This past summer, Apple CEO Tim Cook declared, “We are high on [Augmented Reality] for the long run, we think there’s great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity.” While people following Apple knew of their intimate interest in Augmented Reality (AR) when they purchased German AR giant Metaio in early 2015, the explosion of Pokemon Go has refocused attention on the widespread interest in AR and Virtual Reality (VR). This has certainly also been the case in Portland; just last week Elemental staged a panel discussion webcast on the future of Virtual Reality using a 360 video camera while non-profits like Oregon Story Board train cadres weekly in how to program and design for AR/VR. Even local university projects have leveraged AR, as teacher prep courses at Concordia University integrated it into museum exhibits and historical sites.
To delve into this conversation further, particularly given this nascent AR/VR ecosystem in Oregon, the Concordia University Office of University Innovation and the Concordia University Foundation are excited to announce a community learning opportunity on Friday, November 4th. Dr. Christopher Dede, Timothy Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies, Technology, and Innovation at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, will be delivering a lecture over breakfast at the Multnomah Athletic Club. This talk, “How Immersion in Virtual and Augmented Realities Will Help Students in the Real World,” will discuss the history of the technologies as well as review studies of how they can impact learning.
Hoping for collaborations between educational institutions like Concordia and the business and technology sector, Dr. Dede will also examine the educational impact of virtual spaces based on his ongoing research. Dr. Dede has been investigating the affordances of VR and AR for over 15 years and was encouraged by what was revealed in the Pokemon Go phenomenon. Is this the time for universities and companies to jointly leverage their resources to uncover the possibilities or AR/VR in the workplace, classroom, and community? Are their further economic opportunities for Oregon in building Portland into an AR/VR hub, one that carefully integrated the educational, governmental, and commercial apparatus?
Concordia looks forward to hosting this conversation, and invites participants from all sectors, particularly within the Technology Association of Oregon, to attend or participate. If your company would like to partner with Concordia on this, or other, events please contact Concordia’s Chief Innovation Officer, Shawn Daley.
Registration for the breakfast, either as an individual or through the purchase of a table, can be completed HERE.
