Annenberg Extended Reality Lab
The Annenberg Extended Reality (AER) Lab is a space for critical and creative research on the social and theoretical dimensions of extended reality technologies. Our work is interdisciplinary and collaborative, and includes virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, as well as artificial intelligence, spatial computing, and related technologies and practices.
Featured Projects
Social Grammars of Virtuality
The Social Grammars of Virtuality is a yearly report that tracks trends in extended reality scholarship. It is a free resource available in English and Spanish.
Augmented Landscapes of Empathy: Community Voices in Augmented Reality Campaigns
Building on the AER Lab’s commitment to participatory and critically-informed research, this series of grants-based studies explores how augmented reality media can foster localization, self-identification, and actionable behaviors–particularly within marginalized communities.
The Payphone: Portraits of Urban Resilience
An immersive experience that explores the fading, yet oddly resilient social functions of the payphone. This interactive installation integrated VR headset video with oral histories via the payphone’s handset.
VR Narcan
An immersive training to spot and reverse opioid overdose. Studies found the 9-minute video to be as effective as the much longer, in-person training.
Alchemical Infrastructures: Making Blockchain in Iceland
A multi-modal examination of cryptocurrency mining in Iceland, including an immersive film.
Degrees of Disembodiment
Multi-sited installation and paper exploring the historical connections between the Spiritualist movement in Philadelphia and extended reality technologies of today.
Leadership
Katerina Girginova, Ph.D., Co-Founder / Director
Katerina researches global media, virtual events, and audiences. Her work has been published in numerous journals and she has presented her work at conferences worldwide. She is the recipient of a number of awards including grants from the International Olympic Committee, the Swedish Government, The Capital Speaker’s Club of Washington D.C., and the University of Pennsylvania. Katerina holds a PhD in Communication Studies from the Annenberg School for Communication. More about Katerina.
Kyle Cassidy, Co-Founder / Director
Kyle has written numerous books and articles about technology and filmmaking and was an early citizen of MicroMUSE, MIT’s Multi User Simulated Environment which, in 1992, triggered his interest in virtual spaces. In 2020 he was awarded Penn’s Model of Excellence award for his work in VR. During the pandemic he began working with doctors from Penn and around the world to find ways to use technology to help diagnose and fight COVID-19.
