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Get Inspired

The technologies collected in the IMEX Lab evidence an innate human desire to tell each other rich, meaningful stories in ways that captivate an audience. Discover how leaders in the fields of 3D model-making, VR-aided design, 360º filmmaking, AR placemaking and more are pushing the envelope in their disciplines – and imagine how their stories can inform the ones you tell through your teaching.

All Pioneering People + Projects

Preserving Tuvalu

Following up on his waist-deep in the rising sea address to COP26, Tuvalu’s foreign minister, Simon Kofe announced his nation’s plans to create a digital copy of the country for preservation through the Metaverse.

University of Kent

Reuters reports on groundbreaking research conducted in the UK between the University of Kent and St Andrew’s Healthcare in which eight patients living with dementia were presented with a series of virtual reality experiences meant to recall fond memories from their own lives.

Isetan Virtual Flagship

Top shelf Japanese department store Isetan has moved its flagship store in Shinjuku entirely into virtual reality with a new smartphone app. As a response to COVID-19, the century-old retailer followed prevailing online shopping trends but leveraged a custom VR app to recreate the high-touch buying experience that its customers have come to expect.

BBC

The BBC, venerable news organization and purveyor of countless visionary documentaries and educational films via traditional formats, is exploring the potential for creating meaningful media in augmented reality.

Audi AR Heads Up Display

Audi, famous for its stylish, tech-forward German vehicles for decades, continues to push the boundaries of in-car technologies with its new Q4 e-tron. “e-tron” is Audi-speak for “electric” making the small cross-over a future-facing EV option.

VR Gaming Therapy

Montana’s KPAX 8 shares a broadcast about a military veteran in Billings who has recently come off his depression and anxiety medications using Virtual Reality games. Darwin Oak credits Firewall with his progress in dealing with trauma.

Vuforia Chalk by PTC

This WCVB news broadcast highlights a hometown Boston company, PTC, and how they are able to provide customers with a platform for remote support and expert mentorship through their Vuforia Chalk software.

Al Jazeera Contrast

Launched in 2017, Contrast is a bold experiment in storytelling that brings Al Jazeera’s signature focus on the lives of those in underreported global locales to the burgeoning world of immersive media.

PlannAR Community Design Tool

As a thesis project, Product Designer Jessy Escobedo developed PlannAR, a mobile platform for participatory urban planning. PlannAR offers communities the chance to interface directly with urban planners, city officials, developers and other stakeholders in a much more open and entertaining feedback process.

Project Dastaan

The Quint takes a look at Project Dastaan, an ambitious endeavor to document the stories of dozens of refugees of the 1947 Partition of India while they are still able to tell them. Despite surviving a displacement of millions of people, many refugees have not been able to return home for up to seven decades.

Marketplace Literacy Project

Founded by Dr Madhu Viswanathan, the Market Place Literacy Project “aims to engender knowledge and skills, self-confidence and awareness of rights” in its participants. These principles are being taught through 360º video content, putting global students in the shoes of Tanzanians.

PwC VR for Learning

PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) aimed to prove the efficacy of virtual reality-based learning by comparing a traditional classroom training on inclusive leadership (and its existing eLearning counterpart) with a bespoke VR experience based around the same lessons.

Looking Glass

By using AR, Looking Glass users are able to see “an alternate city” where Pittsburgh’s Black residents were able to thrive and feel welcome for generations in the mid-20th century.

Embodied Labs Alzheimer Training

Starting from a very low-tech mockup made from tape and safety glasses, Embodied Labs has created their Alzheimers training resource to teach caregivers of both professional and family varieties about the day to day experience of living with the disorder.

Backup Ukraine

CNN Style takes a quick look at a brand new effort to enlist the public’s help in preserving cultural heritage as it is being quickly destroyed by conflict in Ukraine.

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re all set to deploy a an immersive experience in your classroom
– or just want to talk with a consultant – please get in touch.

Banner image of 360º filming by Olaf Teuerle, found via the Free Media Library

How Do These Technologies IMPACT Society?

The Teaching and Learning with Technology IMPACT Deck is an exploratory, card-based game that aims to introduce students, faculty and staff of all ages and backgrounds to a wide variety of situations in which established and emerging technologies impact society. 

Learn More + Play Online