XR (Extended Reality) Studio: Designing Games for Headsets

Catalog description

"The spectrum of Extended Reality (XR) – encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) – brings with it several opportunities for new possibilities for game design, interactive storytelling, and more. While implementations of these technologies and associated theory have existed for a number of years, the recent technical and commercial resurgence means that developing skills in critical thinking and creative aptitude with regards to AR and VR is incredibly timely. In particular, since 2020 and the release of Meta Quest 2 (formerly Oculus Quest 2), the device has demonstrated the most successful hardware adoption in the VR space to date, and in October 2023, released their Meta Quest 3 device – taking their hardware further along the spectrum from Virtual Reality to "Mixed Reality". Furthermore, in 2023, Apple announced their Apple Vision Pro device – and Niantic also announced their mixed reality headset, and further announcements from other hardware manufacturers too – the overlapping spaces between virtual, augmented, and mixed reality are increasingly sharing more DNA, yet come with their own distinctive design challenges. This course equips students with the targeted skills they need in order to design and prototype digital games for virtual reality headsets, specifically targeting the Meta Quest 2 and 3 devices. Students will develop skills in the latest technical and design paradigms around VR, and develop skills in building VR and mobile AR applications. Students will learn to use the Unity 3D game engine to create virtual and mixed reality games, optionally using low-code solutions like Meta's Building Blocks system to quickly prototype and test their projects on headset. Furthermore, rather than studying only contemporary discourse around XR technologies which frames it as a new development or passing fad, this class will…