New Works Incubator
The Immersive Media Design New Works Incubator launched in the summer of 2021 to give students across the University of Maryland campus the opportunity to create and present original works of immersive media. The incubator culminated in public presentations of student work as part of NextNow.
The incubator enables student creators to explore new areas of immersive media and create works based on their own interests and initiatives.
Incubator Impact
Immersive media encompasses a broad range of content and emerging technologies, encouraging widely divergent approaches and experimentation. There are few opportunities for students at the University of Maryland to explore their individual interests in immersive media and related emerging technologies in a structured and supportive environment. The IMD New Works Incubator uniquely meets this need by encouraging each student's area of interest while providing feedback, resources, and structure to guide them from project conception to presentation.
The incubator encourages and rewards self-directed learning and research; an important educational experience setting the incubator participants up for success outside traditional academic structures and incentives (i.e., classes and grades).
Because the incubator draws from students across campus, it serves as an important nexus for students creators, developers, and artists from a diverse set of backgrounds, skills, and interests, to meet and build last relationships.
Additionally, the New Works Incubator allows the Immersive Media Design program to share its resources and engage with students across disciplines and programs. For some incubator participants, this may be their first time exploring immersive media. For others, it may be an opportunity to fully realize a class project. By sharing their work with a public audience, students gain a rare opportunity to learn through public feedback.
Program Managers
