
| TBA | Prototype in Social VR |
| TBA | Final Project |
See UNL Canvas for Invite
The Emerging Media Arts program has the right to retain any student work, either in part or in its entirety, for display, accreditation, documentation, recruitment, or any other educational or legal purpose. Students are required to produce a cumulative digital portfolio that documents and organizes all work throughout the semester, as specified by the instructor of their section. This digital portfolio should be composed of presentation-quality media (diagrams, drawings, text, video, and other documentation), submitted through the Canvas website. Resources for Students Seeking Mental Health Help I do not distinguish between physical and mental health needs and know both are essential to successful time at UNL. I know that time we are in, for reasons of COVID and beyond, can be particularly stressful. Please do not hesitate to discuss with me any concerns, and also to utilize the University of Nebraska’s Student Mental
- Health Resources: https://executivevc.unl.edu/faculty/leadership-development/tipsheets/student-mental-health-resources
- CAPS website: https://health.unl.edu/caps/services
- SSD website: https://www.unl.edu/ssd/content/accommodations
Academc dishonesty will not be tolerated in this course. Any instances will result in an automatic grade of F in the course and possible disciplinary action under the Student Code of Conduct (https://studentconduct.unl.edu/student-code-conduct). For information on the University’s policy on academic dishonesty, please refer to the current Undergraduate Bulletin (https://registrar.unl.edu/academic-honesty).
Any student found to have committed or to have attempted to commit the following misconduct is subject to the disciplinary sanctions outlined in Article IV:
- Acts of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to the following:
1a. Cheating: Copying or attempting to copy from an academic test or examination of another student; using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids or other devices for an academic test, examination or exercise; engaging or attempting to engage the assistance of another individual in misrepresenting the academic performance of a student; or communication information in an unauthorized manner to another person for an academic test, examination or exercise.
1b. Fabrication or Falsification: Falsifying or fabricating any information or citation in any academic exercise, work, speech, research, test or examination. Falsification is the alteration of information, while fabrication is the invention or counterfeiting of information.
1c. Plagiarism: Presenting the work of another as one’s own (i.e., without proper acknowledgement of the source) and submitting examination, theses, reports, speeches, drawings, laboratory notes or other academic work in whole or in part as one’s own when such work has been prepared by another person or copied from another person. Materials covered by this prohibition include, but are not limited to, text, video, audio, images, photographs, websites, electronic and online materials, and other intellectual property.
1d. Abuse of Academic Materials: Destroying, defacing, stealing, or making inaccessible library or other academic resource material.
1e. Complicity in Academic Dishonesty: Helping or attempting to help another student to commit an act of academic dishonesty.
1f. Falsifying Grade Reports: Changing or destroying grades, scores or marking on an examination or in a faculty member’s records.
1g. Impermissible Collaboration: Collaborating on any academic exercise, work, speech, test or examination unless expressly authorized by the faculty member. It is the obligation of the student to know whether collaboration is permitted.
1h. Misrepresentation to Avoid Academic Work: Misrepresentation by fabrication an otherwise justifiable excuse such as illness, injury, accident, etc., in order to avoid or delay timely submission of academic work or to avoid or delay the taking of a test or examination.
1i. Other: Academic units and members of the faculty may prescribe and give students prior notice of additional standards of conduct for academic honesty in a particular course, and violation of any such standard of conduct shall constitute misconduct under this Student Code and the University Disciplinary Procedures.
