How much physical space do you need to study virtual worlds?
The University of California at Irvine has started construction on a 4,000-square foot, 20-room “Cyber-Interaction Observatory,” the Los Angeles Times reports. The building, which is designed to support faculty research into games and virtual worlds, will include floor-to-ceiling projection screens, 3-D stereoscopic displays, and “gesture-based interfaces,” the newspaper reports.
The building is part of a plan to expand the study of gaming at Irvine. The university established the Center for Computer Games & Virtual Worlds this fall, and next fall it plans to start offering a four-year undergraduate degree in game science. The undergraduate program will start with between 50 to 100 students.
