The Promise of Virtual Reality in Higher Education. Virtual reality teeters on the edge of becoming mainstream, with software development outstripping the hardware and memory storage needed. In this article, a librarian and an art historian discuss the many ways that VR may transform learning and student experiences. Not that long ago students and scholars could access only the libraries and museums available to them on their home campus — or perhaps in their city or region — because only a select few had the credentials to access materials from other institutions or the means to travel to distant places for their research.
The Internet changed everything, of course, with the corpus of human knowledge now at everyone's fingertips. Just as hypertext, digital publishing, and other digital media have transformed the ways in which we engage with documents and collections, the technologies surrounding virtual reality (VR) may ultimately transform the ways in which we teach, learn, engage with each other, and experience the world writ large. Virtual reality lets you journey inside the human body. By Lauren Robinson, Catalyst Posted A new application of 3D virtual reality (VR) is allowing people to embark on a journey inside the body, where they can explore the alien landscape of a microscopic human cell. Dr John McGhee, the director of the 3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab at the University of New South Wales, has created the videogame-like VR experience. Leading medical specialists and Australian scientists are collaborating to trial the VR experience as a tool to educate stroke patients about their condition.
"We can take the data and we can take the VR technologies and fuse them together and allow people to experience it in the same way that we see in sci-fi movies," Dr McGhee said. "We had to think of it in different levels, almost akin to a computer game. " The immersive experience had to undergo some alteration, to allow lighting and movement within the cell space, while maintaining the data's integrity. Watching nanoparticles enter cancer cells. University of Oklahoma Libraries Virtual Reality. Virtual Reality as the New Field Trip: The Importance of Place in Learning | American Libraries Magazine. “As you can see, neither of us are librarians.” That was the caveat Matthew Boyer, codirector of the Digital Media & Learning Labs at Clemson (S.C.) University, gave as he began the “Immersive and Interactive: Virtual Reality in a Contextually-Rich Learning Environment” session, part of the Symposium on the Future of Libraries, on Sunday afternoon.
Boyer started the session with the example of the New York Times recently giving its subscribers Google cardboard in order to allow them to view newly published content in a virtual reality format. “The question becomes for all of us, is virtual reality the next content delivery platform?” Boyer said. Technology companies are investing in it, but we must ask ourselves whether it is feasible for use in educational settings. Boyer and copresenter Stephen Moysey, codirector of Clemson’s Center for Geospatial Technologies, have been working on projects to test just that. Field trips can be costly and time consuming. Content for Virtual Reality in the Library | University Library. In December 2015, I visited the National Library and Archives of Quebec – Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) – to see the exhibition of “The Library at Night – Great libraries of the world in a virtual-reality universe.
(link is external)” What made this exhibition unique was that visitors explored the 10 world libraries in a virtual environment by wearing a Samsung Gear VR (Virtual Reality) headset. According to the library, this exhibition was inspired by the essay of Alberto Manguel, The Library at Night (available at IUPUI – physical book (link is external) or e-book (link is external)) and designed by the Ex Machina production company (link is external) with VR technologies.
It took me an hour to have virtual tours of the 10 world libraries – some of them I already visited (e.g., Canadian Library of Parliament) while some I’ve never visited so far. In spite of 360° video, I still recognized that it was all virtual. It didn’t allow me to go upstairs or downstairs. Library offers virtual reality experience. As he wore an Oculus Rift headset in the Monroe County Public Library, Mark Russell experienced virtual reality for the first time with a simulation of a roller coaster. The three-dimensional space made the roller coaster’s rapid turns and drops realistic, he said, even though he was sitting in a stationary chair the whole time. While everyone else in the room only saw the roller coaster on a small flat screen, he expressed his disorientation in short exclamations. “What?” He said as the simulation began. “Wow.” It felt like he was actually on the ride and was going to fall off, he said. At Sunday’s Explore Virtual Reality event, people 12 years old and older had the opportunity to play a virtual reality game using an Oculus Rift headset, which is owned by the library.
Explore Virtual Reality is a weekly event. Community engagement librarian Jen Hoffman said the library has an HTC Vive virtual reality headset in addition to the Oculus Rift. The systems also have different controllers. Virtual Reality at Gelardin | Georgetown University Library. What Is It? Virtual Reality (VR), or immersive multimedia, recreates physical environments by artificially creating sensory experiences through various technologies. At the Gelardin New Media Center, we have 3 different kinds of headsets, all shown to the right.
The headsets track head and hand movements, allowing users to interact with and immerse themselves in various experiences. Why Is It Important? VR has infinite uses in entertainment, education, medicine, military, and more. Try VR *Please note, only authorized users are able to gain access to the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets. Step 1: Become authorized to use the VR station To gain access to the VR stations sign up for a VR consultation at www.library.georgetown.edu/gelardin/consultation. Once you receive a VR consultation you’ll be authorized to reserve and use the VR station! Step 2: Reserve the VR Station Step 3: Using the VR Station Reserve a time to use the VR station. Learn More 7 Things You Should Know About VR Memory: 8GB+ RAM. ELI7115. Virtual Reality | Kitchener Public Library. Vr faqs. Get virtual with oculus rift | Geelong Regional Libraries.
Whether you are on an intergalactic mission or going back into Geelong’s past or simply enjoying the pleasures of a roller-coast ride, Oculus Rift will make your experience feel like reality. Oculus Rift virtual reality technology is available at the Geelong Library & Heritage Centre for you to experience this amazing new, completely immersive virtual world. Oculus Rift is suitable for ages 13 years and above, as suggested by the manufacturers. Reasons for the age limit include the distance between the eyes on smaller heads, as well as the immersive nature of the experience being harder to explain to younger folk that it’s not real Research suggests that the development of Stereopsis (the ability to view in 3D) is largely completed by 13 years old.
Please read the article linked here from Audioholics. Enquire at the Geelong Library & Heritage Centre. Back to Explorers & creators. Disruptive technology: A look at virtual reality. Will virtual reality technology change the world? Maybe, according to this Time article from 2015. A lot of VR technology has been focused on the games sector, but there are lots of applications for libraries and other community organisations according to one article on Public Libraries Online: Many patrons already check out books virtually and don’t visit the actual physical library too often, if at all.
Are virtual reality labs, tours, and workshops the next step for libraries? The answer is a solid maybe as the technology develops and makes its way out of gaming and movies and into education and everyday experiences [source] Library conferences have started to feature presentations on the use of virtual reality, with the University of Adelaide Australia, and Broward County Library USA being just two examples from 2016. Presented at the VALA conference in February 2016, the project has generated interest and excitement from both library and creative arts communities.
The Library at Night: A Review - blog post. April 23, 2016 There’s a reason why they call it virtual reality, because even when you can feel the heavy VR headset resting on the bridge of your nose, the flames engulfing you and the precious scrolls of Alexandria have now become your realty. They are burning, and you are burning with them. Created by Robert Lepage’s Ex Machina production company with Alberto Manguel and the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), the Library at Night Exhibition takes visitors on a virtual tour of ten extraordinary libraries from around the world.
As part of the Library and Information Technician program at Algonquin College, my class took part in a trip to Montreal in order to visit these virtual locations ourselves. Credit: Michelle Lam The tour begins in Manguel’s own personal library, a dimly lit room lined with books of all sizes and in various states. We enter into a moonlit forest, tall birch trees lining the center aisle like pillars in a grand cathedral. Virtual reality trial sends Adelaide library visitors to the Moon and back. Posted Virtual reality headsets will be a big ticket item on many people's Christmas wishlists this year, but one local library will let you try them for free.
