Over Coffee® | Stories and Resources from the Intersection of Art and Science | Exploring How to Mak Dot Cannon: Public Speaker & New-Media Reporter

Immersive-experience creator XRIO (https://www.xrio.io/) has a brand-new learning game on Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/xrio/blender-start-here)!Continuing on their stated mission, "building the future of immersive play and learning", XRIO has created "Blender Start Here". The goal: to simplify the learning process for creatives wanting to learn the Blender 3D modeling program."Blender Start Here" presents the program in the context of a role-playing game. Players have quests to accomplish, villains to vanquish and items to pick up Along the way, almost without realizing they're learning, they're gaining essential Blender skills.XRIO's creatorsXRIO Co-founders Nina Faye Lin and Dave Mills came to Blender through their backgrounds as artists, educators and storytellers.Nina's areas of expertise include interior design and architecture and urban planning. She is also the founder of Hawaii's first self-directed learning center. Dave is an Emerging Technologies developer with an MFA in Creative Technologies, and a background in guiding students in the use of new media.And their remote company, XRIO, came about as a result of their collaboration on an immersive project which blew everyone away. XRIO's team members include creatives from Hawaii, California and the East Coast.From there, their experience, watching friends struggle with Blender, led to "Blender Start Here".(Like to back the project? Their Kickstarter campaign runs through June 21st!)Navigating a sometimes-daunting program(Not familiar with Blender? This is a great, completely free and open-source project, geared towards putting 3D modeling within reach for any creator who'd like to use it. It's made by hundreds of contributors around the world, with a highly supportive community for learners.The only drawback: the program is so involved that many learners tend to give up.)"There's an enormous dropoff, of people who want to learn Blender, and people who actually learn Blender," says Dave, who is XRIO's CTO and the game lead on Blender Start Here."These programs are not easy to learn (especially when you're transitioning from having learned a different 3D software program)," says Nina, who is the CEO of XRIO."A lot of us share that pain point."Nina and Dave talked about their experiences with creating XRIO, discussed the creative process behind "Blender Start Here" and offered a preview of the way the game helps players learn.

How can AI enhance creativity?In the process, what are the ways to use it ethically? Especially in the area of education?These are the areas which Jeannine Flores is currently exploring.Jeannine, who serves as Arts and STEAM Coordinator in Los Angeles County Office of Education (https://lacoe.edu/)'s Center for Distance and Online Learning, has a background in music education and performing arts. And she sees some exciting possibilities for artificial intelligence, as a starting point for creative projects."Right now, I feel we're exploring a new frontier phase of AI and the arts," she explains."I'm just curious about seeing how things are applied, and not being scared of it."A departure--not a destinationJeannine encourages teachers to explore AI, to spark new ideas, while never losing sight of its limitations."The thing that's missing (in AI-generated content) is the human component," she says. "That human connection to art, to music, to dance...whichever art form we're looking at. We still need to have that human element."But, she says, artificial intelligence can serve as a "first-draft" catalyst, for students' original work. It can also act as a tool for educators, to ensure that student submissions are, indeed, original!However, she and her fellow educators are proceeding with caution. "Citing that source is really important," Jeannine says. "I would never claim (AI-generated content) as my own. We need to be very cognizant and diligent...because (there are so many unknowns about intellectual property and artificial intelligence)."Jeannine discussed the ways AI can be used ethically in the creative process, examined some of the pitfalls of artificial intelligence and shared some of her favorite AI resources.

