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Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center graduate degrees

Transdisciplinary programs at the MIX 

The Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center in Mesa, Arizona, is home to transdisciplinary graduate programs from two different schools at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts with courses from several other schools. The programs foster collaboration across fields through a shared core curriculum and bring designers, creators, developers, researchers and worldbuilders together in the creation of new worlds that take multiple forms.

Graduate degree programs

student with vr

MS in media arts and sciences (extended reality technologies)

Immerse yourself in the creation of content for virtual, augmented and mixed realities with the School of Arts, Media and Engineering's Master of Science in media arts and sciences with a concentration in extended reality technologies.

students with lights

MSD in design (experience design)

Prepare for careers in designing all kinds of experiences—games, extended and virtual realities, interactive environments and more—with The Design School's Master of Science in design (experience design).

What is XR?

Extended reality (XR) is an umbrella term that includes any intersection of digital and physical realities, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and any immersive experiences that exist between these forms. These technologies and practices can result in a number of different product types, including video games, immersive cinema, data visualization applications for virtual reality mobile applications for augmented reality, physical spaces augmented with projection mapping or other interactive technologies, and many more.

People


Leadership

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Nicholas Pilarski

Interim Center Director and Associate Professor, ASU Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Johanna Richards

Assistant Director of Center Engagement

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Stephanie Tomlin

Director, Industry Relations

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Stephanie is Industry Relations Director for MIX Center and a cross-disciplinary creative with an 11-year background writing, designing and producing storytelling experiences for brands like Sony, HBO, Riot Games and Disney.

MIX-affiliated research faculty

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Max Bernstein

Clinical Assistant Professor

The Sidney Poitier New American Film School
Christina Carrasquilla

Associate Teaching Professor

Graphic Information Technology, The Polytechnic School

Carrasquilla is an Associate Teaching Professor. Areas of interest are interaction design and dev, social media, and print design. Service efforts are directed towards systematically marginalized groups and K–12 outreach.

Laura Cechanowicz

Assistant Professor

School of Arts Media and Engineering
Nonny de la Pena

Program Director (Narrative and Emerging Media) + Professor of Practice

The Sidney Poitier New American Film School
  • anonny@asu.edu
  • ASU California Center 1111 S. Broadway Suite 100Los Angeles CA
Pooyan Fazli

Asst Professor

School of Arts Media and Engineering

Pooyan Fazli is the director of the People and Robots Laboratory (PeRL). His research focuses on artificial intelligence, autonomous robots, multi-robot systems, human-robot teaming, robot learning, and video understanding.

Ed Finn

Center Director and Associate Professor

Center for Science and the Imagination

Finn directs the Center for Science and the Imagination at ASU. He holds a joint appointment in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the Department of English.

Danielle Foushee

Program Head of Interdisciplinary Design at the ASU California Center & Associate Professor of Graphic Design

The Design School
Ana Herruzo

Co-Director of MSD Programs & Associate Professor of Immersive Experience Design

The Design School

Ana Herruzo, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at MIX Center and Director of MEDIAtedX Lab, specializing in real-time interactive and immersive media.

Mina Johnson

Research Associate Professor

Psychology

Dr. Johnson-Glenberg's lab creates and assesses the efficacy of STEM education created with AI, Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed, and Virtual Reality (VR) - XR. Latest educational games at her ASU spinout https://www.embodied-games.com/games/

Kristy H. A. Kang

Assoc Professor

School of Arts Media and Engineering
Shawn Lawson

Program Director, Animation and Professor

School of Art

Shawn Lawson is an artist creating the computational sublime. He live-codes real-time computer graphics and machine learning neural nets with his open source software. Lawson’s work critiques technology's impact on society.

Alex Lee

Assistant Professor

School of Art

Alex M. Lee is an artist who utilizes 3D animation, video game engines, XR, machine learning and simulation technologies in order to investigate contemporary modes of representation, artifice and technical images.

Robert LiKamWa

Associate Professor

School of Arts Media and Engineering

LiKamWa directs Meteor Studio, which explores the research and design of software and hardware for mobile Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, and visual computing systems for storytelling and sensemaking.

Rodrigo Meirelles

Assistant Professor

The Sidney Poitier New American Film School

Rodrigo Meirelles, Asst. Professor, is a sound artist and researcher at the Sidney Poitier Film School. He directs the Sonora Immersive Audio Lab at ASU’s MIX Center, exploring sound perception and spatial storytelling.

Mauricio Mejia

Associate Director for Research and Knowledge Enterprise & Professor of Design

The Design School

Mauricio Mejía is a Professor of Design at Arizona State University. His current work is about strategic design, with a specific interest in user experiences, service design, co-design, and design futures.

Sven Ortel

Professor of Practice

School of Music, Dance and Theatre

Ortel's primary interest lies in how digital and emerging technologies can help create engaging narrative experiences for live audiences

Lauren Ruffin

Professor of Practice

School of Arts Media and Engineering

Ruffin is a co-founder of Crux Cooperative, an immersive storytelling cooperative that collaborates with Black artists as they create content in virtual reality and augmented reality.

Cynthia Selin

Retired Faculty or Staff

Urban Climate Research Center

Dr. Selin invents and investigates methodologies for making sense of change. By creating new approaches and concepts for better understanding uncertainty, her work cultivates strategic foresight and improved innovation.

Weidi Zhang

Assistant Professor

The Design School

Zhang's interdisciplinary art and design research investigates A Speculative Assemblage at the intersection of immersive media design, experimental data visualization and interactive AI art.

Staff

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Bola Akinrolabu

Program Assistant Director, The Endless Lab for Games and Learning

HIDA The Endless Labs

Bola Akinrolabu is a Program Assistant Director at The Endless Games and Learning Lab, where he develops and scales programs that promote equitable and accessible education through game-based learning.

Paul Amendola

Events Technical Director, MIX Center

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Michael Armstrong

Production Shop Coordinator

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Andrew Ballon

Communications Program Coordinator

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Andrew Ballon is the Communications Program Coordinator for the Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center in Downtown, Mesa; part of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University.

Megan Cauthen

Grad Program Student Svc Supp Coordinator

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Louis Giaquinto

Equipment Coordinator

The Sidney Poitier New American Film School
Ari Huerta-Crummey

Manager of Center Engagement

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Paul Iannone

Academic Facilities Specialist

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Eric Jacobson

Business Operations Manager

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Ryan Pottle

Director of Center Technology Operations (XR Center)

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Julian Silva

FabLab Coordinator

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Trenton Wagner

Community Resource Liaison

Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts