GRX Immersive Labs visits the Bass Lab to teach a three-part photogrammetry workshop

By Brielle Smith

AI will not steal our jobs.

Alton Glass, Founder of GRX Immersive Labs

That’s the message that Alton Glass has for USC Annenberg journalism students. In a world consumed by newfound fears of advanced technologies, his company — GRX Immersive Labs — combats job insecurity with education. In just a few short years, Glass has built a leading immersive media content studio based in Los Angeles. His mission is to revolutionize the potential of storytelling through technological empowerment, he said.

Glass is starting right here. This month, GRX Immersive Labs visited the Charlotta Bass Journalism and Justice Lab, to host a three-part photogrammetry workshop for students who are enrolled in Dr. Allissa Richardson’s JOUR 499: The Second Draft Project. The course explores a maligned or misreported figure in American media, and gives them (or their loved ones) a chance to offer a new perspective or fresh testimony.

One of GRX’s trainers, Roman Combs, teaches our J499 co-instructor, Jameela Hammond, how to use an iPad to create a 3D model. [Photo credit: Brielle Smith]

This semester’s subject is Malcolm X, and students are creating AI chatbots and podcasts around his third daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz. Dr. Richardson hired Glass to add yet another dimension to the storytelling: photogrammetry.

“I took a photogrammetry course last summer as part of my annual professional development, and I really enjoyed the possibilities of telling a news story in 3D,” Richardson said, adding, “When I thought of who I could bring in to help me teach this amazing storytelling technique, GRX was at the top of the list.”

Creatives sell their photogrammetry, like this street mural of Malcolm X, in marketplaces like Sketchfab or Turbosquid.

Richardson partnered in 2020 to produce a metaverse documentary with Glass and his team for Oculus, she said. “When I saw how well Glass managed his film crew for the project [In Protest] I knew I wanted their energy at USC,” she said.

Photogrammetry involves surveying and scanning a physical item, and then uploading a digital version of the item into virtual or augmented reality. Students in JOUR 499 spent the first week learning the principles of scanning small material objects that related to Malcolm X’s legacy in the classroom. In week two, they went outside to practice scanning larger objects amid passersby.

For the final session, students will visit USC’s Fisher Museum to scan Kara Walker’s new exhibit, Cut to the Quick. Walker has said previously that many of her iconic works, which feature scenes of slavery in silhouettes, were inspired by Malcolm X speeches.

“I think scanning the new Walker exhibit here on campus is a wonderful way for my journalism students to bring the intersections of art and activism to news audiences in an immersive way,” Richardson said.

Glass said he joined this project because he is an “advocate and evangelist for creators of color leveraging immersive technology.” His taproot teaching philosophy focuses on digging as deep as possible to build a foundation, and then watching others grow, he said. As a result, Glass hopes to build a sustainable ecosystem of immersive storytellers who use the empowerment of his company to inspire others. Alton proudly said with a smile. “I love seeing others sprout.”

GRX Immersive has worked with brands such as Meta and Time magazine to globalize educational and entertaining immersive technology. Additionally, the company recently launched a collaboration with Verizon Innovative Learning to design the mobile app, “Arts, Beats, and Tech,” which allows students to learn science through building music tracks.

As an educational leader with a culturally relevant curriculum, GRX Immersive exercises its mission to increase technological literacy through GRX Immersive Academy, Glass said. The academy is portably designed to introduce technology users — from K-12 learners to adults immersive multimedia content production. In addition to USC Annenberg, GRX Immersive Academy has serviced South L.A. public schools, including Compton High School.

“Diversity provides perspective,” Glass said. As a former director of feature films for a major Hollywood studio, he recognizes how ample representation of age, background, culture and more “helps cultivate clear audiences, because there are riches in the niche areas” of storytelling, he said.