XR@UR – Page 3 – Studio X

June 28, 2021December 8, 2021

VR Experience List

person in a virtual reality headset with an artsy backdrop

Are you new to VR and don’t know where to start or just looking for some new experiences to try? Studio X has you covered! Check out our reviews of some popular VR experiences.

Studio X VR Experience List

To pique your interest, here’s a list of our top 5 favorites! The experiences listed below are a mix of different genres of VR, so there’s sure to be something for everyone.

First Person Shooter/Action: SUPERHOT

If you’re looking for an action game that runs at your own pace, SUPERHOT can give you the experience you’re looking for! The best way to describe this game would be “strategy but make it chaotic.” Time moves when you move, no health bar, no ammunition drops. You get the resources you get, and one hit against you puts you back to the beginning of the level. Each stage puts you in a new situation in which you must eliminate the bad guys (red, glassy, people-like figures). The materials around you could range from nothing but your fists to bottles to guns that you’ve stolen off the enemy. The biggest component of SUPERHOT that makes it unique to other action games is that time only moves when you move. Whether it’s a simple flick of your wrist or you dodging a bullet, you control how your enemies and the environment around you moves. This may seem like an advantage at first, but it forces you to calculate your every move, making it an amazing strategy game.

Horror: Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted

Fnaf Vr Help Wanted Nightmare Foxy - Novocom.top

You don’t need to be a fan of the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise to enjoy this spooky game filled with all kinds of creepy scenery and jump scares! This game can serve as the perfect introduction to the FNaF lore, as it not only contains all of the original games newly formatted for VR but also contains a series of original minigames created just for this experience. For those unfamiliar with the world of FNaF, the games have you play as a night guard at a Freddy’s pizzeria. Your shift runs from midnight to 6am, but there are killer animatronics coming after you! The scary part of this game is that you have a stationary position and cannot run. The only way for you to defend yourself is through looking at the security cameras to track the locations of the animatronics, your flashlight that’s attached to the cameras in each room, and the heavy-duty security doors that close off your office. But it’s not as simple as that, as you have limited battery power, and if you run out too early, its game over! This game is perfect for people who love horror, who love getting jump scared, or love the FNaF games.

Narrative: Traveling While Black

Traveling While Black: Official Teaser Trailer - YouTube

Traveling While Black is a 20 minute, immersive, cinematic VR experience that requires no action from the viewer. It immerses the viewer in the history of restriction of movement for Black Americans and the creation of safe spaces in our community. VR has often been described as an “empathy machine,” and this documentary is an eye-opening example of this terminology. This experience isn’t pleasant nor is it meant to be, but it is incredibly informative and thought-provoking. This experience is perfect for those interested in learning a little bit of history or for those who don’t want an interactive VR experience.

Rhythm: Beat Saber

Beat Saber' OST 4 Music Pack Releases for Free Today, Track List Here – Road to VR

If you are looking for a game to help improve your hand-eye coordination or just love to dance to funky songs, beat saber is the perfect game for you! This game has a large focus on rhythm and allows an immersive experience that will leave you feeling like a music slicing ninja. The goal in each level is to slash the beats (represented by colored cubes depending on the level) as they rush towards you with the correct colored saber (either in your left or right hand). Your goal is to slice all the beats to the rhythm of the music while avoiding obstacles such as walls and bombs. The more accurate you are, the more points you will get! You can play a single player mode or can connect with friends who have the same oculus device. If you don’t have any friends to play with, you can connect with anonymous beat saber players for a fun multiplayer challenge!

Simulation: Job Simulator

Job Simulator Oculus Quest Review - Rapid Reviews UK

Can’t get enough of work and want to do more in a quirky VR world? Then Job Simulator is the game for you! Set in a world in which humans no longer do jobs for themselves, you get to learn what it was like to “have a job.” When immersing yourself into this game, you will get to simulate a variety of different jobs including but not limited to: gourmet chef, office worker, and convenience store clerk. According to the Oculus Store, some key jobbing features include: Throwing a stapler at your boss! Learning to ‘job’ in four not-so historically accurate representations of work-life before society was automated by robots! Using your hands to stack, manipulate, throw, and smash physics objects in an inexplicably satisfying way! Aggressively chugging coffee and eating questionable food from the trash! Gaining valuable life experience by firing new employees, serving slushy treats, brewing English tea, and ripping apart car engines! Working the never-ending night shift with Infinite Overtime mode! This game serves as a fun introduction to the VR gaming world for those who want a light-hearted, fun experience.

