Over Coffee® is on holiday hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2022.

(Photo courtesy of Dr. Colleen Bielitz, and used with permission.)

Futurist Dr. Colleen Bielitz has an invitation for you.

She would like to invite you to get involved in XR–or to get further immersed in it, if you’re already exploring augmented, virtual and extended reality.

Colleen is Associate Vice-President of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach at Southern Connecticut State University. Her additional professional credentials include: entrepreneur, blue economy pioneer, tech evangelist,, and XR researcher.

And her mission: to make XR accessible to everyone.

Colleen is Co-Chair of the VRARA Education Committee, as well as serving on the board of XR Women–the global collective of women in augmented and virtual reality.

We’ve virtually attended events which both organizations hosted, and can wholeheartedly recommend them as vibrant communities which encourage both visitors and members to grow. Beginners are welcome, and supported in their learning journeys.

Among Colleen’s innovations is Project Blue, an initiative towards creating a tech transfer, innovation hub and Blue Economy research in New Haven, Connecticut. AND, exciting update: during this interview we discussed her work on IMXR. The website is now up, and expanding horizons! Here’s the link.

In this interview, prerecorded in spring, 2022, Colleen discussed her mission of making XR available to all, shared resources for getting started and discussed her goals for the future.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• How technology first captured Colleen’s imagination, as an area in which to use her talents;
  

• A definition of XR;
  

• Free resources and platforms for beginners;
  

• What immersive technology can mean to artists;
  

• The directions in which Colleen would like to take XR education in the future;
  

• Some of the dangers of this new immersive “world”;
  

• Safeguards that could help users avoid those dangers;
  

• The current implicit bias behind the looks of avatars;
  

• Some of Colleen’s most exciting experiences, both with VR applications and during her workdays;
  

• A closer look at Project Blue, and a preview of the next chapter;
  

• A look at IMXR;
  

• Two challenges to innovators in the metaverse;
  

• Some exciting applications for users with disabilities;
  

• One of the areas that Colleen sees as requiring considerably more work, towards a metaverse that welcomes everyone.