Everyone needs to have a voice in XR, says futurist Dr. Colleen Bielitz.

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And that’s exactly what her work is all about.

Colleen is Associate Vice-President of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach at Southern Connecticut State University. Her additional professional credentials include: entrepreneur, blue economy pioneer, tech evangelist,, and XR researcher.

Among her innovations is Project Blue, an initiative towards creating a tech transfer, innovation hub and Blue Economy research in New Haven, Connecticut.

Another of Colleen’s projects: the upcoming launch of I Am XR. I Am XR’s mission: representation for all, in the metaverse.

And Colleen, who recently became Co-Chair of the VRARA Education Committee, is also on the board of XR Women–the global collective of women in augmented and virtual reality.

Colleen discussed the areas in which she’d like to expand education and VR for good in the future, offered some favorite resources for newcomers, and issued some exciting challenges for anyone who’d like to innovate in the metaverse.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• How technology first captured Colleen’s imagination, as an area in which to use her talents;

• A definition of XR;

• Free resources and platforms for beginners;

• What immersive technology can mean to artists;

• The directions in which Colleen would like to take XR education in the future;

• Some of the dangers of this new immersive “world”;

• Safeguards that could help users avoid those dangers;

• The current implicit bias behind the looks of avatars;

• Some of Colleen’s most exciting experiences, both with VR applications and during her workdays;

• A closer look at Project Blue, and a preview of the next chapter;

• An update on I Am XR;

• Two challenges to innovators in the metaverse;

• Some exciting applications for users with disabilities;

• One of the areas that Colleen sees as requiring considerably more work, towards a metaverse that welcomes everyone.