Conclusion

These games represent some of the many different categories of VR games that exist. If you didn’t see anything you like in this list or want to find some more cool experiences to try, go check out our VR Experiences Catalogue! This list will be ever-expanding as we try out many more new experiences, and as more are created. Some of these experiences will be available for you to try at Studio X, whether you want to check out a headset for a couple of days or want to come into the space for a couple of hours.

Ayiana Crabtree

Karp Library Fellow, XR Research

Author Bio

June 28, 2021November 3, 2021

5 Books about XR Technology and Beyond: Get Yourself Thinking About the Future of Technology!

artsy book with a lightbulb in front of it.

Future of XR: Technology and Application — Image Link

This article serves to provide you with a list of various books that have a strong focus on XR technologies and futuristic concepts as well as a little bit of the history of these technologies. Some terms to know as you go:

XR – Extended Reality
The umbrella term used to describe all real and virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology. This includes AR, VR, and MR

VR – Virtual Reality
An immersive experience, also known as a computer simulated reality. It uses a VR headset to generate sounds and images that can either replicate the real world or create an imaginary one

AR – Alternative Reality
A live view, whether direct or indirect, of a real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer generated sensory output. AR uses your existing reality and adds to it by using a device such as a phone

One of the most popular books from this list, Ready Player One has been made into a movie that helped XR technologies to go mainstream. XR has huge potential to transform the everything from science to psychology to art to digital literature and beyond. I recently purchased my own VR headset and have been escaping into incredible fictional worlds! But did you know that the first evidence of XR technology dates back to the 1800s?

A Brief History of XR Technology

History of VR - Timeline of Events and Tech Development — Image Link

The history of XR starts back in the 1800s. Scientist, Sir Charles Wheatstone outlined a new concept called “stereopsis” in which the brain combines one image from each eye into a single 3D image. This led to the first stereoscopes, a device that took a pair of images and turned them into a 3D image with the illusion of depth.
In the early 1900s, American Science Fiction writer, Stanley G. Weinbaum published the book Pygmalion’s Spectacles in which the main character explores a fictional world using a pair of goggles, making this the first prediction of VR as we know it today.
The first AR headset was created in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland called the Sword of Damocles that displayed computer-generated graphics that enhanced the user’s perception of the world.
From the 1980s to 2000s, VPL Research Inc became the first company to sell VR goggles and gloves. Their founder, Jaron Lanier, coined the term “virtual reality” in 1987.
In 2010, Palmer Luckey created the prototype for the Oculus Rift headset at the age of 18. By 2014, Facebook had acquired the Oculus VR company.
2014 became a busy year for XR, with Sony and Samsung both announcing the creation of their own VR headsets, and Google releasing its low-cost cardboard viewer for smartphone users. In addition to this, Google released Google Glass, an AR device.
In 2016, Microsoft released HoloLens headsets, which made AR more interactive. AR was brought into the mainstream media by the release of Pokémon GO.
In 2017, a lot of retailers began using AR technologies to help customers imagine products in their homes using apps like IKEA Place.
As of 2020, about 30% of gamers own a VR headset.

For more on the history, visit this website: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/05/17/the-fascinating-history-and-evolution-of-extended-reality-xr–covering-ar-vr-and-mr/

5 Books to Immerse Yourself in Extended Reality and Beyond

The Six by Mark Alpert

Topics: VR, Nanotechnology, AI, Uploading the human conscious to a machine

This YA Sci-Fi novel takes a look at how technology could be implemented for both medical and military purposes. The main character, Adam Armstrong suffers from muscular dystrophy and has lost motor control of everything but his head, neck, and right arm. He’s passionate about VR technology and codes his own programs. VR games are his only escape from his wheelchair, as he no longer attends high school due to his high intelligence levels.

One day while he is testing out one of his VR programs, he gets a visit from a hacker, who he later finds out is an artificial intelligence named Sigma, created by his dad in the laboratory. Sigma threatens to kill Adam, and soon he is taken from his home in New York to a remote settlement in Chicago. There, he learns of a government program called the Pioneer Project, which they hope will be able to take down this murderous AI, that is now taking over various military bases and satellites and threatening to kill large amounts of the human population in order to gain full control.

Adam soon joins the Pioneer Program along with 5 other teens who have less than 6 months to live to have their minds transferred into weaponized robots through the use of nanotechnology. The Six teens must learn to manipulate their new mechanical forms and work together to train for combat… before Sigma destroys humanity.

