Texas Immersive Monthly MeetUp: Social Justice Meets Immersive Technology

Though social justice and the fight for equality has always been a hot-button issue, the murder of George Floyd shook the nation in a way no one could have imagined. Despite going through a pandemic, protesters around the world took to the streets to demand change hundreds of years in the making. The question still remains, however: how can we help someone effectively understand another person’s life experiences?

Over the past two years, immersive technology has been the gateway to recognizing the diversity of daily life. Join Zane, Texas Immersive’s lab manager, in exploring the current research, experiences, and tools the immersive industry has brought to the social justice movement. We’ll take a look at experiences like Another Dream directed by Tamara Shogaolu, talk about apps like Bridgefy, and introduce research based around the conversation of immersive technology and human rights.

Our vision within the Texas Immersive Institute is to imagine the unknown into existence and help our community live at the cultural intersection where innovation meets entrepreneurship. Our goal is to break down socioeconomic boundaries by providing access to emerging technologies that will help our next-generation visionaries use storytelling to share solutions to big problems that are responsive, responsible, and remarkable.

Every 1st Wednesday of each school-semester month from 6:00 to 7:30 PM CST, we connect worldwide innovators with students and faculty at UT through an informal network event. We design each meetup with a connecting formula of “X meets Y”, where X = a specific industry or theme – whether its education, workforce, tourism, the holidays, etc. – and Y = an emerging technology that is shaping new opportunities in this space. These events serve as an outlet for the community of innovators and curious students and faculty across the university and abroad to network and explore bridging disciplines.