Carnegie Mellon University
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Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology

IDeATe  ›  Undergraduate Programs  ›  Immersive Technologies in Arts & Culture

Immersive Technologies in Arts & Culture

Immersive and spatial media encompass a suite of emerging production and embodied viewing technologies that offer innovative possibilities in the arts, entertainment, science, industry, and countless other domains. Technologies seeded 50 years ago are now entering commercial, political and cultural realms; and the potential for augmented and immersive experiences to further disrupt our current media ecosystem is tremendous. As immersive experiences and augmented realities increasingly feature in work and leisure, young innovators are needed who can blend technological skills with creative imagination and critical humanistic practice.  

Students in the Immersive Technologies in Arts & Culture minor will be hybrid technologists, media-makers, and storytellers who can create mediated experiences at the intersection of technology, design, and the humanities. They will be equipped with the social consciousness, global awareness, and cross-cultural skills needed to forge positive new paths for immersive media going into the future. 

Students in the minor will learn to construct and deconstruct immersive and augmented experiences with respect to the cultural, socio-emotional, and embodied aspects of human experience. They will develop the technical know-how and creative production skills to collaboratively author original narratives and prototype spatially mediated experiences. In the making of augmented and immersive media, students will explore the narrative possibilities and technical affordances of the genre while attending to the aesthetic considerations, humanistic concerns, and design conventions defining this emerging mode of cultural production.

Immersive Technologies in Arts & Culture Minor - Minimum of 54 Units

One IDeATe Portal Course - Minimum of 9 units
  • Recommended Portal Course for this area: 
    • 82-250 Digital Realities: Introducing Immersive Technologies for Arts & Culture
  • 62-150 IDeATe Portal: Intro to Media Synthesis and Analysis
    • Section C: Life in the Digital Factory

One Intercultural Focus Course - Minimum of 9 units
  • 82-280 Bilingual & Bicultural Experiences in the US
  • 82-282 Interpreting Global Texts & Cultures
  • 82-283 Language Diversity & Cultural Identity

One Computing Course - Minimum of 9 Units
  • 15-104 Introduction to Computing for Creative Practice
  • 15-110 Principles of Computing
  • 15-112 Fundamentals of Programming and Computer Science
  • 60-212 Intermediate Studio: Creative Coding

IDeATe Immersive Technologies Courses - Minimum of 27 Units
  • 15-365/60-422 Advanced ETB: Experimental Animation
  • 15-463 Computational Photography
  • 53-353 Understanding Game Engines
  • 53-373 Dynamic Motion and Game Experience
  • 53-376 360 Story and Sound
  • 53-451 Research Issues in Game Development: Designing for XR
  • 53-558 Reality Computing Studio
  • 54-397 Sound Design for Interactive Environments
  • 54-399 Decoding Media
  • 60-413 Advanced ETB: Real-Time Animation
  • 82-284 Multicultural Pittsburgh: VR Storytelling
  • 82-287 Multicultural Immersion: Relating Your World in Virtual Reality
  • Additional courses as available. Please check IDeATe Courses for the options for the current and upcoming semester.
Double-counting:  Students may double-count up to two of their IDeATe minor courses for other requirements.

How to Participate

IDeATe collaborates with the Department of Modern Languages to offer an undergraduate minor in Immersive Technologies in Arts & Culture, which is open to students from any major. Students interested in the minor should contact the IDeATe advisor to discuss curriculum and to make a loose plan of study.

All students are welcome to take IDeATe's Immersive Technologies in Arts & Culture courses to fulfill requirements or to explore an area of interest. Pursuing the minor is not required to take the courses.

Immersive Technologies in Arts & Culture Faculty

The Immersive Technologies in Arts & Culture faculty represent Carnegie Mellon's expertise in Modern Languages, Entertainment Technology, Art, Human-Computer Interaction, and Drama. They carefully oversee the collaboration of students while delivering the IDeATe Immersive Technologies courses. Learn more about participating faculty here.