Janet Harvey - Careers in Interactive Media

INTRODUCTION

I n the realm of entertainment, interactivity is becoming a key part of what people do for fun. We use our phones to walk around the neighborhood and catch virtual creatures. We call up our favorite movies and shows from an online menu, sometimes just by using voice commands. And in gaming, virtual reality (VR) headsets are creating whole virtual worlds for us to immerse ourselves in and interact with.

Interactive media is an ever-growing and expanding field. The job outlook for interactive media is strong: field growth is outpacing the national average, and salaries for interactive media jobs average about $45,000. But how can you prepare yourself for the dream jobs that will be out there in ten to twenty years? In such a rapidly growing, unpredictable field, whats the best way to jump in and start building the skills of the future?

One of the most reliable ways to get hands-on experience in coding and designing for interactive media is through makerspaces and hackerspaces. Many schools and communities are creating such spaces. Joining a creative space is a great way to gain experience with equipment and resources that you might not otherwise have access to. In makerspaces and hackerspaces, you can develop skills in interactive media development and design, digital media production, Arduino coding, game design, robot creation, and three-dimensional (3D) printing.

Pokmon Go was one of the first games to use augmented realitya technology that superimposes computer-generated images on top of the real world.

If this sounds like something out of a cyberpunk novel well, it kind of is. From the first hackerspaces of the 1990s until today, hackerspaces have been run by loosely organized groups of hackers and like-minded techno-geeks with a desire to learn and a do-it-yourself (DIY) attitude. Gathering in rented studios, lofts, or warehouses, they would pool their resources and knowledge in the interest of learning and cooperation, enabling the group to access equipment and resources that the individual members might not be able to acquire on their own.

As more and more people see the value of these types of spaces, hackerspaces have been showing up in different areas of study, at universities, and even in libraries. Makerspaces, an offshoot of hackerspaces, took the same concept into fabrication.

The world of digital media also took a page from the hackerspace/makerspace book, and today you can find digital media labs that share resources, software, hardware, equipment, and work space in the spirit of sharing information in the digital age.

Today, there are 2,289 hackerspaces around the world, with 1,418 of them listed as active, according to Hackerspaces. org. Hackerspaces continue to grow at an amazing rate. You may even have one in your own school or library. If you dont, the good news is you can probably start your own. There are plenty of resources out there to help you start your own makerspace, hackerspace, or digital media lab.

How can a hackerspace help you get the job of your dreams? Get ready to find out.