Expanded Media
Expanded Media – Experience Design for Immersive Spaces and Narrative Engagement
Over the course of three semesters, our students have the opportunity to create innovative social, interactive and immersive media experiences that have the power to change people’s lives for the better.
Overview
| Semester | Semesters 3–4 |
| Study location | Dieburg |
| Start of studies | Winter term/summer term |
| Language of instruction | EN |
| Admission requirements | * |
Programme Specialisations:
The programme offers specialisations in three core areas:
- Expanded Storyworlds
- Expanded Sound & Music
- Expanded Realities
The future of media
What will it feel like? How will the various media platforms – the internet, television, social media, and experiences in real and virtual spaces – merge and develop together to create new forms of play, learning and growth?
The way we currently consume media is a solitary experience. When we watch films or series, we are essentially detached from the group, away from our friends and family. But we are seeing something new emerge – and we believe it is significant – which was first highlighted by Henry Jenkins in his book *Participatory Culture*. People want to step inside the worlds of the stories – and take their friends with them. They want to enjoy media as a social experience.
What is the Expanded Media programme about?
A new, social and immersive dimension of media consumption.
We prepare media professionals to design entertainment products that meet this growing demand for immersion, interaction and participation.
Specifically, we are preparing students for careers in new media agencies that specialise in immersive, spatial design with contemporary applications for events – such as trade fairs, festivals, theatres or museums – with a focus on augmented reality (AR) and the Metaverse (the convergence of spatial interfaces).
Focus Areas
Expanded Realities
Students develop complex, research-based applications and productions in the field of expanded realities. They combine a range of approaches from conceptualisation, design, computer science and media technology to create immersive, narrative-driven interactive 3D scenarios for Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality.
Expanded Sound & Music
The programme explores the evolving relationship between media and audio, with a focus on immersive technologies such as 3D audio, Next Generation Audio, AR and VR experiences, and machine learning. Students create complex audio projects and interactive soundscapes, preparing them for roles that bridge artistic, technical and production aspects within the modern music industry.
Expanded Storyworlds
In this area of focus, students create characters, settings and plotlines in linear and non-linear scenarios, bringing complex, immersive, interactive and participatory worlds to life.
Expanded Storyworlds combines narrative, game and interactive principles from classic and immersive media within an innovative transmedia environment.
The programme focuses on experience design, i.e. the creation of experiences in above-the-line roles (writer, director, lead designer, creative director). The technical skills required to implement these concepts are considered a prerequisite for admission, although students will have the opportunity to complement their area of specialisation whilst working in interdisciplinary teams.
Within the three focus areas – Expanded Storyworlds, Expanded Sound & Music and Expanded Realities – students are given the opportunity to develop their own strategies to offer users a personalised and impactful experience.
Rooted in h_da’s tradition of technological leadership, students create extraordinary media works that would be impossible to conceive elsewhere, going far beyond the limits of traditional film and design schools. With access to cutting-edge technology in over 30 different labs, students from all over the world collaborate on interdisciplinary projects.
“With its interdisciplinary, user-oriented focus, the Expanded Media programme occupies a special place within the university landscape – as a unique laboratory in which prototypes for the future of event culture can be conceived and tested.”
Jakob Bilabel
Founder of Green Music Initiative Berlin, Chair of the Consumer Information Lab Berlin
Semester Overview
A detailed description of the course content can be found in the module handbook (German).
1st semester
Students focus on combining strategies from different media formats within a transmedia architecture based on the principles of experience design, using digital storytelling and design thinking methods.
2nd semester
This semester is devoted to exploring and refining innovative conceptual and production strategies within a chosen focus area (Expanded Realities, Expanded Sound & Music, Expanded Storyworlds).
Students enrolled on the 3-semester programme proceed to the Master's module.
All other students use the 3rd semester to further develop their practical skills during a work placement. Please refer to the FAQ section to check whether you are eligible to enrol in the 3- or 4-semester programme (with or without a work placement).3rd/4th semester
The final semester consists of the development and production of a Master's project.
1st semester | 2nd semester | 1st/2nd/3rd semester | 3rd/4th semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| Experience in Media, 5 CP | Media Science and Scientific Methods, 5 CP | Work Placement, (for a Bachelor’s degree programme comprising 180 CP) | Master's Project,
|
| Expanded Media Project 1, 15 CP Conception, application and reflection on professional competences in interdisciplinary, inter- and transmedia project work (group work) | Expanded Media Project 2, Conception, application and reflection on
| ||
| Electives, 10 CP | Electives, 10 CP |
Course Structure
Expanded Media Project (15 CPs)
In this project, you will be working in a diverse, multicultural and interdisciplinary team of approximately five students to develop an Expanded Media project, designing and creating a story-driven, immersive, interactive and participatory experience for events or applications in:
- the cultural sector (e.g. museums, theatres)
- the entertainment sector (e.g. multiplayer gaming events, Alternate Reality Games)
- the marketing sector (e.g. trade fairs, PR events)
- the education sector (e.g. educational institutions, serious games)
- the scientific sector (e.g. social sciences, psychology)
Concepts aim to bridge the real and the virtual, with participation via online channels or social VR/AR/MR expanding the scope of the real-world event.