Unplugged by Donna Freitas

Topics: Virtual Reality, Dystopia

This YA Sci-Fi novel dives right into VR with its main concept being “imagine if people lived their entire lives in VR.” The main character, Skye is a sixteen-year-old girl who lives in the Virtual “App World.” She was plugged into this reality when she was just 5 years old, as her mother and older sister wanted to give her a better life. In the App World, people go about day-to-day life as if they were living in reality, with some interesting upgrades to life. With the addition of apps that one could download into the very code of their existence, people have the ability to change their appearance, play highly immersive games, and even converse with others by merely thinking in their direction.

Skye, having been transferred in at the young age of 5, was given a foster family of others who were uploaded. Because of her lack of family, though, she is considered a “single,” aka someone who was uploaded without their real-life family. Despite not being with her family, she is looking forward to being “unplugged” at the age of seventeen, as is tradition with all “singles,” so they can see their families.

Skye knows nothing about her family as there is no communication allowed with the outside once someone is plugged in. What she does know, however, is that her mother and sister are likely “Keepers,” those who exist outside of the App World and are responsible for taking care of the bodies of those who are plugged in. Just as she is approaching her seventeenth birthday, however, the government of the App World mysteriously makes an announcement closing off the ability to be unplugged… forever. Skye is now desperate to find a way to visit her mother and sister, and in doing so, unveils a much darker plot at hand.

Take Me With You by Tara Altebrando

Topics: AI, Suspense

This YA novel focuses solely on the potential threats that self-thinking AI could pose to the future of humanity. Four teens with nothing in common all receive the same message at the end of the school day: Report to the music room directly after school. The matter is urgent. When they arrive, no one is in the room except for them, and a small black cube. The device suddenly lights up and gives them instructions. Do not tell anyone about the device. Do not leave the device unattended. Take me with you… Or else.

The reader is then launched into a thrilling mystery told through a POV that shifts between the four students Eden, Marwan, Eli, and Ilanka. Each student has their own compelling life story that adds to the thrills of the narrative. Eden has a crush that doesn’t like her back and a mother with secrets. Marwan is determined to pursue soccer, but his traditional father wants him to take over the family restaurant. Eli is frequently in trouble and has a grandfather who is on his deathbed. Ilanka lives a lavishly rich life but soon discovers that her father may be hiding something.

The teens’ lives soon become more intertwined than they would have ever imagined, and soon the device becomes hostile, not just towards them, but to the people around them. Who or what created the device? Where did it come from? What is its purpose? With its ability to listen in on their every conversation, sabotage their texts, and control any manner of electronics, the teens realize that they must play along to not suffer any consequences. The device wants one thing: to belong. The teens must figure out how to meet the devices’ wishes before things are too late.

Warcross by Marie Lu

Topics: VR

This YA Sci-Fi novel shows what life might be like if people could escape their reality for a little while in a fully immersive VR game. For the millions who log into Warcross every day, however, it becomes more than a game, it becomes a way of life. The main character, Emika Chen, is a teenage hacker working as a bounty hunter to track down players who bet on the game illegally. With the competitive bounty hunting profession not making her enough money, she makes a desperate attempt and hacks into the opening game of the International Warcross Championships.

The risky move leaves her feeling like she will be arrested. Instead, she gets a call from the mysterious Hideo Tanaka, the young billionaire creator of the game. Just to her luck, he needs someone to spy on the tournament due to a security issue that had gone unresolved.

One minute she thinks she’ll be arrested, the next she’s being whisked off to Tokyo and tossed directly into the game and a world of fame she’s never known before. After a bit of investigating, however, she begins to uncover a sinister plot that if true, would have serious complications for the entirety of Warcross. Is she right in her suspicions, and is she willing to risk everything to prove herself correct?

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) — Image Link

Topics: VR, Action

This Sci-Fi novel immerses the reader into a world where there’s a fusion of 80s pop culture and a heavy presence of the impact of VR on humanity. The OASIS is a digital utopia that everyone escapes to, including our protagonist, Wade Watts. He doesn’t just escape to the OASIS but even goes to school there. One day, something happens out of the blue. The creator of the OASIS, James Halliday dies. As he has no relatives, he instead leaves behind a mysterious video message that initiates the hunt for an egg that once found, will transfer all of his life savings and the ownership of OASIS to the winner.

