About Me
I am an award-winning professor, digital humanist, and immersive media developer dedicated to XR technologies, applied AI, interactive storytelling, and community-engaged practices. My interdisciplinary approach bridges academic research with industry innovation, striving to create interactive experiences that empower communities and promote democratic engagement in our increasingly computational society.
Academic, Creative, and Technical Practice
With extensive experience in product design and user experience design, I've led impactful XR industry projects for Essence, PIKE Electric, and Waste Connections. My academic work includes over 40 peer-reviewed publications and two edited collections: "An Educator's Guide to Interactive Digital Narrative: Syllabi and Resources from Around the World" and "Augmented and Mixed Reality for Communities."Teaching and Community Collaboration
Currently, I serve as an Associate Professor of Emerging Media Design and Development. In this role, I lead graduate and undergraduate courses that emphasize practical XR skills, ethical technology usage, and compelling interactive storytelling. My work continually involves collaboration with industry leaders, community organizations, and academic colleagues to ensure each project is not only innovative but also yields tangible social benefits.
Education
Career History
Guiding Philosophy
At the core of my research, teaching, and creative practices is the conviction that emerging media technologies can democratize knowledge and resources, equipping communities and individuals with essential tools for navigating an algorithmically driven world.
I harness XR to craft interactive experiences and stories that advance spatial justice—co‐creating experiences through a research‐through‐design cycle and evaluating them with mixed methods to amplify voices and drive equitable impact.
As an educator shaped by constructivist, dialogic pedagogy, I spark student curiosity through storytelling, balancing theory and praxis. I integrate AI through a digital humanist lens,guiding students to ethically and creatively leverage generative tools for inclusive storytelling, critical inquiry, and heightened accessibility.
By integrating user centered research, interactive narrative strategies, and ethical AI use, I teach others how to design immersive experiences that are engaging and socially meaningful.
My Design, Development, and Teaching Skills
XR Development & Design
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Unity (C#) & Advanced XR Mechanics
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WebXR (A-frame, 8th Wall)
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Mobile AR (ARKit/ARCore, Snap Lens Studio, TikTok House)
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3D Asset Creation (Photogrammetry, Volumetric Capture)
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XR Interaction & Interface Design
Applied AI in XR & Interactive Systems
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NLP & Computer Vision for XR
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Conversational AI (Google Cloud, Vertex AI, Dialogflow)
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AI-Enhanced User Experiences
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Data and document summarization for AI training
Full-Stack Web & Mobile Application Development
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JavaScript Frameworks (React.js, Three.js) & HTML/CSS
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Back-End Development (PHP, MySQL, Firebase)
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Native & Cross-Platform Mobile Apps
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CMS & Web Platform Customization (WordPress)
User Experience (UX) & Human-Centered Design
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UX/UI Design & Prototyping (Figma, Basalmiq, ShapesXR)
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Participatory & Research-Driven Design
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Ethical & Inclusive XR Design
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Interactive Storytelling & Narrative Design
Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Commercialization
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Tech Entrepreneurship ($250K+ Funding)
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Product Management (10+ Products)
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Agile Methodologies & Collaborative Workflows (GitHub, Trello)
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Grant Writing & Strategic Industry Partnerships
Pedagogy, Curriculum Development & Research
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Immersive Media Curriculum Design (University Level)
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Studio-Based & Project-Based Teaching
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Agile Methodologies & Collaborative Workflows (GitHub, Trello)
Academic Publications
- Li, Tong, Fisher, J., Youn Hong "Promoting Culturally Responsive Teaching via Educational Game Design –Teachers as Educational Game Designers." Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2025. International Society of the Learning Sciences, 2025.
- Fisher, Joshua A.; Reyes, María Cecilia; Barbara, Jonathan (2025). An Educator’s Guide to Interactive Digital Narrative: Syllabi and Resources From Around the World. Carnegie Mellon University. Book. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/28923917.v2
- Fisher, Joshua A., Melissa Foulger, and Jennifer Edwards. "Practical Insights for XR Devised Performances." International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. Springer, Cham, 2019.
- Fisher, Joshua A. Interactive Non-fiction with Reality Media: Rhetorical Affordances. Diss. Georgia Institute of Technology, 2019.
