Immersive reality major opens up new doors for students
SCAD students now have the unique opportunity to pursue a degree in immersive reality.
Many of the basic classes of the major’s curriculum already exist, from animation to scriptwriting, but the 11 new courses will provide the technical edge needed to be competitive in the fast-growing industry. Virtual reality has been around since the eighties in various forms, but recent advances in technology have created a perfect storm that will reshape how big companies do business.
“We designed the curriculum kind of open-ended,” said Dean of Digital Media Max Almy. “We focused on giving you everything you needed to get a comprehensive education that would be appropriate for going into a career in virtual reality, immersive reality, augmented reality and cross reality.”
This is the country’s first dedicated degree in the field. Students pursuing the degree will be encouraged to innovate and think conceptually, while being grounded in a technical understanding of widely-used engines like Unreal and Unity.
“The entire program does a fabulous job at connecting and leveraging the skills of many disciplines,” said Executive Director of Academic Services Jason Fox, “there’s a lot of room for specialization.”
The boom of immersive reality technology will create many gaps in the job market that will need to be filled by creative people with the technical know-how to get the job done. Companies from Magic Leap and Epic Games to Microsoft and Google require new talent to capitalize on the burgeoning wave of Immersive Reality.
“More than a year ago, the Harvard Business Review had an article that said ‘if you’re not already planning what you’re going to do with AR you’re already behind in the game,’” said Almy. “Our students are going to learn how to design. They’re going to learn to be creative but they’re going to learn to be technical. It’s very important. They have to learn how to script or program or code. They have to learn how to use unreal or unity. They have to be deeply involved in the game.”
The major is still small, with only a handful of students who have declared it. However, the classes are expected to fill up quickly. The degree has been designed in an open-ended fashion because the technology will have such a wide impact. The multi-path program will let students decide toward the beginning whether they want to end up making VR film, VR animation, VR games, mobile or even something completely original and innovative.
SCAD has invested in many HTC Vives, several Oculus Rifts and is anticipating the new Magic Leap headset. Students will have ample hands-on experience with all of the latest tech in the field of VR. With all of the latest tools and technical know-how at their disposal, immersive reality majors will be on the cutting edge.