"When you put on a headset, you're really trying to magnify your human presence, " says Dr. Angelina Dayton.That concept at the heart of her work, as Executive Director of the Virtual World Society (https://www.virtualworldsociety.org/).With a background in both anthropology and education, Dr. Dayton is an expert in human-computer interaction. In addition to being a virtual reality researcher and trainer, she is a user experience designer and consultant.Her focus is on the ways we, as human beings, can use technologies like XR and AI to create a better world, interacting with one another with kindness and thoughtfulness.Immersed in innovationDr. Dayton has put literally thousands of people into VR headsets for the first time. One of her passion projects is introducing rural native communities to XR, with the goals of assisting them in cultural preservation while revitalizing their communities.Long before joining the staff at the Virtual World Society, virtual reality had captured her imagination as an implement for education and positive social change. Her multiple visits to schools, introducing students to virtual reality for education, have led to her moniker: "The VR Lady". (https://www.thevrlady.com/)Today, her work with the nonprofit Virtual World Society amplifies her personal mission. The Virtual World Society, she explains, works to use emerging technologies for good--not just to make money, but to create a better world with opportunities accessible to all.Dr. Dayton talked about her background, discussed some of her observations about human-computer interaction in the areas of VR and education, and offered a closer look at some of the Virtual World Society's programs.And, heads-up--she'll speaking at AWE USA, which is happening in Long Beach, California, from Tuesday, June 18th, through Thursday, June 20th. Here's the link for information (https://awexr.com/usa-2024?_gl=1*4bhgx2*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjw9IayBhBJEiwAVuc3fmt6yhmL18KChSsDA6a2E9bVVQNIOgdZgsW6mtqeSXDZob_VDPJ0bBoCG_8QAvD_BwE)--and if you can't be present in-person, our understanding is that some of the talks will be live-streamed!

"What is your vision, for what (STEM) is?" asks Anthony Quan.And when he hears school leaders' answers, he's going to alert them to additional, and imaginative, new possibilities.Anthony, who is both the STEM Coordinator and the STEM Science Coordinator for the Los Angeles County Office of Education (https://lacoe.edu/), Division of Curriculum and Instructional Services, draws on his background as a marine biologist and an award-winning middle school science teacher, to engage students' imagination as they learn science, technology, engineering and math.And these lessons are being applied, both to the world they know and to their possible future careers."It's all about innovation and creativity," he explains.In addition to his work implementing STEM and STEAM initiatives for schools throughout Los Angeles County, Anthony supports several student events. These include the Los Angeles County Science and Engineering Fair and the Southern California Science Olympiad.He is also the founder of the Los Angeles County Engaging Girls in STEM: (https://www.engaginggirlsinstem.com/) a program designed to show girls the possibilities of future careers in science, technology, engineering and math.Anthony talked about his background, shared the story of Engaging Girls in STEM and offered a closer look at the numerous resources available to students and educators through LACOE.

"Math is in everything," says National Board Certified math teacher Krystal Jones.And in her San Jose classroom, it's an implement for positive social change.Krystal, who teaches at Hoover Middle School, illustrates her subject by guiding students through hands-on, socially-conscious engineering projects. The focus is on solving social problems, as opposed to those in textbooks.Drought, systemic inequity and homelessness have been among the areas students have examined. In the process, they've applied concepts including probability, proportion and percentages."One day, I made this decision: that every single thing I do in the classroom is going to be conscious in some way," Krystal explains.Accordingly, she put her engineering background (which includes serving as Engineering Education Leader at San Jose's The Tech Interactive (https://www.thetech.org/) museum) to work.Focusing on social and global responsibility, Krystal began presenting her students with design challenges. Often, these wound up being interdisciplinary: teaching Black history, social studies and science, in addition to math.Krystal, who gave a presentation on "Engineering in the Classroom" during the 2024 California STEAM Symposium, in Long Beach, will also be speaking at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Annual Meeting and Exposition, which takes place September 25th through 28th in Chicago. Here's the link for more information (https://www.nctm.org/annualmeeting/).Krystal talked about her creative journey, how she first came to incorporate social consciousness into her curriculum and some of the resulting projects she and her students have created.

Due to a technical glitch, we'll be running a backup show this week. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top Over Coffee®episodes of 2023!A robot which can do something new, isn't unusual.But a miniature wearable robot, which can track health, monitor your workout and even teach you dance moves?That's the "Calico", developed by researchers at the University of Maryland's Small Artifacts Lab, or SMART Lab (http://smartlab.cs.umd.edu/publication/calico).Anup Sathya, currently a doctoral student at the University of Chicago, is one of the developers of Calico.While studying at the University of Maryland, Anup worked as a research assistant at the SMART Lab.During that time, he and his team created and evolved the tiny wearable robot.To say they miniaturized the technology, seems like an understatement. The current model weighs less than an ounce, and is smaller than two inches in diameter.And it monitors its wearer by traveling over their clothing, operating on a track inspired by railways!In this interview from Summer, 2023, Anup discussed the creative process behind Calico, explained how it works and shared some of the capabilities of this miniature, wearable robot.