Since April 2022, I have been working to develop a DEI talent and creative initiative focused on artists from refugee backgrounds who are using XR, immersive and new media in their explorations.

During a visit to Cambridge, Massachusetts, a team from the University of Utah and the International Rescue committee’s interdisciplinary team met with the nonprofit organization Narratio at MIT, which works with displaced youths. During the collaborative day at the Immersion Lab, students were introduced to a suite of technology that researchers use at MIT; an experience that helped them connect the physical and virtual.

“MIT has a long history of collaboration with tech companies, and they have a pulse on VR tech and production coming out,” explained Milad Mozari, professor at the University of Utah, adding “it’s important to make emerging tech be in conversation with new audiences aside from those in an academic or enterprise settings.”