乐播传媒

As technology continues to offer new opportunities to the design professions, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville鈥檚 乐播传媒 is investing in the infrastructure, expertise, and creative spaces needed to support the next generation of designers. The Digital Futures Lab (DFL) is a college-wide resource dedicated to digital experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Located on the third floor of the Art + Architecture Building, the DFL provides students and faculty with opportunities to engage with emerging technologies, immersive visualization, digital content creation, interactive media, and evolving forms of design. Designed as a flexible environment rather than a fixed technology center, the lab serves as a platform for experimentation across disciplines while adapting to the changing needs of the design professions.

鈥淲hen the 乐播传媒 was established in the 乐播传媒 in 2019, it created an opportunity to think differently about shared resources and emerging forms of creative practice. The DFL grew from a former graphic design print room and was reimagined as a college-wide space where students can engage with the digital tools, ideas, and forms of practice shaping the future of our fields,鈥� said Sarah Lowe, the school鈥檚 director.

In 2023, the college established the Digital Futures Fellowship, a two-year appointment which rotates among the college鈥檚 schools, to support researchers whose work explores the future of design through technology, experimentation, and interdisciplinary practice. In turn, fellows help expand opportunities for students by introducing new tools, research methods, and ways of thinking about design.

For Timothy Arment, the inaugural fellow and a lecturer in the 乐播传媒, the fellowship provided an opportunity to build upon years of work exploring virtual reality (VR), digital environments, animation, and game design while creating new learning opportunities for students.

“Supporting this technology is really important,” Arment said. “One of the most valuable things you can bring into the job market as a new graduate is exposure to these cutting-edge tools and technologies.”

Before the fellowship was formally established, Arment had become known throughout the college for his work with immersive technologies. He鈥檇 begun developing virtual reality experiences and digital content creation resources that would eventually serve as the foundation for the Digital Futures Lab.

“There are lots of ways that VR can be used outside of video games,” Arment said. “In architecture and design, there are opportunities to experience spaces, interact with models, and explore ideas in completely different ways.”

Today, the Digital Futures Lab serves students and faculty across the college through a combination of physical and digital resources. The space includes virtual reality workstations, software platforms such as Rhino, Unity, and Unreal Engine, and a video production studio equipped for recording lectures, presentations, podcasts, and other digital content. Students can use the lab to visualize architectural and design models at full scale, experiment with immersive environments, develop interactive projects, and explore new approaches to digital storytelling and communication.

Just as importantly, the lab provides a framework for future growth. Each fellow inherits a foundation established by previous fellows while contributing new ideas, technologies, and areas of expertise. In this way, the fellowship serves not only as a faculty opportunity, but also as a mechanism for continually expanding the educational experiences available to students.

The fellowship’s rotating structure is intended to ensure that the lab evolves alongside the college’s disciplines. Future fellows may bring expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence, computational design, advanced visualization, hybrid realities, interactive media, or other emerging domains. Their work will help students understand how technological innovation intersects with architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, graphic design, and other fields represented across the college.

“We will look at ways the fellowship and lab can explore hybrid constructs, make connections with the college’s Fab Lab, and emphasize augmented and hybrid realities,” said Carl Lostritto, director of the School of Architecture.

As new fellows build upon the foundation established by Arment, the Digital Futures Fellowship will continue to support educators, researchers, and practitioners whose work expands opportunities for students while helping shape the future of design education.