Design for extended realities

Who is this course for?​

Extended Reality (XR) in all of its declinations promises to alter or entirely substitute the world around us, immersing us in a different “here and now”: the Metaverse, a remote location on Earth, a fictional world, or a different, augmented version of our house or of familiar places such as our workplace or local supermarket.  

The unique, “you’re there” blend of digital and physical environments realized in XR introduces novel challenges and opportunities for designers, developers, and innovators alike, requiring  knowledge and skills traditionally not associated with digital design practices in order to understand how to use data and code to create XR or XR-augmented spaces that are, or remain, truly humane. 

You are most likely a designer, product manager, or innovator that works at the confluence of digital and physical services and products. You might also be a game designer.

What will you learn from this course?

This course introduces a perspective based on presence and spatiality to address the design of XR and XR-augmented environments from the human-centered point of view of experience design.

You will explore the role of embodiment and sense of presence and how these relate to acting in XR space, learn best practices to solve common problems such as movement between locations, explore and prototype XR solutions to problematize their use and reflect upon strengths and shortcomings.

You will also learn to critically analyze how designing 3D information spaces requires the adoption of design principles that sometimes vastly differ from those of traditional screen-based experiences.The course material contains the latest academic research and practical experiences from the fields of XR, experience design, game design, and information architecture.

What is the format for this course?

This course is primarily self-paced and based on a selection of video lectures and other resources such as podcasts, articles, and books. Students and teachers will meet in online forums to discuss course content.

Instruction type: This course is primarily self-paced and based on a selection of video lectures and other resources such as podcasts, articles, and books. Students and teachers will meet in online forums to discuss course content.

Frequency: This course is primarily self-paced and runs for 10 weeks, with one weekly real-time session that can be attended remote.

Examination: The course is worth 3 credits and you will hand in three (1 + 1 + 1 credits) written assignments for examination during the course.