23 years ago, The Matrix introduced the idea of humanity living inside of a computer simulation. While moviegoers at the time wrote it off as a fictional piece of work, in the present day, we are much closer to that all-encompassing, technological world with the metaverse. Despite the promise of virtual worlds, there are still legal challenges and questions that echo those we face in the real world.
Antonia Forster is a Senior XR Technical Specialist at Unity, a TEDx speaker, and an award-winning DE&I consultant. As a neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, self-taught female developer, Antonia has a unique perspective and is passionate about using her voice and technical skills to make space for under-represented or marginalized individuals. Antonia has been shortlisted for Nature's John Maddox Prize, the Women in IT "Advocate of the Year" award, and won the YTKO Breaking Barriers award for her impactful advocacy for women in tech.
Check out the the insights and achievements that shaped Studio X's remarkable first year! Take a moment to explore our inaugural annual report and join us in celebrating our accomplishments.
Karp Library Fellow, Ayiana Crabtree ’22 joined the Studio X team in February 2021 as our inaugural XR Research Fellow. For her first research project, we asked Ayiana to focus on XR and the humanities. Immersive technologies share a natural connection with STEM fields, and the planned Studio X space will also be located on the first floor of Carlson Science & Engineering Library. However, Studio X supports all faculty and students on campus and fosters an interdisciplinary community of practice.
As a proud alumnus of the African Leadership Academy, an esteemed institution in Johannesburg dedicated to cultivating the next generation of African leaders, my recent trip to Nairobi, Kenya, for the Networks Conference held a special significance. My name is Tamuda, and I am currently a computer science student at the University of Rochester.
Understanding how experience and exposure to trauma changes the brain could improve diagnosis and targeted care for conditions like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Ph.D., assistant professor of Neuroscience, has been studying this topic for the past several years and was awarded a new $3.5 million grant to use virtual reality and MRI to look into the circuitry of threat, reward, and cognitive mapping in
Ten projects supported with seed funding from the Goergen Institute for Data Science this year demonstrate how machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) are transforming the way University of Rochester researchers—across all disciplines—address challenging problems.
Ben Frisch, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rochester, and colleagues have been building what is known as a modular bone-marrow-on-chip to enhance the investigation of leukemia stem cells.
Located on the first floor of Carlson Library, as the hub for extended reality at the University of Rochester, Studio X fosters a community of cross-disciplinary collaboration, exploration, and peer-to-peer learning that lowers barriers to entry, inspires experimentation, and drives innovative research and teaching in immersive technologies.
The project began in fall 2017 when Lauren Di Monte joined our team and learned from the faculty that there was a lot of research activity in extended reality and other immersive technologies. We thought it was something the library could get involved in since we had close to 50 researchers engaged in XR technologies.
