How we could use the potential of virtual reality to go beyond entertainment and gaming, for creating positive or even transformational experiences we might otherwise not be able to have? And how could we democratize the medium and put this powerful technology into the creative hands of more people? Virtual reality is becoming increasingly powerful and accessible, and offers the unique opportunity to provide first-hand interactive and embodied experiences. Bernhard paints a vision of how we could use this potential for empowering people to create positive experiences worth spreading. Bernhard is Associate Professor and directs the iSpace Lab at Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT). He likes to go beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, combining natural sciences approaches (being a physicist by training) with human-centered and creative approaches (drawing from Psychology, Cognitive Science, Meditation, HCI, Design, and Art) using immersive Virtual Reality.
Starting off researching how we orient and move through real and virtual space, he is increasingly interested in exploring how we could utilize the potential of multi-sensory media like Virtual Reality to foster meaningful or even pivotal experiences and profound emotional shifts that we might otherwise never be able to experience.
After researching for a decade in the Virtual Reality Group of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany and working as a post-doctoral researcher at Vanderbilt University and UC Santa Barbara, Bernhard joined SFU in 2008. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at [ Ссылка ]
