Global experience with virtual environments has skyrocketed in 2020. “Shelter-in-place” is our local term for working, learning and socializing remotely. Regardless of how it’s labeled, we have dramatically increased the proportion of communications and interactions that are NOT face-to-face. We’ve used virtual presence to share screens, to create meaning. We’ve learned new cues for taking turns in telepresence, and we’ve tamed the nests of cords and accessories that power and personalize our various devices.

In this first-of-kind, the Very Virtual Retreat will use existing and emerging technologies to leverage experiences and insights from the mediaX membership community of scholars, researchers, instructors and learners.

With thinking tools, demonstrations and working sessions, we’ll reflect on what we know and what we’d like to know about using immersive technologies to collaborate, discover and learn. *This event will be held in multiple sessions during two weeks.

It is not required to attend all six sessions, but participants for each In-World session are expected to have attended the corresponding Presentation colloquium sessions (info below Virtual In-world sessions). A headset is NOT needed to participate in the virtual sessions as the environment will have the option of joining via a browser.

Virtual In-world Sessions (July 27th, 28th & 30th)

July 27, 5:00pm PACIFIC (Check-in Begins at 4:45pm)
IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR COLLABORATION
Dennis Wall – Enhancing Emotional Reciprocity; Presentation and Demo of “Autism Glass”
Parvati Dev – Crossing the Chasm with Crisis Communication; Presentation and Tour Through “SimLabs”
Renate Fruchter – Hands-on (Virtual) Design and Engineering; In-world Design Challenge with “PBL Lab”
Ryota Yamada – Role Choices for Robotic Teammates; Presentation and Demo of “FORPHEUS”

July 28, 12:00pm PACIFIC (Check-in Begins at 11:45am)
IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR DISCOVERY
Jeremy Bailenson – Perceptions of Embodiment During Immersion; Presentation and Demonstration
Walter Greenleaf – Designing for Emotional Response; Presentation and Demonstration
Kenji Suzuki – Imagining Alternatives with Immersive Engineering; Presentation and Demonstration
Pearly Chen – Discovery through Content Creation and Curation
Ryan Burns – Educating the Sports Community About Concussions

July 30, 9:00am PACIFIC (Check-in Begins at 8:45am)
IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR LEARNING
Bryan Brown – Contextual Learning for Teens; Presentation and Demonstration
Anna Queiroz – Enhancing Attention and Engagement in VR; Presentation and Demonstration
Haibo Zhang – Learning Through (Virtual) Experiences; Presentation and Demonstration
Yuji Nakajima – Immersive Learning with XR Technology in Manufacturing Workforce
Hong-Dun Lin – TBD
Tomás Nascimento – Using Immersive Environments for Transportation Training

Virtual Colloquium Webinar Sessions (July 13th, 14th & 16th)

July 13, 5:00pm PACIFIC
IMMERSION FOR COLLABORATION
Nick Haber – AI for Affect, Personalization and Reciprocity: Modeling the Self and the Other
Renate Fruchter – Attention and Engagement for Teamwork
Ivan Davies – Players First: The Responsibility & Opportunity of Multiplayer Video Games Today

July 14, 12:00pm PACIFIC
IMMERSION FOR DISCOVERY
Chris Chafe – Diagnosing Acoustic Latency: Human Perception of Milliseconds
Allison Okamura – Engineering for Tactile/Haptic Thresholds
Ge Wang – Artful Design
Club Cardinal – Connecting for Inspiration and Support

July 16, 9:00am PACIFIC
IMMERSION FOR LEARNING
Roy Pea – Leveraging Distributed intelligence
Carla Pugh – Quantitative Predecessors to Human Actions
Jill Helms – Not for the Faint of Heart: Real Learning in Virtual Spaces
Aditya Vishwanath – The Many Futures of Virtual Learning Environments
Club Cardinal – Connecting for Inspiration and Support

*Working Program Agenda