LAUREN CARR
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
DIRECTOR BFA ANIMATION & VFX
MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY

I was invited to lead the Animation & VFX for a 3-year VR grant project titled Planting the SEEDS of Character Growth: Developing Civic and Community Responsibility through Ethical Inquiry using Virtual Reality. Funded by the Educating Character Initiative at Wake Forest University—with a matching $888K from Montclair State—this project develops immersive VR modules aligned with MSU’s newly reimagined character-focused general education curriculum. The first module centers on the theme of aging. Over the past year, I’ve collaborated with faculty from Family Science, Education, Computer Science, the RYTE Institute, and IT to design the experience, develop scripts, storyboards, and prototypes, test functionality, and move toward final production. I’ve been using motion capture, ZBrush, Character Creator, and iClone 8 to bring our main character, Eleanor, to life across the stages of her life. The final experience will be delivered in Dreamscape Learn’s free-roam VR environment.