The Adelaide City Council Library is hosting trial sessions of 10 different virtual reality (VR) experiences with an HTC Vive headset this festive season. The library wants to see whether VR can act as a catalyst to encourage education and research. Library patron Ellen Beasy had never experienced VR before; she said the Apollo 11 experience was breathtaking.
"I thought it was amazing — it was much more realistic than I expected. " She said she loved the way history was integrated in an entertaining way. "There was a quote in there from Galileo that I had not read before and it was really amazing to put that together with the music and what you were experiencing. "It made the history come alive in a whole new way. "I can see that you could spend hours [using VR]. "It's an amazing learning tool because it is so immersive," she said. Virtual Reality at the Library – The Renewal Notice. The McAllen Public Library is a bridge to new worlds through information access, and next Wednesday, June 15th from 4:00-6:00, we will be your bridge to new worlds through virtual reality! It is going to be one of our most exciting programs ever, and you do not want to miss out!
(Trust me, I tried it last week and it is really cool, you do not want to miss out.) Until very recently, I had heard of these virtual reality (more commonly referred to as VR) headsets, but did not know anything about them and thought they were just the latest technological advancement for serious gamers. Although gaming is one of the uses for these headsets, they can be used for practical purposes as well. There is a very wide range of headsets, from the most basic $15 Google Cardboard into which you just insert your smartphone, all the way to the $600 Oculus Rift and the $800 HTC Vive.
Like this: Like Loading... Related National Library Week Unlimited Possibilities @ Your Library! In "national library week" Virtual Reality in the Library: Creating a New Experience. By Troy Lambert on February 24, 2016 At Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec, in Montreal, Canada, the Alberto Manguel/ Robert Lepage collaboration “La bibliotheque, la nuit,” a virtual reality exhibition of the interiors of libraries, is on display. “The experience felt so real it was disconcerting to look down and not see my own body in the virtual space,” says Jeff Peachey, a recent visitor, in his blog.
“Overall, it was an oddly reflective and poetic.” But what, if any, is the future of virtual reality (VR) in the library? Many patrons already check out books virtually and don’t visit the actual physical library too often, if at all. Facebook’s $2 billion purchase of Oculus tells us two things: first, VR is going to be a thing. Virtual Travel and Experience Teaching children and adults about other places becomes easier if they can experience them firsthand. Virtual Gaming and New Skills Gamification in the classroom, at work, and elsewhere is already catching on. References: What is VR? | University Libraries. Virtual Reality (VR) is a collection of technologies which seek to alter the user's perception of reality to engender a sense of immersion in a completely digital space.
This effect is achieved via a headset (GearVR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive) which presents stereoscopic images to the user giving depth to the image. This is supported by additional technologies that track the user’s head and body movements and allow the user to look around the virtual environment. For example, if the use turns their head left, the image presented scans left. A good VR experience will leave the user feeling present in the virtual experience where they are free to direct their experience. The idea of virtual reality is to replace one or more of a person’s senses to create a feeling of presence in a virtual world. Current virtual reality headsets block a person’s vision and present, instead, a high field of view stereoscopic image of the virtual world. Experimenting with virtual reality in a university library | ALIA National 2016 Conference.
Skip to main content Search form Experimenting with virtual reality in a university library Ben Weatherall, University of Adelaide Libraries Concurrent session 3 Tuesday 30 August 2016, 11:30am - 11:55am Abstract Virtual Reality (VR) has become increasingly relevant to academic environments thanks to the arrival of consumer grade and priced VR equipment. To meet this goal a two phased project was proposed focusing on the rapid acquisition of VR production skills and the creation of a body of resources which could assist staff and students in the creation of content for this new media format.
Communications with academics, students and library staff throughout the project indicated that the University’s community is excited about VR but has a low awareness of how to apply VR to the academic environment. This project exists within, and due to, the current upheaval within the library industry. Paper - Now available. Presentation - Now available. Quick links We're starting in 00Days 00Hr 00Mins About. VRProjectFinalReport. Emerging Library Technology Trends: The Future is Now.