LOS ANGELES (June 25, 2019) — The USC Institute for Creative Technologieshas appointed Jessica Brillhart, as the Mixed Reality Lab’s new director, effective September 16, 2019. Brillhart will leverage her knowledge in building inclusive virtual worlds to lead the laboratory in the ongoing development of immersive training scenarios that are human-centered experiences, deeply personalized, emotionally impactful, data rich and cost-effective.
Brillhart comes from Vrai Pictures, where she currently produces impactful and emotional experiences for emerging technologies. Previously, Brillhart was the principal filmmaker for virtual reality at Google where she helped develop Google Jump, a live-action virtual reality ecosystem.
“It’s an honor to be joining the team at USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies to take on the role as the director of the Mixed Reality Lab,” said Brillhart. “I’ve spent a good part of my career exploring the human side of emergent tech, creating platforms and experiences that not only showcase a technology’s capabilities but also challenge us to think more critically about how those capabilities affect culture and our society as a whole.”
In announcing the appointment, Randy Hill, executive director of the Institute, noted Brillhart’s extensive experience as an immersive director, writer and theorist, and how the team is looking forward to her advancing this powerhouse of research.
“We are experiencing an inspired movement in the advancement of mixed reality developed for training, education, health and entertainment,” said Hill. “USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies has helped lead technical modernization in the virtual and augmented segments by making major contributions to the development of Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard, and we anticipate that the hiring of Jessica will continue that imaginative spirit for the lab’s narrative and experiential content.”
Brillhart’s work explores how emerging technologies are creating original mediums for storytelling. Reflecting on her new responsibilities, she added, “I look forward to continuing MxR’s tradition of pushing experiential design forward by developing impactful tools, systems and experiences that are as functional as they are inclusive, accessible, emotional, and meaningful.”
USC Institute for Creative Technologies is a DoD-sponsored University Affiliated Research Center working in collaboration with the U.S. Army. Established in 1999, ICT has led the way in developing award-winning advanced immersive experiences that leverage groundbreaking research technologies and the art of entertainment to simulate human capabilities.
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