Sustainability Showcase 12/6

On Friday, December 6th, I attend a Sustainability Showcase with the guest speaker being Alex Klippel. Alex Klippel is a Professor of Geography and Director for the Center of Immersive Experiences and the topic of his presentation was “Extended Realites- Creating Visceral Experiences for Sustainability.” The idea behind this is to create opportunities to literally see sustainability and the effects of environmental changes to the Earth. These virtual reality presentations are visceral experiences for the past, the future, and remote locations. It would also allow for simulations and exploration, and grounding communication abstract scenarios. Plus, using virtual reality is also good for practical scenarios like evaluating how reducing carbon footprint would have an impact. There are also three different types of these immersive experiences: augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality. There is a spectrum of reality and virtual reality which Klippel mentioned that is mixed reality. Mixed Reality combines augmented reality and augmented virtuality. At some point, we had all come into contact with these different experiences whether it be through video games, smartphones, or laptops/computers, and so using in order to see different environmental phases is unique. To see the possibilities, good and bad, of sustainability and changes to the Earth is something special to help envision the future of what Earth can look like in the years to come.