RTA Media Professors receive Canada Foundation for Innovation grant
RTA Media professors Ali Mazalek and Richard Lachman received the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) grant to create The Critical Metaverse Design Network for Embodied and Virtual Experiences (EVE). With $1.78 million in funding, they plan to create a state-of-the-art facility that will serve as a launching pad for research into the design, application, and social impact of extended reality (XR) and immersive technologies. This futuristic space will be a groundbreaking initiative in technology, with the aim of advancing critical research and development in the Metaverse that prioritizes ethics and community co-design methods.
RTA Media Professors Richard Lachman (left) and Ali Mazalek (right)
As explained by Dr. Mazalek, The EVE network will respond to embodiment and ethical challenges related to XR technologies by bringing together an interdisciplinary team of human-computer interaction researchers, artists and designers, engineers, social and cognitive scientists, and media theorists, to jointly envision, design, develop and study the future of XR technologies and the Metaverse. This team is a result of a cross-faculty collaboration, led by The Creative School, that involves researchers from the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Community Services and Faculty of Arts. The infrastructure, purpose-designed spaces, and collaboration opportunities enabled by the grant are essential to achieving the team’s goals.
“In the long run, the EVE Network will aim to advance knowledge of the real-world use and impact of immersive technologies and shape the future of embodied XR experiences,” she said. “As part of this, we aim to 1) engage communities and sectors that are often left out of technology-shaping conversations in research and design in applied contexts, 2) advance understanding of how XR technologies are designed and implemented from an interdisciplinary perspective, and 3) critically evaluate the social and cultural impacts of XR environments.”
Creating an accessible tech space
Accessibility is a high priority for the team developing the EVE Network. Dr. Lachman explains that currently, access to technology is expensive and development is driven by private companies. The team will work with industry partners as influential voices, not only as users.
“The network aims to expand the access to and ideas about what the future of mixed reality technology will be,” Dr. Lachman said. “We want to make sure that underrepresented groups, end-users, and the creative sector, are able to drive the development of technology that will affect education, healthcare, culture, and many other parts of society.”
The CFI research will be anchored in The Chrysalis, a new state-of-the art facility that is currently home to The Creative School Theatre at 54 Gerrard St. E., while supporting adjacent spaces such as The RE/lab and Studio X to form a network of transdisciplinary multi-user spaces for research and development, explains Natalie Alvarez, Associate Dean of SRC.
The new on-campus space will also provide students with a new hands-on learning experience and collaborate with industry partners.
“We will be able to develop cutting-edge projects here on campus, working with external partners, and helping our student researchers develop skills,” said Dr. Lachman.
Bridging digital and physical worlds
With the extensive advancements in technology in the past few years, there is often a disconnect between the virtual world and the physical world we live in. With the development of the Metaverse, the digital world is pulling people further away from physical and real-world experiences, explains Dr. Mazalek.
“There is an urgent need to help steer the direction of the Metaverse in a way that is grounded in our embodied, physical world lives and experiences,” she said. “This is the central aim of the EVE Network, which will work to advance community co-created immersive experiences in diverse areas of real-world importance, including healthcare and well-being, accessibility, arts and culture, and education and training.”
The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University
The Creative School is a dynamic faculty that is making a difference in new, unexplored ways. Made up of Canada’s top professional schools and transdisciplinary hubs in media, communication, design and cultural industries, The Creative School offers students an unparalleled global experience in the heart of downtown Toronto.