About

People, technology, and experience in context.

Our shared premise

We design immersive, game-based, and interactive experiences that help people learn from and participate in the world around them, across archaeological sites, museums, cities, classrooms, and virtual worlds, with a shared commitment to making those experiences situated, participatory, and accessible.

We come from anthropology, informatics, architecture, historic preservation, game studies, extended reality, artificial intelligence, learning sciences, and accessibility. We share one question: how do the physical, cultural, social, and technological contexts people are placed in shape what they understand and how they belong?

VR, XR, and AI are means to that end, not ends in themselves.

Lab values

Proposed values · Pending lab review

  • We aim to make immersive experiences accessible and participatory, welcoming different abilities, perspectives, and ways of learning.
  • We begin with people and the physical, cultural, and social contexts that shape their experiences.
  • We bring disciplines together to ask questions, share knowledge, and learn through making.

Accessibility and participation

We propose considering access from the beginning of a project, offering understandable alternatives, and inviting feedback from the people an experience is intended to serve.

People and context

We propose approaching places, histories, and communities with care, acknowledging the perspectives and limits of our work.

Learning across disciplines

We propose working through open exchange, constructive feedback, and clear recognition of each contributor’s work.

Four research themes

Led by Laura Shackelford

We are based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Meet our director

Support & connections

Research support

  • National Science Foundation
  • Epic MegaGrants
  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

At Illinois

CITL and ATLAS are acknowledged on the former VRchaeology support page.

Awards & funding