Join Media Lab research scientist Henry Holtzman, and master’s students Dan Novy and Janice Wang, who will discuss examples of Media Lab work on immersive experiences.

Henry Holtzman’s Information Ecology group is creating physical spaces where both real and 3D projected objects and sounds can coexist with people, and in which we can interact with these objects unencumbered with special glasses or headphones. In addition, they explore how objects can embody emotion through their shape, texture, and color, and create objects that can vary their emotional output to suit a story, situation, or memory.

Dan Novy’s work on computational immersive displays examines the difference between how we’re conceiving immersion now compared to how we did, say, virtual reality in the 90s, by exploring emotional and perceptional engagement rather than pure technological overload.

Janice Wang’s research explores how food can be a tool for creating memorable experiences involving multiple senses. For instance, music can change our eating experience by altering our emotions during the meal, or by evoking a specific time and place. Similarly, sight, smell, and temperature can all be manipulated to combine with food for expressive effect.