Time to MIX it up: ASU’s innovative center inspires community creativity

High school students Ysabellah Ryan [LEFT] and Bee Hardee [RIGHT] trying out the Dreamscape Learn VR experience at the ASU MIX Center. | Photo courtesy of Jr De Chavez, ASU Student Life 

“What did you do this summer?”

It’s the classic question that kicks off a new school year. As students return to the classroom, many are reminiscing about how they spent their long summer days—exploring new interests, tackling boredom, or diving into unique experiences. For those who discovered Arizona State University’s Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center in Mesa, this summer was anything but ordinary.

Located just a short distance from ASU's Tempe campus, the MIX Center became a hub of creativity and innovation, offering a taste of virtual reality, immersive technologies, and hands-on workshops. 

Izaac Mansfield, Extended Reality (XR) Experience Analyst at the MIX Center, is actively encouraging people to explore the MIX's diverse offerings. "We are trying to get everybody in to come experience what the MIX is all about," he said. He emphasized their goal to engage the public creatively, adding, "We really want to democratize the ability to create things using VR, immersive experiences, and other emerging technologies."

What Mansfield alludes to here is the MIX Center’s offerings in virtual reality experiences, education and design fabrication via the headset driven Dreamscape, the production woodworking and metal workshop, and the laser-cutting shop. 

Students participating in the laser cutting lab on the bottom level of the MIX Center. | Photo courtesy of Jr De Chavez, ASU Student Life

“We’re seeing amazing student engagement with the content because we’re trying to teach them in a way that offers them something to care about instead of simply being given information,” Mansfield said. “People at MIX see it as a playground, which is amazing, and I think we’re going to create some really cool things together.” 

Candice Copple, associate vice president within ASU’s Educational Outreach and Student Services (EOSS), spoke with enthusiasm about the “cool things” the students were inspired to create. 

“Each of the kids has had an opportunity to do Dreamscape Learn, including some of the parents, and then [they were] able to choose one or two workshops in the Fabrication Lab,” she said. 

Students participating in the MIX Center's programs had the opportunity to get hands-on with various workshops, including woodworking where they crafted Bluetooth speakers, and a laser cutting lab where they designed industrial lamps. In addition to choosing a workshop, they also experienced the immersive Dreamscape, blending creative skills with cutting-edge technology.

This push for the MIX Center by Copple and EOSS, in collaboration with Access ASU and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, aims to attract more students, particularly those in high school, to explore the center's offerings. “The kids loved it! Some have come back to do the other workshops in addition.” Copple said.

Among the students who took advantage of these opportunities are Bee Hardee, a rising junior at Higley High School in Gilbert, and Ysabellah Ryan, an incoming freshman at Arizona College Prep High School in Chandler. Although they attend different schools and are in different grades, Hardee and Ryan met earlier this summer at a previous MIX Center program and quickly connected over their shared interest in the center's experiences.

“This kind of stuff — we don’t really have it at a lot of schools. So far, I’ve actually only seen this at ASU, so [the opportunity] makes me feel special,” Hardee said. 

Ryan echoed Hardee’s praises, saying “Not everyone has access to it. This is my second time doing VR. I was a little nervous putting on the mask at first, but it was actually really fun!” 

The MIX Center offers two immersive experiences — “Curse of the Lost Pearl” is the more physically interactive of the two. The “Indiana Jones” meets “Tomb Raider”-esque experience has its participants walk around in an enclosed space with the VR headset and motion sensors attached to the arms and legs. 

“We have subwoofers under the floor to make the floor shake. We have fans all around you to simulate movement. We also have water misters to spritz you with water in the event that that's part of the experience,” Mansfield said. 

The second experience is what the general public is typically more accustomed to in regards to VR. Titled “Alien Zoo Entertainment,” participants are seated with VR headsets and equipped with gamepads to control avatars in “figuring out what’s wrong with various alien species,” said Hardee. “Apparently it's what they do for all the students now — it's like how they teach biology lessons and it’s just pretty sick.” 

What Hardee and Ryan experienced at the MIX represents the dawn of new educational methods that Mansfield and his colleagues are eager to see embraced more broadly in the near future.

The MIX Center also offers a woodworking lab — students are shown here making wooden Bluetooth speakers. | Photo courtesy of Jr De Chavez, ASU Student Life

Mansfield explained that at MIX, many creatives are eager to use the facility for a variety of projects that extend beyond the initial scope of DreamScape Learn, which focuses on curriculum development and redefining educational pedagogies. "It’s really exciting to me," he said. "What's on the horizon for Dreamscape is the ability to enable other schools to create their own content and curriculum, in the hopes that we'll be able to cross-pollinate someday."

Ultimately, the MIX serves as a gateway for students and individuals of all ages to explore the array of innovative programs and facilities that ASU offers. Copple hopes that as more people learn about the MIX Center, they will feel inspired and welcomed into the ASU community.

Copple emphasized the breadth of opportunities ASU provides for students at any age, particularly those in the exploratory phase of their interests and talents. "We want to help [students] with that process," she said. She further noted that the program's strength lies not only in the arts but in its broader application: "That's what this program really accentuates—how you utilize this technology and media across all majors and programs that ASU offers."

The ASU MIX Center is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. For inquiries, more information, scheduled tours or experience reservations, visit the MIX website here.