Any student found guilty of academic dishonesty may be subject to both academic and disciplinary sanctions.
a. In cases where a faculty member finds that a student has committed any act of academic dishonesty, the faculty member may, in the exercise of his or her professional judgment, impose an academic sanction as severe as giving the student a failing grade in the course. Before imposing an academic sanction the faculty member shall first attempt to discuss the matter with the student. If deemed necessary by either the faculty member or the student, the matter may be brought to the attention of the student’s major adviser, the faculty member’s department chairperson or head, or the dean of the college in which the student is enrolled. When academic sanction is imposed which causes the student to receive a lowered course grade, the faculty member shall make a report in writing of the facts of the case and the academic sanction imposed against the student to the faculty member’s department chairperson or head and to the Conduct Officer. The student shall be provided with a copy of this report. Further, the faculty member may recommend the institution of disciplinary proceedings against the student for violation of this Student Code, if the faculty member in the exercise of his or her professional judgment believes that such action is warranted.
b. In cases where a faculty member’s finding of academic dishonesty is admitted by the student and an academic sanction is imposed by the faculty member, which the student believes to be too severe, the student shall have the right to appeal the severity of the academic sanction through the applicable grade appeal procedure.
c. In cases where a faculty member’s finding of academic dishonesty is disputed by the student, the matter shall be referred to the Conduct Officer for disposition in accordance with the University Disciplinary Procedures. Any academic sanction imposed by the faculty member shall be held in abeyance pending a final decision under the University Disciplinary Procedures. If it is determined through these procedures that the student did not commit academic dishonesty, the faculty member’s academic sanction shall be set aside. If it is determined that the student committed academic dishonesty, the faculty member’s academic sanction shall be imposed in addition to any disciplinary sanction which may be imposed under the University Disciplinary Procedures
d. The provision of this Student Code relating to academic dishonesty and the procedures applicable thereto do not apply to law students in the College of Law, who are governed by the Honor Code of the College of Law, which may be found on the College of Law’s official website.
The University strives to make all learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience barriers based on your disability (including mental health, chronic or temporary medical conditions), please let me know immediately so that we can discuss options privately. To establish reasonable accommodations, I may request that you register with Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD). If you are eligible for services and register with their office, make arrangements with me as soon as possible to discuss your accommodations so they can be implemented in a timely manner.
SSD contact information: 232 Canfield Admin. Bldg.; 402-472-3787
COVID-19 & masks in class: Required Use of Face Coverings for On-Campus Shared Learning Environments
As of July 17, 2020 and until further notice, all University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) faculty, staff, students, and visitors (including contractors, service providers, and others) are required to use a facial covering at all times when indoors except under specific conditions outlined in the COVID-19 face covering policy found at: https://covid19.unl.edu/face-covering-policy. This statement is meant to clarify classroom policies for face coverings: To protect the health and well-being of the University and wider community, UNL has implemented a policy requiring all people, including students, faculty, and staff, to wear a face covering that covers the mouth and nose while on campus. The classroom is a community, and as a community, we seek to maintain the health and safety of all members by wearing face coverings when in the classroom. Failure to comply with this policy is interpreted as a disruption of the classroom and may be a violation of UNL’s Student Code of Conduct.
Individuals who have health or medical reasons for not wearing face coverings should work with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (for students) or the Office of Faculty/Staff Disability Services (for faculty and staff) to establish accommodations to address the health concern. Students who prefer not to wear a face covering should work with their advisor to arrange a fully online course schedule that does not require their presence on campus. As of January 12, 2021 (https://covid19.unl.edu/spring-testing) and until further notice, students, faculty, and staff are required to get a COVID-19 test during the week of January 19 – 24 and at least one additional, follow-up test around 10 days later. Proof of a negative test result (via the Safer Communities smart phone app or an official, printed pass from the Safer Communities web client) is required to gain entry to the Carson Center building. Students are also required to adhere to an updated Cornhusker Commitment (https://covid19.unl.edu/we-are-cornhusker-committed) for the Spring 2021 semester.
- If a student is not properly wearing a face covering, the instructor will remind the student of the policy and ask them to comply with it.
- If the student will not comply with the face covering policy, the instructor will ask the student to leave the classroom, and the student may only return when they are properly wearing a face covering.
- If the student refuses to properly wear a face covering or leave the classroom, the instructor will dismiss the class and will report the student to Student Conduct & Community Standards for misconduct, where the student will be subject to disciplinary action.