Teaching with Holograms

Building the university
of the future

The IC Fellows Cohort is designed for instructors at CWRU who want to build their own extended reality apps to use in class, under the mentorship of the IC and TLT. Participation is free and open to all CWRU faculty and staff.

The cohort covers a variety of topics about the transition to teaching in 3D. Each IC Fellow creates a storyboard and class plan, which will ideally be fully developed and launched the following academic year.

IC Fellows Projects

PitchCoach

IC Fellows Cohort 2024 ABOUT Philip A. Cola, PhD ProfessorDesign and Innovation (WSM) Professor Philip A. Cola (Design and Innovation;...

LightBox

IC Fellows Cohort 2024 ABOUT Daniel Goldmark, PhD ProfessorMusic (CAS) Professor Daniel Goldmark (Music, CAS) has access to a treasure...

Net2Work

IC Fellows Cohort 2024 ABOUT Mindy Baierl, MBA Senior DirectorVeale Institute for EntrepreneurshipAdjunct FacultyDesign and Innovation (WSM) When Mindy Baierl,...

Virtual Kitchen

IC Fellows Cohort 2024 ABOUT Katie Nabors, MFA, MS Adjunct FacultyNutrition (SOM)Part-time LecturerDance (CAS) When Katie Nabors (Nutrition, SOM; Dance,...

ChiReality

IC Fellows Cohort 2024 ABOUT Divita Mathur, PhD Assistant ProfessorChemistry (CAS) Many students experience entire academic careers studying molecules through...

Immersive Realms

IC Fellows Cohort 2023 ABOUT Elina Gertsman, PhD Distinguished University Professor + Acting ChairArt History + Art (CAS)Andrew W. Mellon...

Quantum Realm for Immersive Education (QuRIE)

IC Fellows Cohort 2023 ABOUT Shulei Zhang, PhD Associate ProfessorPhysics (CAS) Dr. Shulei Zhang teaches something that is not only...

Jaws At Work (JAW)

IC Fellows Cohort 2023 ABOUT T. Roma Jasinevicius, DDS, MEd Associate ProfessorComprehensive Care (SDM) s a long-time faculty member of...

Biophysical Modeling

IC Fellows Cohort 2023 ABOUT Debra McGivney, PhD Assistant Professor Biomedical Engineering (CSE / SOM) Dr. Debra McGivney teaches modeling...

HoloBridge Inspector (HoBI)

IC Fellows Cohort 2023 ABOUT Xiong (Bill) Yu, PhD Opal J. and Richard A. Vanderhoof Professor + Chair Civil Engineering...

red blood cells and platelets flowing through vessel

BloodWork

IC Fellows Cohort 2023 ABOUT Anirban Sen Gupta, PhD Professor Biomedical Engineering (CSE / SOM) Member, Cancer Imaging ProgramCase Comprehensive...

SolidState

IC Fellows Cohort 2023 ABOUT Allison Hess-Dunning, PhD Adjunct Assistant Professor Electrical, Computer + Systems Engineering (CSE) Biomedical Engineering (CSE...

Meet the IC Fellows

Top Row — Cohort 2022: Alp Sehirlioglu (Materials Science & Engineering; CSE), Laura Bruckman (Materials Science & Engineering; CSE), Maggie Popkin (Art History & Art; CAS), Michael Hore (Macromolecular Science & Engineering; CSE), Michael Martens (Physics; CAS), Steven A. Hauck, II (Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences; CAS), Sudha Chakrapani (Pharmacology; SOM), Tiffany Cashon (Human-Centered Design; WSM)

Second Row — Cohort 2023: Allison Hess-Dunning (Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering; CSE), Anirban Sen Gupta (Biomedical Engineering; CSE), Xiong (Bill) Yu (Civil & Environmental Engineering; CSE), Debra McGivney (Biomedical Engineering; CSE), Elina Gertsman (Art History & Art; CAS), Jenny Hawkins (Economics; WSM), T. Roma Jasinevicius (Comprehensive Care; SDM), Shulei Zhang (Physics; CAS)

Third Row — Cohort 2024: Daniel Goldmark (Music; CAS), Divita Mathur (Chemistry; CAS), Katie Nabors (Nutrition; SOM and Dance; CAS), Philip A. Cola (Design & Innovation, Organizational Behavior; WSM), Mindy Baierl (Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship; WSM)

HoloUniversity
Classroom

The new HoloUniversity Classroom is now open at the Freedman Center Collaborative Commons at Kelvin Smith Library.

