XR Lab – Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Laboratory (VR/AR/MR)
In response to the emergent fields of spatial computing and immersive environments, the XR Lab was created by Luisa Caldas in 2017, at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design. Our goal is to develop innovative, impactful research and applications in VR/AR/MR by establishing collaborations with industry partners and academia.
The XR Lab is founded on the premise that immersive environments will be the next pervasive platforms for communications, entertainment and work. In this context, current hardware will progressively be replaced by non-intrusive interfaces that seamlessly merge into daily life. Virtual, augmented and mixed reality will likely have vast implications across society, with horizontal disruptive impact.
The XR lab is currently active in the fields of architecture and urban planning, healthcare, sustainability and climate change, ADA research, human-computer interfaces, UI/UX, new media and narrative/storytelling research. The Lab has also developed unique methods for parametric and generative design and the execution of scientific simulations inside immersive environments. New research interests include telepresence, collaborative environments, and high-definition space capture.
The XR Lab has established a strong presence across the Berkeley campus, collaborating with the HTC Center for Enhanced Reality, the Center of Augmented Cognition, the Arts + Design Initiative, the Academic Innovation Studio, and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Our industry collaborations span hardware providers (Oculus/Facebook, HTC, Microsoft), content developers (Lucas Film/ILMxLab, Autodesk, Lucy, CyArk), and end users (Benioff Oakland Children’s Hospital, Lawrence Hall of Science).