The 6th Annual

A meeting of the minds between researchers and xr creators
New York City · JULY 14-16, 2023
Presented By

With Support From



Applications for the 2023 XR Brain Jam have closed.
Presented By
With Support From
Applications for the 2023 XR Brain Jam have closed.
How can the work of research biologists be applied to virtual reality experiences? What if a social science researcher teamed up with a team of AR developers? What happens when you take virtual reality expertise and apply it to neuroscience problems?
The XR Brain Jam is an innovative, collaborative event that pairs researchers with xr game developers and digital creatives, and charges them with exploring the intersection of their domains together.
Teams work together for an intense weekend to learn, discuss, explore, and create experiences that tackle questions like these. And when it’s all done, their work and lessons learned are shared at the Games for Change Festival.
XR developers and digital creatives interested in creating XR experiences that drive meaningful impact are paired with domain experts focused on addressing a specific issue (medical, environmental, education, etc). These cross-discipline teams are led through a structured workshop experience designed to accelerate the prototyping process. This workshop period is followed by a multi-day jam, where teams develop a working prototype of their concept.
Then teams are invited to share their work with a curated panel of experts. These experts are chosen from a variety of fields to give teams maximum value feedback, including funding, design, distribution, marketing, and development.
The 2023 XR Brain Jam will begin with an online pre-jam workshop on July 8th. Then on July 14th – 16th all participants will gather in NYC for a weekend of in-person collaboration and development.
The prototypes created at the XR Brain Jam will be presented at the 2023 Games for Change Festival on July 13-16th.18-20th.
In the past five Brain Jams, teams have tackled a variety of interesting areas of research, including neuroscience, teen anxiety, grief, sensory processing, Parkinson’s disease, physics education, mosquito population management, and traumatic brain injuries. Each year XR Brain Jam selects a small set of research prompts that highlight areas of focus for the jam. Teams then choose a specific topic of their choice when they begin collaborating in July.
Researchers, Scientists, Graduate Students, and Educators in fields that resonate with our yearly areas of focus
Visual Artists, Audio Designers, Producers, Writers, Programmers, and Designers
We are looking for a diverse group of subject matter experts across our target problem spaces. If you are a researcher, scientist, or other expert working in any of our areas of focus and are excited about applying cutting-edge interactive technology to your discipline, please apply!
If you work as a digital creative writing code, making art, designing audio, managing dev projects, telling stories, or designing game experiences, you are welcome to apply. Each year we have a mix of studio-based teams that apply together as well as individual applicants. Creators will be paired with other disciplines to build robust development teams.
Some of the institutions and company affiliations of previous XR Brain Jam attendees:
The Graduate Center (CUNY) · NYU CREATE Lab · Iowa State University · Teacher’s College · Object Normal · NeuroStorm Studios · SlingshotVR · VR Institute of Health · SoundVR · play4REAL Lab, Yale Center for Health & Learning Games · Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy @ UCF · University of Washington · Facetank · Schell Games · Universidad de los Andes · Knight Lab @ Northwestern University · The Glimpse Group · Immersive Health Group · Normal VR · Stuido Studios · Ubisoft · USC · Georgia Tech Research Institute · Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory · Mokuni Games · THiNK Immersive · Media Rez · SIR-VR
Applications for the 2023 XR Brain Jam are open! Apply by May 14th, 2023.
Experience with XR technologies specifically (virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, input peripherals, etc) is not required to participate in the XR Brain Jam. One of the jam’s goals is to expand exposure to this technology to researchers and developers. However, if you have experience working with these platforms, particularly for tech developers, this is a plus.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own XR equipment. We will also provide XR hardware on site for teams’ use during the jam.
Can’t Join us this year?
CONNECT WITH US
If you have questions or want more information, email us at: xrbrainjam@gamesforchange.org
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