Immersive Realities Initiative

Initiative Overview

Welcome to the Immersive Realities Initiative at Swarthmore, where we provide access and training in cutting-edge immersive technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality, empowering students to explore new dimensions and unleash their creative potential. Join us in shaping the future of reality through immersive experiences and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Mission

In order to give students access to and experience with emerging technologies, specifically Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and 3D modeling - otherwise known as Extended Reality (XR), our mission is to:

1. Integrate XR into the curriculum in ethical, accessible, and pedagogical sound ways
2. Support the use of XR to enhance academic research and scholarship across the disciplines 
3. Enhance student engagement in co-curricular events through the use of XR technologies 

More

If you have a course, event, or research project you feel would benefit from hands-on exposure to immersive technologies, the Digital Scholarship team can create a custom demonstration to match your pedagogical or research interests. We intend to support these efforts from brainstorming to assessment, helping you plan, execute, and evaluate the use of these tools in your pedagogy and research. 

Contact Information
What to know more? We have created a simple interest form for you to complete. Completing this form is not a commitment on your part, just a request for more information on how we can create a tailored experience for your specific needs. You can also reach out to alicast1@swarthmore.edu anytime. 

Further Reading
If you are doing research on VR, AR, or immersive technology in higher education, we have resources for you. Here is a link to our Zotero folder you can access to see a plethora of research on this topic. 

Zotero Resource