Exploring the boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds

Extrality lab is a research environment at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences at Stockholm University. We visit the lab in Kista during Open Exhibition Day, when students from a course in immersive technology are showing their projects. This day, the lab is open to the public, and the room is buzzing with activity and playfulness. Students, teachers and industry partners are testing the students’ prototypes. With the help of VR headsets, the player ends up in a parallel reality – where, for example, you can try building your own miniature sand world, take part in a horror experience in a deserted cottage haunted by evil forces, or explore what it feels like to fall freely through the universe. The sensation of falling is reinforced not only by the digital experience but also by the participant lying upside down in a hammock wearing a headset at the same time.

With immersive technology – or the umbrella term Extended reality, which encompasses both virtual reality, mixed reality and augmented reality – you can create an interactive experience where the boundaries between the physical experience and the digital, fictional one are blurred.

Jordi Solsona Belenguer, researcher and teacher at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, is the director of Extrality lab.

– Extrality lab is a creative lab where students, researchers and partners can experiment and design within immersive technologies like virtual reality and mixed reality, says Jordi Solsona Belenguer.

Wants to collaborate more with society and other researchers

Extrality lab started as an initiative in 2019 to give students on a master’s programme in immersive technology a creative space for their projects. The master’s programme has now been renewed, and Jordi hopes that more students will be inspired to apply to the new Master’s Programme in Interaction Design for Artificial Realities.

The lab contains everything from high-quality headsets for VR and MR to electronic equipment, as well as tools for soldering, 3D printing, laser cutting and sewing for producing physical prototypes.

– We provide researchers with the knowledge on how to implement immersive technologies in their own research projects. Our vision is to increase our collaborations with society, partners and researchers, says Jordi Solsona Belenguer. He adds that interested researchers from different disciplines at Stockholm University are welcome to contact Extrality lab for collaborations.

Important to include everyone in the digital transformation of society

We meet Marzia Alizada, a PhD student in Human–Computer Interaction at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, who talks about her doctoral thesis project Inclusion in Societies Through Collaborative Digital Assistance.

–My PhD project is about developing an indoor navigation system for people with blindness, to make it easier for them to find the indoor locations.

The technology is based on augmented reality. Here, Marzia has adapted the technology for people with visual impairment, and uses sound, speech and vibrations instead of the visual elements that augmented reality is usually based on.

Marzia helps the test participant Kourosh Javvi put on headphones and a so-called X-band, which he wears on his wrist. Under Marzia’s guidance, he gets to try different types of navigation. He gets instructions in the headphones and then also via vibration signals through his wrist band.

– Nowadays, societies are rapidly moving towards more digitalization. And it is very important to make sure that everyone is on board with this transition, says Marzia Alizada.

A major advantage of immersive technology is its potential to include all groups of people in society, she believes.

Enables new types of interactive performances in the future

Another research project, Mixed Reality Shared Engagement in Cultural events, is a collaboration between researchers at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Kulturhuset Stadsteatern and Ericsson Research. The researchers have used the technology at Extrality lab to create a new type of event, where the audience is invited to experience, take part in and influence the plot of the performance.
By putting on a mixed reality headset, participants can interact with both virtual and physical objects, actors and environments in parallel. The technology could be used for theatre performances, dance performances and other types of artistic events.
One day in June, it is time for the project’s interactive final performance, “The Butterfly Effect”, created in collaboration with mixed reality choreographer Robin Jonsson. Kulturhuset Stadsteatern is responsible for the artistic production and the researchers at Stockholm University have developed technology that enables several participants to interact in the virtual world at the same time. Ericsson is responsible for the advanced wireless communication technology.

At Sergels torg in Stockholm, a small audience has gathered to watch the performance. On the screens that have been set up, the audience can also see what the participants see through their headsets. The music, composed by Olle Karlsson at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, is shifting in accordance to the participants’ movements. Anyone in the audience is invited to take part and influence the performance. Two professional dancers guide the group through a fictional mission that they are to solve through collaboration. A butterfly moves through the virtual landscape and fills Sergels torg with nature and life. But something is wrong. The butterfly, once full of life, begins to fade away. The participants’ task is to save the world around them, together.

– I believe the project can contribute to completely new types of artistic performances being created in the future, says Uno Fors, professor of Computer and Systems Sciences and project manager for the project.

Learn more about the research infrastructure and research projects in Extrality lab by watching the film below made by Stockholm University Media Production.

Text: Elin Sahlin

Read more about the project: Inclusion in Societies Through Collaborative Digital Assistance

Read more about the project: Mixed Reality Shared Engagement in Cultural Events (SECE)