- Fisher, Joshua A. "Bauhaus scenography for virtual reality." Virtual Creativity 8.1 (2018): 39-57.
- Fisher, Joshua A., Sarah Schoemann "Toward an Ethics of Interactive Storytelling at Dark Tourism Sites in Virtual Reality" 2018 International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. Springer, Cham, 2018.
- Fisher, Joshua A., Jay Bolter "Ethical Considerations for AR Experiences at Dark Tourism Sites" 2018 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), Berlin, 2018.
- Fisher, Joshua A.,Linying Shangguan, Joshua Crisp "Developing a Platform for Community-curated Mixed Reality Play Spaces" In Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play. ACM, 2018
- Fisher, Joshua A., Amit P. Garg, Wesley Wang, Karan Pratap Singh. "Bauhaus Scenography for Virtual Environments." 23rd International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia (VSMM). IEEE, 2017.
- Fisher, Joshua A. "Empathic Actualities: Toward a Taxonomy of Empathy in Virtual Reality." International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. Springer, Cham, 2017.
- Fisher, Joshua A., Amit P. Garg, Karan Pratap Singh, Wesley Wang. 2017. "ARES: An Application of Impossible Spaces for Natural Locomotion in VR" 2017 CHI Student Game Competition. Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '17). ACM, New York, NY, USA
- Fisher, Joshua A., Amit P. Garg, Karan Pratap Singh, Wesley Wang. “Designing Intentional Impossible Spaces to Increase Presence in Virtual Reality Narratives” 2017 IEEE Virtual Reality (VR), Las Vegas, NV, 2017
- Fisher, Joshua Adler, and Jeremy Applebaum. "Media device that uses geolocated hotspots to deliver content data on a hyper-local basis." U.S. Patent Application No. 14/812,678.
- Fisher, Joshua A. "Utilizing the Mixed Reality Cube Taxonomy for Interactive Documentary Research."Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Multimedia Alternate Realities. ACM, 2016.
- Fisher, Joshua A. "Strong Concepts for Designing Non-verbal Interactions in Mixed Reality Narratives." International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. Springer, Cham, 2016.
Industry and Academic Portfolio
Courses Taught
Communication and Culture
Explores contemporary social media, fake news, and XR (mixed, augmented, virtual reality) concerning identity and community. Students use communication, performance, and cultural studies to interrogate online games, social networks, and news, applying media theories to analyze chosen artifacts.
Serious Games and Simulations
Guides students in designing and developing games for education, politics, argumentation, and community engagement. Learn to implement procedural rhetoric, convert structural/community dynamics into game mechanics, and model natural forces.
Immersive Media Series
This core BA series covers immersive media history, AR/MR/VR design principles, and humanist/STS issues. Students develop diverse projects like SparkAR filters and Unity VR interactive narratives, culminating in a capstone project taking an immersive concept from vision to distribution.
Usability and Research Evaluation Methods
Explores usability principles for digital interactive communication content. Students learn to collect user requirements, apply core usability/UX principles, conduct testing and data analysis, use iterative processes, and develop usable interactive systems, linking design research to interaction design and user behavior.
Nonlinear and Interactive Stoyrtelling
Explores principles of nonlinear storytelling and non-traditional narrative architectures. Students learn frameworks for interactive storytelling via applied communication design, creating and testing user-interaction-based narratives. Portfolio pieces produced using Twine and Snap’s Lens Studio.
Unity and XR
Master XR development in Unity, blending AR/VR design principles with 3D mathematical foundations. Students explore C# scripting, customizing 3D components, constructing interactive virtual environments, utilizing rendering pipelines, and navigating the XR ecosystem workflow. Culminates in a diverse digital portfolio.
Applied Research Lab
Students conduct research emphasizing strategic information and communication design. Activities include iterative usability studies, summative research, method selection, IRB protocol development, user study execution, data analysis, and drafting publications for academic/trade journals.
Creative Projects and Development Lab
Students design and develop novel story forms, interactive systems, news platforms, and multimedia apps in emerging media and communication design. Projects utilize communication design models, contextual inquiry, human factors, and user-centered design, informed by a research-driven, iterative process.