A review of newly launched book, Think 3D by Charla Pereira
If you are interested in designing products for Extended Reality (XR) or the Metaverse, you’re going to love Think 3D by Charla Pereira. It’s a practical and approachable workbook that provides a step-by-step process for conceptualizing XR products, which include augmented, mixed and virtual realities.
A key point that Charla makes that resonated with me, is that designing for XR isn’t just about the cool tech, it’s about exploring the potential of this emerging technology to solve real problems. It’s not good enough to replicate in 3D what we do online already using 2D screens. We need to challenge ourselves by continually asking ‘Why 3D?’.
Over 10 chapters, all aspects of the 3D design process are explored and detailed, from ideation through to final demo. Key development concepts are explained, along with hardware/device options and overviews of the implementation technologies required. Readers are invited to design their own XR project and use this book to think it through.
The workbook format works well for self-guided learning, but I can see how this would be a great resource for educators. It’s chockablock full of expert tips, interviews with the pros, exercises, design rules, grids, further resources to explore, a glossary and historical references. There’s even self-assessments to test your comprehension and retention of the topics covered.
Whether you are new to this space and wanting some foundational information or whether you have an idea you want to pursue, I’m sure you’ll find Pereira’s personal stories and passion for XR engaging and inspiring.
