The Oregon Reality Lab

The need:

Changing technologies, especially emerging immersive technologies are no longer just training and gaming spaces. Today, strategic communicators need to understand the multiple “realities” (augmented, virtual, and extended/cross) as powerful communication tools to reach key audiences. Consider, Forbes’ recent reference to the D2A (direct to avatar) economy, the Smithsonian’s Mars Rover AR app that allows you to “navigate the rover in your kitchen,” and Fast Company’s recent ranking of Epic Games as the most innovative social media company of 2021! The metaverse is here.

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Learning objectives:

In this training series, participants will be introduced to the uses of social virtual worlds (VWs) and platforms as well as augmented (AR), virtual (VR), and extended reality (XR) through the strategic lens of communications (marketing, advertising, branding) and community building. Participants will begin to investigate the attributes of the technologies that create both opportunities and barriers to successful communication and follow current case examples to determine possible use cases. As a result, we hope participants will be able to:

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• Demonstrate an understanding of immersive media with a particular focus on immersive VR, AR, and XR experiences

• Clearly define key attributes of augmented (AR), virtual (VR), and cross reality (XR) important to communication and its potential use

• Consider appropriate and measurable communication outcomes for targeted publics using AR/VR/XR/VWs

• Leave with a greater understanding of resources needed to implement an AR/VR/XR strategy

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Meet the Faculty:
Donna Davis, PhD, Associate Professor Immersive Media Communication, Founding Director of Immersive Media Master’s Program and Founding/Co-Director of the Oregon Reality Lab.

Donna had a 25-year career in strategic communication prior to earning her PhD at the University of Florida. While at UO, she’s built a Strategic Communication Leadership Network, comprised of some of the world’s leaders in the field, who guide program content to ensure the graduate program prepares students with the tools they need to become leaders in the industry. She also founded the OR Lab as a result of more than a decade studying embodiment, presence, interaction, and immersion in virtual worlds. Her specific interest is in understanding how to build communities and engaging experiences in these immersive spaces.
 

Danny Pimentel, PhD, Assistant Professor Immersive Media Psychology, Co-Director of Oregon Reality Lab.
Like Donna, Danny worked in the field as a graphic designer and storyteller before returning to academia where he also earned his PhD at Florida. His background and research brought him to his interest in studying the advent of mixed/cross-reality (XR) platforms and how the affordances of these technologies influence behavior and decision-making. He has worked with Magic Leap and is currently building content as part of research he’s doing in the Snapchat AR Creator Residency Program. He is also extending that work to understand the intersection of mixed reality (XR) and artificial intelligence (AI).

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Proposed format:
This remote training will be delivered in a Zoom webinar platform as a series of four one-hour high-level sessions designed to offer an introduction to the many tools available in immersive media, specifically through the lens of strategic communication. The proposed schedule with designated topics is:

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• Part I – Introduction to immersive media for communication strategy

• Part II – Virtual reality and virtual worlds (VR)

• Part III – Augmented reality (AR)

• Part IV – Cross reality (XR) (Hololens/Magic Leap)

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Cost:

Contact us for a quote. Open to global communications teams. Numbers greater than 150 should be agreed upon in advance.