Rediscovering Japanese spatial concepts: ScienceTuesday highlights the potential of XR
How can the principles of Japanese garden architecture be applied to virtual spaces? As part of ScienceTuesday at the Dieburg Media Campus, Prof. Philip Hausmeier used artistic research and tried-and-tested XR experiments to demonstrate how movement, concealment and discovery can be translated into new, immersive spatial experiences in extended and mixed reality.
On 30 June 2026, another instalment of the ongoing ScienceTuesday series took place at the Dieburg Media Campus. On this occasion, Prof. Philip Hausmeier focused on the transfer of traditional spatial concepts into virtual reality. In his lecture ‘The transfer of Japanese spatial concepts to Extended Reality’, he illustrated how principles of Japanese garden architecture can serve as inspiration for novel experiences in Extended Reality (XR) and Mixed Reality. Philip Hausmeier, a professor in the Department of Media, presented his artistic research findings as well as field-tested XR experiments.
At the start of the lecture, the artist’s artistic research approach was explained. This approach is deeply rooted in sculpture and the exploration of spatial elements. Drawing on a research stay in Japan, he investigated how spaces are not perceived passively, but are explored through movement and one’s own imagination. Using the example of zigzagging paths and drawing on traditional principles such as Miegakure (concealment and revelation) or Oku (inner depth), he demonstrated the interplay between discovery and fluid spatial transitions (Kyokai). With regard to applying these concepts to digital environments, Hausmeier emphasised: “The garden only reveals itself through the act of movement – in virtual reality, the aim is to create an architecture of relationships that actively engages the viewer and awakens invisible beauty in the mind.”
Prof. Philip Hausmeier teaches in the Media Department at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and has been working intensively on virtual reality and spatial design concepts since 2014. His main areas of research and teaching lie at the interface between the visual arts, artistic research and immersive technologies.
About ScienceTuesday
ScienceTuesday is a series of regular talks at the Dieburg Media Campus, organised by the Institute for Communication and Media (ikum) and the Research Centre for Digital Communication and Media Innovation (fz dkmi). For many semesters now, the series has provided a platform for professors and researchers at h_da to present their research findings to students and fellow academics. The series is explicitly aimed at all interested persons within and outside Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.