Throughout the semester, your group work will be facilitated using Design Thinking as an overarching framework. You will therefore be guided step-by-step through the entire design process, with individual coaching sessions led by academic staff. Additional introductory lectures will cover design strategies and technology. Towards the second half of the semester, a ‘tool week’ will be organised, during which you will have the opportunity to update your technical skills and prepare for the prototyping and production phase of your project.
All teams will present their design concept in a mid-term and final presentation, providing convincing arguments for their choices and demonstrating the intended experience through a prototype and an experience trailer.
Experience in Media (5 CPs)
The course provides a unified design framework for the creation of engaging experiences in transmedia story worlds accessed through live and virtual events. You will be introduced to strategies for experience design and narrative design from the fields of drama (film and television dramaturgy), user/audience experience design, games, and Augmented and Virtual Reality.
This semester focuses on exploring and refining innovative conceptualisation and production strategies within a chosen focus area (Expanded Realities, Expanded Sound & Music, Expanded Storyworlds).
Students enrolled in the 3-semester programme proceed to the Master's module.
All other students use the third semester to further develop their practical skills during a work placement. Please refer to the FAQ section to check whether you are eligible to enrol in the 3- or 4-semester programme (with or without a work placement).
Expanded Media Project (15 CPs)
For the second-semester project, you will build on the skills you acquired in the previous semester, with a particular focus on spatial experience design and working for live audiences.
Once again, you will be working on a semester-long challenge as part of an interdisciplinary team. As part of this module, you will also be attending a masterclass in your chosen specialism (Expanded Realities, Expanded Sound & Music, Expanded Storyworlds), to support your team as an emerging expert in your field.
Science in Media and Scientific Methods (5 CPs)
The module ‘Science in Media and Scientific Methods’ equips you with the skills to research, prototype and evaluate your own projects through an objective, user-centred design process. Designed to prepare you for your Master's thesis, you will also learn how to approach a scientific publication and write the exposé for your Master's thesis.
Master's Project (30 CPs)
In your Master's thesis project, you will have the opportunity to apply all the project-based learning you have acquired to your own project, working towards the creation of a professional and innovative Expanded Media product through a reasoned and systematic design process that demonstrates your understanding of the unique opportunities and challenges in Expanded Media design, particularly within your chosen focus area or Expanded Story Worlds, Expanded Sound & Music or Expanded Realities.
Elective modules (5 CPs)
Each semester, you are free to choose from a wide range of electives. We recommend taking two electives in the first semester and two in the second, but you are, of course, free to take more.
The programme changes every semester, so the following list is merely illustrative:
- Scenography in Science & Art Communication – from VR to analogue stage design
- Music and Spaces – staging music videos as special experiences
- Experimental 3D Audio
- Dialogue and Space
- Addicted to Light
- Art sneaking into capitalism – Playful explorations of the idea of self-creation
- Virtual brands and artist personas for playful and subversive self-promotion
- Media & Emotions
- Disruptive & Innovative Media Technology – A journalistic foray
- Virtual Environments for Storytellers – An introduction to Unreal Engine 4
- Worldbuilding for Storytelling and Character Development
- The Art of Threads and Traits – A Course in Serial Storytelling
- Leadership & Agile Project Management in Start-ups
- Deep Dive into Design Thinking
- Designing Your Life: Applying Design Thinking Principles to Your Own Life
Innovation: Emerging Technology, Advanced Creativity, Systemic Management
What can I do once I’ve completed my Master’s degree?
Rather than preparing students for specific technologies or formats (such as ‘VR’, ‘mobile games’ or ‘feature films’), we aim to equip our graduates with lasting core competencies (agile teamwork, storytelling and experience design) that will enable them to thrive in an increasingly fluid media industry, wherever their future may take them.
Whilst rapid technological innovations will continue to disrupt the economy, we train you to focus on the eye of the storm: the human heart. To meet the growing demand for socially and personally meaningful experiences, consumer brands, cultural and educational organisations will increasingly turn to media agencies that understand user-centred design and have a keen sensitivity to their audience’s deeper needs.
The Expanded Media Master's programme thus prepares students for careers in new media agencies specialising in immersive, spatial design, with current applications in events – such as trade fairs, festivals, theatre or museums – and future applications in augmented reality (AR) and the Metaverse (convergence in spatial interfaces).
The programme’s unique blend of skills and people, combining sound and music with storytelling and immersive technologies, is designed to give our graduates a distinct advantage when it comes to delivering profound experiences of change, growth and transformation.
Please note that if you are looking for a job in UX/UI design for traditional websites and apps, you may find more suitable programmes elsewhere.
Typical jobs and fields of work in agencies or as freelancers
- Planning, direction and production of immersive media installations, e.g. for trade fairs, museums or festivals
- Screenwriting, direction and production of transmedia experiences, with story worlds spanning multiple types of media, e.g. social media, websites, games, TV, VR, AR and MR
- Conception and production of music-driven applications and events, such as interactive stage shows, musicals or concerts
- Conception and production of immersive, narrative 3D scenarios for virtual, augmented and mixed realities
- Conception and development of technical solutions for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Realities, such as new Mixed Reality services and apps.
Got a question for us?
Media Campus
Address:
Max-Planck-Str. 2
64807 Dieburg
Expanded Media Department
Get to know the professors, teachers and staff
Overview of lecturers and staff