Leah Pistorius
March 10, 2020
HCDE Professor and Chair Julie Kientz welcomes the attendees to the sold-out XR Day on March 3, 2020.
On March 3, 2020, the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering hosted XR Day, a day-long symposium exploring the evolving potential in XR design and technologies. The event was presented by STMicroelectronics, a strategic partner member of HCDE's Corporate Affiliates Program.
Dr. Evie Powell of Proprio Vision giving a morning keynote presentation
Nearly 200 attendees in the HUB Lyceum on UW campus
Industry guests from companies such as Boeing, Facebook, Microsoft, Blue Origin, and many others joined UW researchers and graduate students to learn from six keynote presenters and 11 breakout session hosts.
Presentation highlights:
Vinay Narayan, Vice President of Platform Strategy and Developer Community at HTC Vive, delivered a presentation about how XR technologies are unlocking the human potential. Instead of the common misconception that these tools are replacing people, Narayan argued that XR technologies are enabling natural and engaging interactions, reducing cognitive load, and enabling collaborative behaviors.
Dr. Bernard Kress, Partner Optical Architect at Microsoft/Hololens, spoke about the challenges of modern MR hardware, particularly comfort (wearable, visual, and social comfort) and immersion (display, sensing, interaction). Dr. Kress argued the need for a human centric optical design process, to allow for the most comfortable headset design, without compromising the user's immersion experience.
Dr. Evie Powell, Virtual Reality Engineer at Proprio Vision and President/CEO of Verge of Brilliance, LLC, shared the work she is doing with Proprio Vision to enable surgeons to perform complex procedures in XR environments. Dr. Powell discussed how she is applying her background in pervasive games and immersive design to empower surgeons and unlock the future of the operating room.
Dr. Walterio Mayol-Cuevas, Professor at the University of Bristol, presented some of his recent work that looks at automated content authoring and delivery of guidance for scalable XR systems. Dr. Mayol-Cuevas asked the question of whether we should continue advancing XR assistive systems without first carefully looking at other significant obstacles we would need to overcome first.
Stefan Alexander, VP of Engineering at North, gave an overview of hardware and software currently used in smart glasses and mixed reality headsets. Alexander discussed the top smart glasses use cases, as well as how they are evolving with improved technology.
Chelsea Klukas, Product Design Manager at Oculus, challenged our conceptions of the workplace by showing how VR offers new capabilities for work, productivity, and training. Klukas presented examples of how VR is used for productivity today, and the unique challenges and opportunities the industry offers.
HCDE alumnus Todd Little, UX Designer at Fairworlds, presented a breakout tutorial with techniques for rapid prototyping in Unity.
Participants in the "Design for Evil" workshop, led by HCDE Research Scientist Elin Bjorling, explored the ways in which XR technologies could be used dangerously.
In addition to the six keynote presentations, the event featured the following 11 breakout sessions and hosts:
Breakout Session 1
Did we really need VR for that? And other challenges of using VR in schools
Lisa Castaneda, foundry10
Rapid Prototyping in Unity
Todd Little, Fair Worlds
Designing for Evil
Elin Björling, UW HCDE
The Emerging smARt Community: Mobile Augmented Reality Workshop
Julia Beabout and Susan Oldham, Novaby
Design Principles for Educational XR Experiences: Bridging the Gap Between Teachers and Developers
Jared Canright, UW Department of Physics
Discussion on Optical and Experience Design Considerations for Mixed Reality HMDs
Ishan Chatterjee, Microsoft, UW
Breakout session 2
The Next 10 Years
Ryan Gerber, Artefact Group
The Good, Bad, and Rising Future of XR in K12 Education Setting
Jessica Pilsner, St. Thomas School
3D Audio in VR/AR/XR: The Reality and not-so-Reality
Brian Schmidt, SoundCon, LLC
Prototyping Mixed Reality with Microsoft Maquette
Ricardo Acosta, Microsoft
Perspective-Taking in VR: Best Practices for Empathy Experiences
Amy Lou Abernethy, AMP Creative
The Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering thanks presenting sponsors STMicroelectronics, and all attendees and presenters who helped make this event a success. We hope that, like us, XR Day inspired participants to think about how tomorrow's technologies can improve the lives of all people.
Related XR Day coverage
- XR Day Live! Follow the Event That’s Shaping What We’ll Wear on Our Heads | STMicroelectronics Blog
- XR Day: VR, AR, MR, Why Are They Not More Pervasive and How Can a Conference Help? | STMicroelectronics Blog
- XR Day: 3 Lessons to Learn from Focals, the Cool AR Glasses | STMicroelectronics Blog
- XR experts see health care as the killer app for VR, AR, MR … or whatever you call it | Geekwire
The Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering thrives at the critical junction of research, education, and community. We regularly seek opportunities to collaborate with industry through our Corporate Affiliates Program. Program members, like STMicroelectronics, have exclusive opportunities to sponsor student projects, propose research topics, host design jams and workshops, participate in career fairs and employer information sessions, and enjoy a deeper connection with the department. Please learn more on our website at hcde.uw.edu/cap, or email us at hcdecap@uw.edu. To learn more about STMicroelectronics, please visit st.com.