Wade had already dedicated his life to studying Halliday, his role model, and feels that he could gain a place among the top “Gunters” (Egg Hunters). He watches endless videos and studies Halliday’s archives until one day he happens to stumble across the first clue. Soon, he is being tracked down by the IOI (Innovative Online Industries) who seek to gain ownership of the OASIS for profit, something that Halliday never did.

Wade soon learns that plenty of people are willing to kill for clues, as the ultimate prize would secure the winner’s life forever, both in and out of the OASIS. Before he knows it, he is swept into a mad race, and if he is to survive, he has to win.

Ayiana Crabtree

Karp Library Fellow, XR Research

Author Bio

May 5, 2021May 5, 2021

A New Way to Make AR/VR Glasses

Person using equipment to work with AR/VR lenses.

A metaform is a new optical component that Rochester researchers say can combine with freeform optics to create the next generation of AR/VR headsets and eyewear. (University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw)

University of Rochester researchers combine freeform optics and a metasurface to avoid ‘bug eyes’

“Image” is everything in the $20 billion market for AR/VR glasses. Consumers are looking for glasses that are compact and easy to wear, delivering high-quality imagery with socially acceptable optics that don’t look like “bug eyes.”

University of Rochester researchers at the Institute of Optics have come up with a novel technology to deliver those attributes with maximum effect. In a paper in Science Advances, they describe imprinting freeform optics with a nanophotonic optical element called “a metasurface.”

The metasurface is a veritable forest of tiny, silver, nanoscale structures on a thin metallic film that conforms, in this advance, to the freeform shape of the optics—realizing a new optical component the researchers call a metaform.

Read the full article from the University of Rochester’s Newscenter.

April 1, 2021November 3, 2021

The Humanities & XR: The Past, Present, and Future

person wearing a vr headset and painting.

By Ayiana Crabtree
Karp Library Fellow, XR Research
February 2021 – present
Area of Focus: Conducting research to find ways humanities disciplines can benefit from XR technologies and developing future programming for Studio X that will engage humanities faculty and students

Although many humanists have embraced technologies in their research, immersive technologies are largely new territory for humanities and humanistic social sciences faculty and students. The technology is expensive, has a steep learning curve, and often comes off as a novelty rather than a viable research tool. However, as we progress into the future, it is important to recognize the benefits that immersive technologies could offer these disciplines.

Extended Reality, also known as XR, is the term that encompasses virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) technologies.

With a VR headset, a user is immersed in a computer-simulated environment in which they can experience realistic sounds, images, and 3D content.

AR is an overlay of computer-generated images on the real world. AR uses our existing reality as the basis of the experience, and with the help of a device, this creates an interactive experience for users.

MR, sometimes referred to as a hybrid reality, is when there is a merging of the real and virtual worlds. The important distinction between AR and MR is that with MR the virtual and real worlds are able to interact in real time.

These technologies have the potential to create new experiences for the humanities and humanistic social sciences teaching, research, and learning communities. From getting an immersive language learning experience through VR tours of countries, to creating new interactive works of art, to exploring the worlds found in the pages of classic novels, the possibilities are endless!

Below are just a few examples of the many ways XR is used across these disciplines:

Archaeology, Anthropology, History

Joshi, Naveen. “VR is assisting historians and archaeologists. Here’s how.” Allerin, 5 Nov. 2020, www.allerin.com/blog/vr-is-assisting-historians-and-archaeologists-heres-how.

Allerin’s article shows how photogrammetry—the process of digitally overlapping photographs to turn them into 3D models—can be used to enhance research in the archaeological field by applying it to VR technology. From allowing recreations of archaeological sites and providing access to constricted areas to helping increase skillsets to educating archaeologists, we’re already seeing the benefits of VR to the archaeological field. These applications can allow archeologist to analyze and research more conveniently while giving greater detail than simple photographs of a site. Technology like this could be extremely beneficial and could encourage new people to join the field because of the accessibility it provides.

Art

“Creating Art in Virtual Reality.” VIAR 360, www.viar360.com/creating-art-in-virtual-reality/.

VIAR 360’s article provides a new take on ways art can be created and performed by using the VR space as a new medium for work. It answers important questions about how VR experiences are produced, why they could be beneficial to the field, and provides examples of ways people can use VR applications in practice. The question of whether or not VR could be the future of art is raised. Not only is it the future, but it is already here.

