
Virtual Reality
At SMFA, Virtual Reality is approached as a unique, hybrid medium combining elements of gaming, cinema, and contemporary art installation.
Students are able to transform their existing analog and digital skills in areas such as drawing, animation, film, photography, and architecture into virtual environments and experiences.
In Virtual Reality, we build fantasy spaces; image spectacles that pose thoughtful questions; immersive viewer-driven cinema-like experiences; or useful tools for educational, therapeutic, or commercial purposes.
In addition to practical studio work, seminar discussion considers the ethical and philosophical questions raised by Virtual Reality. If VR can overwhelm the viewer’s senses, do creators bear greater ethical responsibility for the experiences they create? Is a disembodied sensory experience the same as embodied experience? Exactly how do images create and define our maps of the world?
Sample Courses
DIG 0150 - Virtual Reality
This hybrid studio/seminar class focuses on the practice and theory of creating Virtual Reality environments in fine art, design, and commercial contexts.
DIG 0107 - Cinematic 3D
Cinematic 3D is hybrid studio/seminar course focused on creating 3D video for fine art and/or commercial/practical purposes.

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