In spring 2016, The Parsons School of Design students worked hard to deliver immersive educational play experiences for the Learning Community Charter School STREAM After School 5th through 8th graders. This Making VR Pi STREAM collaboration studio resulted in the production of media about the mathematical constant of Pi (Pi represents the number reflecting how many times a circle’s diameter may be divided into its circumference). The Parsons students transformed the LCCS students’ nascent ideas into an animation (and storybook), Pi characters, Google VR cardboard games and a board game. A projected interactive experience in a dome for displaying universal principles of Pi in nature and a final dance performance tied together the many disparate ideas about Pi.
In previous years, Liberty Science Center celebrated Pi Day (March 14) with community pie making. In 2016, for the first time, the event had a STEM focus. Parsons student projects were the focal point of the event at this leading science and learning institution outside of New York City.There were over 3400 attendees, which tripled the 2015 Pi Day attendance.
Over the course of the semester, the LCCS students learned to engage and collaborate with graduate students to produce creative technology projects. The middle schoolers saw their ideas transformed into games and projects. We see the Making VR Pi Collaboration Studio as a first of future iterations to evolve the mission of STEM-centered collaboration between middle school students and Parsons graduate students.
Credits
Making Pi Collaboration Studio 2016, a collaboration between Parsons MFA DT and Learning Community Charter School
Parsons MFA Design and Technology
School of Art Media and Technology, The New School University, New York, NY
Lead Faculty: Anezka Sebek, Ph.D
Technical Faculty: Kyle Kan-Yang Li
Collaborating Producer: Tammy Walters
Geo Dome Advisor: Jose de Jesus
Graphic Design and Branding: Alexis Caudle, Angela Delise, and Jasmine Woo Jung Oh
Animated Short: “What if no one thought of Pi?” Tammy Lian and Karen Mercado (Voices: Tammy Walters, Beckett Johnson-Walters)
VR Game Design: “Run! Pi-Ly Run!” by Miyeon Kim, Shikha Singh and Chieh-Ping Chen
VR Game Design: “Pi Labyrinth” by Feiou Su, Seung-Whan Lee, and Aditi Surana
Interactive Projected Experience (in the cardboard Bucky Dome): “Pi in the Universe” by Paul Mallon, Kristiana Marcon, and Udit Mahajan
Pi Day Interactive Design and VJ: Michael Glen
Pi Day Dance Master: Chieh-Ping Chen
Collab Documentary: Directed, Shot, and Edited by Seung Whan Lee
Pi Board Game Design: Alexis Caudle and Angela Delise
Making VR Pi Web Design: Shikha Singh
Learning Community Charter School
LCCS Head of School – Colin Hogan
LCCS 5th-8th Grade STREAM Instructors: Michelle Flan, Mike Buono, and Kimberly Smith
LCCS STREAM CoLab Coordinator: Keith Donath
LCCS 5th-8th Grade STREAM Students
Christian Gagarin, Julia Vo, Ryan Meyers, Modesty Griffith, Malachi Gardner, Adey Abebe
Beckett Johnson-Walters, Milo Ferrara, Ziggy Panchenko, Carter Smith, Sebastien Ehrenfeld, Xavier Flores, Joel Ferreira, Andrew Mercado, Mohamed Gomma, Emanuel Shalom, Saket Ram, Adamya Modi, Jan Mario Sanchez