Taubman College Jonathan Rule, clinical assistant professor of architecture and urban planning, was a recent guest on the MiXR podcast. Hosted by the University of Michigan’s Center for Academic Innovation, the MiXR podcast highlights projects on campus that have received funding through the university’s new Extended Reality (XR) Innovation Fund.
Rule discussed how he is shaping the future of architecture education through augmented and virtual reality. He teaches courses in construction and architectural design and has been exploring technologies such as Google Cardboard and Unity to immersively experience architectural designs. His XR Innovation Fund project, “Augmented Tectonics,” will leverage both virtual reality and augmented reality to develop a pilot teaching tool for construction courses at Taubman College.
In the podcast, Rule also talked about other boundary-pushing uses of technology to enhance the educational experience at Taubman College, including the Michigan Architecture Prep program for high school students. In 2019, faculty used XR to immerse students in the program — juniors in the Detroit public schools — in imagining alternative public spaces for the city of Detroit.
“There are a lot of cool opportunities in this technology, both as a teaching and technical tool, but also as an exploratory tool that gets both young and old excited about [imagining the future of the built environment].”
Listen to Rule’s episode of the MiXR podcast or read a transcript of the conversation here.
Learn more about the MiXR podcast at ai.umich.edu/xr.