There are thirty-two dedicated HoloLens devices available in the HoloUniversity Classroom, as well as training for faculty and students by [U]Tech support team members.

Any CWRU instructor may reserve the HoloUniversity Classroom. To inquire, please send an email to holouniversity@case.edu with your request, and include the date, number of participants, and your department.

Take advantage of CWRU's homegrown holographic content, including HoloAnatomy® Software Suite, Antikythera Mechanism, Red Monastery, as well as other applications on the HoloLens App Store.

Book HoloUniversity Classroom

Grow your
idea

Here are some thoughts on the benefits of mixed reality as a teaching tool, and how to make a great class in XR.

Introductions: Extended reality (XR)

Extended reality (XR): an umbrella term for virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. In XR, digital holographic content is superimposed and anchored onto the real-world environment with varying degrees of transparency and interactability. In mixed reality (MR), users continue to see the people and the room around them, the 3D object(s), and remotely-connected users.

What makes a great idea for an extended reality class experience?

First, it's important to play to the technology's strengths. One of the most impactful features of extended reality is its capacity to show the invisible (e.g., the structure of an atom, the subterranean environment of the Earth, or a building located thousands of miles away.)

Professor Mike Martens using XR to teach electromagnetism.

Second, it's important for extended reality classes to be shared experiences, where everyone sees the same thing in the same place at the same time. This allows for active and natural collaboration, discussion, and discovery — just like in a great, traditional learning environment.

Medical students using HoloAnatomy® Software at the CWRU SOM.

Third, this is an Active Learning tool, not a 3D chalkboard XR classes work best when students and instructors are together, standing up and moving around to explore the holograms’ breadth, depth, relationships, and interiors. Chairs should be pushed aside.

Dr. Martin Nweeia's Narwhal exhibit that was featured at the Smithsonian.

Professor Bolman, the chair of CWRU's Art History Department, was one of the first people in thousands of years to lay eyes upon the painted interior walls of the Red Monastery in Egypt. She led the effort to restore the 5th Century Coptic masterpiece, and then digitally preserved it. Click 'Learn More' to read the full story.

The Red Monastery

Future
of learning

Connected. Accessible. Fast. Seamless. Physical. Interdisciplinary. Empathetic. Exploratory. Visual.

"Teaching with HoloLens was life transforming. It will be very, very hard for me to make do with traditional media, when teaching about buildings. We are at a moment where we are at the cusp of the democratization of art, and this technology enables us to share monuments of cultural heritage from around the world and have the experience be as genuine as seeing the original."

Teaching with Holograms

Building the university
of the future

The IC Fellows Cohort is designed for instructors at CWRU who want to build their own extended reality apps to use in class, under the mentorship of the IC and TLT. Participation is free and open to all CWRU faculty and staff.

The cohort covers a variety of topics about the transition to teaching in 3D. Each IC Fellow creates a storyboard and class plan, which will ideally be fully developed and launched the following academic year.

IC Fellows Projects

PitchCoach

LightBox

Net2Work

Virtual Kitchen

ChiReality

Immersive Realms

Quantum Realm for Immersive Education (QuRIE)

Jaws At Work (JAW)

Biophysical Modeling

HoloBridge Inspector (HoBI)

BloodWork

SolidState

Meet the IC Fellows

HoloUniversity
Classroom

The new HoloUniversity Classroom is now open at the Freedman Center Collaborative Commons at Kelvin Smith Library.

There are thirty-two dedicated HoloLens devices available in the HoloUniversity Classroom, as well as training for faculty and students by [U]Tech support team members.

Any CWRU instructor may reserve the HoloUniversity Classroom. To inquire, please send an email to holouniversity@case.edu with your request, and include the date, number of participants, and your department.

