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Semester in Alternate Realities
Next offering: TBD
About the program
Semester in Alternate Realities (SIAR) proposes a unique educational experience meant to inspire interdisciplinary teams to solve a real-world problem exploring Virtual reality (VR) and hybrid VR physical installations.
In this project-based course, participants will be challenged to develop solutions using technologies such as VR (e.g., Meta Quest head-mounted displays) and immersive multi-modal media installations. In addition to focusing on the co-construction of digital prototypes affording meaningful experiences in “alternate realities”, our objective is to stimulate documented reflection and discussion throughout the process. Participants can expect to work collaboratively, be matched according to the skills they bring, and be provided time and resources to learn new techniques and approaches, soft– and hard skills, and processes to conduct user research.
Participants will get the opportunity to reflect on future technologies and their potential impact on the world, and improve their presentation skills and publicly showcase their projects. To incorporate diverse perspectives, students from different disciplines are invited to apply and, in their application, argue how they could contribute to the course and the co-construction of team projects.
CONTACT
- For general course questions contact siat_advising@sfu.
- For detailed course questions or requirements for joining the course that are not covered here please contact Dr. Bernhard Riecke at ber1@sfu.ca.
How to apply
To apply for this course, students must download and complete the application/project proposal form (link below) and submit the completed form to SIAT's advising team at siat_advising@sfu.ca.
Deadline: Applications are closed
Course Focus and Design Challenge
The Spring 2023 semester’s design challenge was “creating for good” i.e., using alternate realities techniques and technologies, guiding theoretical frameworks, and appropriate processes, project management and collaboration approaches to iteratively ideate, design, prototype, and evaluate an interactive alternate realities experience that affords meaningful experiences for the betterment of humanity and/or our planet.
Who can apply
Upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students with a keen interest in addressing real-world problems through designing alternate realities experiences. Students are expected to be fearless in their exploration, adoption and experimentation of immersive technologies, and open to and interested in exploring new ideas, concepts and perspectives in an interdisciplinary setting. Come prepared to work collaboratively with others.
The couse is open to students with the necessary background in VR, both for SIAT students and students from other departments of SFU or other universities.
For more information about the course, please see our course information video.
Student Experiences
“The highlight of my SFU career was a Semester in Alternate Realities (SiAR). I thought I was in way over my head when I was accepted into the course, but I was able to explore and excel in various roles I hadn’t been exposed to previously including project manager, art director, scrum master, and so much more. Following this course, I constantly utilized my agile development, design and team management skills to push my school projects further and this made a big difference when I landed my first co-op job.”
Elene Wanner, SIAT graduate
Student Feedback
- "The most unique and engaging semester I've had in my university career so far"
- “A once in a lifetime opportunity to learn new skills, make new friends, and work with technology for the greater good.”
- "The most intensive course at SFU where students get hands on experience with cutting edge technology."
- "I actually know everybody's name"
- "It's a unique experience where the class actually feels like a community"
- "The most intensive course at SFU where students get hands on experience with cutting edge technology."