Enterprise Academy Fellow, Lecturer School of Media, researcher, artist.

Email: hugh.mccabe@TUDublin.ie

Hugh is a lecturer and researcher at the School of Media, TU Dublin. He has a background in computer science and visual media and his research interests are oriented towards the histories, practices and theories of media technology and machinic visual culture. He is experienced in programming, computer graphics, multimedia development and 3D modelling. As well as lecturing on the Creative Digital Media degree at the Blanchardstown campus, he is also Course Coordinator the final year and manages the Work Experience programme for the Year 3 students.

Enterprise Academy Fellowship Project

3D and Immersive Tech: Opportunities for Training Provision 

3D and Immersive Technology is a growing area that continues to find new areas of relevance in different industry sectors. While there are some issues with adoption of Immersive Tech, the underlying technology that drives 3D tools and applications consistently delivers innovative solutions to problems and exciting avenues for further development. This means that there are definite opportunities for the delivery of 3D and Immersive Tech training within sectors that are starting to adopt versions of this technology. Three main areas were identified during this fellowship – Design, Education and Training, and Built Environment. Significant research was carried out on the design sector and the conclusion arrived at is that there is a clear market for industry training on 3D and Immersive Tech for professional designers. A more modest amount of research was conducted on the other two areas. The tentative conclusion for the Education and Training sector is that 3D and Immersive Tech remains somewhat niche here: extremely useful for specific scenarios but significant barriers exist to more widespread adoption. A similarly tentative conclusion for the Built Environment sector is that this is an area with significant potential for training provision as adoption of 3D and Immersive Tech is continuing apace and likely to accelerate in the future. Finally, an undergraduate module on 3D and Immersive Technologies was designed and submitted for validation and it is expected that this module will serve as a useful basis for the construction of industry-facing offerings to these sectors in the future.