Take advantage of CWRU's homegrown holographic content, including HoloAnatomy® Software Suite, Antikythera Mechanism, Red Monastery, as well as other applications on the HoloLens App Store.

Grow your
idea

Here are some thoughts on the benefits of mixed reality as a teaching tool, and how to make a great class in XR.

First, it's important to play to the technology's strengths. One of the most impactful features of extended reality is its capacity to show the invisible (e.g., the structure of an atom, the subterranean environment of the Earth, or a building located thousands of miles away.)

Professor Mike Martens using XR to teach electromagnetism.

Second, it's important for extended reality classes to be shared experiences, where everyone sees the same thing in the same place at the same time. This allows for active and natural collaboration, discussion, and discovery — just like in a great, traditional learning environment.

Medical students using HoloAnatomy® Software at the CWRU SOM.

Third, this is an Active Learning tool, not a 3D chalkboard XR classes work best when students and instructors are together, standing up and moving around to explore the holograms’ breadth, depth, relationships, and interiors. Chairs should be pushed aside.

Dr. Martin Nweeia's Narwhal exhibit that was featured at the Smithsonian.

Future
of learning

Connected. Accessible. Fast. Seamless. Physical. Interdisciplinary. Empathetic. Exploratory. Visual.

DR. ELIZABETH BOLMAN

Professor of Art History, CWRU

© 2025 the Interactive Commons | All rights reserved.

Teaching with Holograms

Building the universityof the future

The IC Fellows Cohort is designed for instructors at CWRU who want to build their own extended reality apps to use in class, under the mentorship of the IC and TLT. Participation is free and open to all CWRU faculty and staff.

The cohort covers a variety of topics about the transition to teaching in 3D. Each IC Fellow creates a storyboard and class plan, which will ideally be fully developed and launched the following academic year.

IC Fellows Projects

PitchCoach

LightBox

Net2Work

Virtual Kitchen

ChiReality

Immersive Realms

Quantum Realm for Immersive Education (QuRIE)

Jaws At Work (JAW)

Biophysical Modeling

HoloBridge Inspector (HoBI)

BloodWork

SolidState

Meet the IC Fellows

HoloUniversityClassroom

The new HoloUniversity Classroom is now open at the Freedman Center Collaborative Commons at Kelvin Smith Library.

There are thirty-two dedicated HoloLens devices available in the HoloUniversity Classroom, as well as training for faculty and students by [U]Tech support team members.

Any CWRU instructor may reserve the HoloUniversity Classroom. To inquire, please send an email to holouniversity@case.edu with your request, and include the date, number of participants, and your department.

Take advantage of CWRU's homegrown holographic content, including HoloAnatomy® Software Suite, Antikythera Mechanism, Red Monastery, as well as other applications on the HoloLens App Store.

Grow youridea

Here are some thoughts on the benefits of mixed reality as a teaching tool, and how to make a great class in XR.

First, it's important to play to the technology's strengths. One of the most impactful features of extended reality is its capacity to show the invisible (e.g., the structure of an atom, the subterranean environment of the Earth, or a building located thousands of miles away.)

Professor Mike Martens using XR to teach electromagnetism.

Second, it's important for extended reality classes to be shared experiences, where everyone sees the same thing in the same place at the same time. This allows for active and natural collaboration, discussion, and discovery — just like in a great, traditional learning environment.

Medical students using HoloAnatomy® Software at the CWRU SOM.

Third, this is an Active Learning tool, not a 3D chalkboard XR classes work best when students and instructors are together, standing up and moving around to explore the holograms’ breadth, depth, relationships, and interiors. Chairs should be pushed aside.

Dr. Martin Nweeia's Narwhal exhibit that was featured at the Smithsonian.

Futureof learning

Connected. Accessible. Fast. Seamless. Physical. Interdisciplinary. Empathetic. Exploratory. Visual.

DR. ELIZABETH BOLMAN

Professor of Art History, CWRU

© 2025 the Interactive Commons | All rights reserved.

Building the university
of the future

HoloUniversity
Classroom

Grow your
idea

Future
of learning