Virtual and augmented reality is a strange beast, but SAE is breaking down the barriers with Australia’s first-ever undergraduate VR course.
If you’ve ever wanted to know more about virtual and augmented reality, and need direction as to how you can enter the industry yourself, SAE’s upcoming Open Day is the perfect place to start.
Like any good Open Day, there’ll be the chance to speak to the institute’s experienced and passionate team, while also getting to see their advanced equipment and facilities for yourself. SAE Creative Media Institute prides themselves on their hands-on approach to education, offering real-life experience and industry pathways.
A range of workshops and info sessions will be available to peruse throughout the day. This includes a professional recording session, live film shoot and a panel of industry partners. Visitors will also have a chance to speak to current students and even industry leaders, including Liminal VR’s co-founder and CEO, Damian Moratti, who will also be on the featured panel.
Liminal VR is one of SAE’s industry partners, who offer participating students a range of opportunities they otherwise may go without. This includes direct access to the Liminal VR team for collaboration and questions, internships, and their equipment.
“We provide access to our research and we provide a direct access to my team. Any student can post a question about a project they’re working on, but they all have direct access to me as well. It’s about teaching students to think of AR/VR in terms more than just conventional gaming” says Moratti.
“By working with us through the partnership program and studying at SAE, students are afforded the ability to learn a little bit about psychology and neuroscience, and also put those skills to the test and create experiences that are specifically designed to either calm people down or energize them. Soon to inspire, or help alleviate pain.”
Although this form of tech seems like something out of Black Mirror, it’s very much becoming part of our reality. Liminal VR is taking this one step further with the combination of neurology, psychology and AR/VR to “augment emotional and cognitive state” by using “short VR experiences” that have “profound psychological outcomes”.
This approach to virtual and augmented reality will be featured in SAE’s new Diploma of Augmented and Virtual Reality – which Liminal VR has also helped develop. This will make SAE the first provider to offer an AR/VR education at an undergraduate diploma level and will launch in Melbourne this September.
“It’s a very, very exciting time to studying and getting involved in augmented and virtual reality technology because it’s this huge new emerging tech that’s going to affect pretty much all of our lives in the near future.”
Moratti believes it’s not just the “amazing campuses” and “savvy facilities” that make SAE an excellent institute, but the care it has for its students – something he’s seen firsthand. The ability to network and take your learning beyond just theory is just another perk of the institution.
“[SAE] can see that AR and VR are going to be these huge industries and technologies that are going to affect so many people. And so much so that they’re novel enough to implement this diploma, I think, speaks volumes to the sort of education that you can hope to achieve at SAE.”
You can visit the SAE Creative Media Institute Melbourne campus for yourself on Sunday August 11 from 10am till 2pm. Make sure you register for more information and updates at sae.edu.au
