What

Alternate Realities is a course focused on the production of three-dimensional, room-scale, interactive experiences. It is based on interaction design, game design and procedural art in order to adapt the concepts and aesthetics of installation art in the virtual world.

Students are introduced to a complete toolkit as well as best practices in terms of designing, planning and developing a fully-functional VR application, using a workflow that is similar to that of a professional environment, using Unity3D, GitHub and Blender.

Why

While a lot of the development in hardware and software related to Virtual Reality has created a renewed interest in our recent years, it seems that the “killer app”, the one application that will justify the existence of the medium, is still nowhere to be found. This class will take an experimental approach to interaction design in order to explore the possibilities of the medium, while at the same time exposing students to a versatile suite of software tools.

How

The class is first and foremost project focused and collaboration. It assumes that great projects often come out of group work, and that the ability to work with others is as valuable in a professional setting as the mastery of a particular tool.

The first part of the semester consists in developing two short projects using Unity3D for the HTC Vive, allowing students to settle with the workflow of VR development, while the second part of the semester focuses on one project, with the only requirement that it allows for at least two users at the same time.

Who

Instructor: Pierre Depaz

Where

Offline: C3-153 (Arts Center)
Online: GitHub

Syllabus