Fans of interactive media are no doubt aware of Augmented Reality, a type of user interface that makes virtual objects appear to be integrated with the real world. The first down line in televised Football games is one of the best known examples of this technology.

Augmented reality research is remarkably inter-disciplinary, even when compared to other subfields of computer science. At the recent International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, in addition to the expected “Science and Technology” track, there was also an “Arts, Media, and Humanities” track. Even more refreshing, these were NOT parallel tracks! The computer scientists went to the AMH talks, presented by rhetoricians, museum curators, and theatre producers, among others. And the AMH folks came to the S&T talks, to see where the technology is headed, and to brainstorm and daydream how these new advances might be taken up into cultural practice. The most exciting augmented reality projects I saw at the conference all involved multi-disciplinary teams.

This approach to AR fits perfectly with Miami’s approach to research and scholarship. And so, I’m pleased to announce that we are forming a group to propose a new Augmented Reality Center at Miami University. This effort is being led by myself and Helen Armstrong, and (so far) involves a partnership between the Computer Science and Software Engineering program, the Master of Computer Science program, the MFA in Graphic Design, and the Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies. We envision collaborations with other Miami centers, particularly those affiliated with the Armstrong Institute.

Watch for my blog post in the spring for more details. At this time, however, I’m particularly interested in hearing from other Miami faculty and researchers that might be interested in participating in the center. There are still plenty of seats available at the table.

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