Using VR to create art gives artists more freedom in their designs while having ease of access. By slipping into the VR world, anything can be created in a three-dimensional space, allowing artists a new medium to think and create in. This could allow sculptors to visualize projects and can give painters the opportunity to create 3D paintings. These pre-project visualizations can help by allowing artists to test out new ideas before attempting them with materials. It also provides opportunities for them to expand and try new ways of conveying messages in their artwork. One popular application that would allow them to do this is Tilt Brush, a popular, open-source 3D painting platform. The possibilities are endless when it comes to all the different opportunities for new works that could be created in the VR medium.

Cultural Heritage, Archaeology, Anthropology, History, Teaching & Learning

Shedd, Karin. “Students ‘visit’ a lost archaeological treasure via virtual reality.” YaleNews, 25 Sept. 2017, news.yale.edu/2017/09/25/students-visit-lost-archaeological-treasure-virtual-reality.

YaleNews highlights the importance of VR in modeling cultural heritage sites for the purposes of student learning. Not only does this allow students to experience the site without needing to travel across the world, but it also allows them to visit a place that might not exist anymore. The students visited the ancient city of Nimrud, 30 kilometers south of Mosul in Iraq. Through immersive technologies, people are able to preserve heritage sites for future generations to experience, something that is important in the preservation of culture, especially in learning and understanding it. Visiting the sight in VR allows one to get a sense of the grandness of the space you are visiting, something that reading a book can’t do for you. This enhances the experience by allowing students to grasp how important these structures were, which could be relevant in their research.

While there was some initial skepticism about using VR, the benefits ended up outweighing the negatives. There is no comparison between visiting a site in person versus visiting it in VR, but for the purposes of the classroom, VR provides real opportunities for access in allowing instructors to showcase important sites to their students. Another benefit and future application could be to recreate places that have been destroyed, granting access to sites that no one has seen for decades or centuries.

Film

“How the movie industry uses virtual reality.” VR Sync, 2 Jan. 2020, vr-sync.com/how-the-movie-industry-uses-virtual-reality/.

From “Ready Player One” and the “Martian” to “The Lion King” and “Mission Impossible,” VR Sync’s article takes a close look into how VR can be used in the movie making process. Virtual cameras, application in animation, marketing and promotion, 360 movies, and VR movies are all different ways that the film industry uses VR to aid in their processes. Through the current use of VR in such a wide range of categories, it is evident that this technology is key to the future of the film industry. Seeing the technology develop from something in movies to something used to make movies is a fascinating growth and sets the stage for all kinds of use in the future.

History & Teaching & Learning

Yildirim, Gurkan, et al. “Analysis of Use of Virtual Reality Technologies in History Education: A Case Study.” Asian Journal of Education and Training, vol. 4, no. 2, 15 Feb. 2018, pp. 62-69, doi:10.20448/journal.522.2018.42.62.69. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1170733.pdf.

This case study looks at how VR can be used in the classroom to teach history classes. They found that students enjoyed the feeling of being present in the environment and being able to access destinations that are difficult to visit in real life. Going more in depth, the responses from each student seemed to be quite similar: they likened it to living in the places and enjoyed the more interactive aspects. VR experiences allowed students to focus on a particular topic and to not be easily distracted. One participant noted a downside: the long-term use of the headset and virtual experience caused eye strain.

As a whole, it is important to realize that while this may be the direction technology is heading, there is still some value to traditional teaching methods. The virtual reality classroom might not be good for an entire lecture, as it is important to see the instructor and interact in person, but is good for brief exercises and visiting foreign sights that wouldn’t be readily accessible in a classroom setting.

Language & Culture, Teaching & Learning

Wesley, Steven. “Learn a Language in Realistic VR Scenarios with these Apps.” VirtualSpeech, 28 Feb. 2018, virtualspeech.com/blog/learn-language-vr-scenarios-apps.

Virtual Speech’s article explains the benefits of learning a language in the VR environment. Not only does this allow for an immersive setting that forces the participants to adapt to the learning experience, but it also provides the same comfort of learning at their own pace. This style of learning is likened to the immersive experience of visiting a foreign country and trying to learn there. The article provides some examples of language learning apps as well as detailed descriptions of what learners will gain.

Learning a language in an immersive environment without needing to go abroad could be revolutionary for a college learning environment. VR can allow a student to challenge themselves without putting them out of their comfort zones. Sometimes being outside of your comfort zone can be beneficial, but for those with anxiety, this technology can help prepare them for the real situation, which leads to a better learning experience overall.

Literature

Breeze, Mez. “Virtual Reality Literature: Examples and Potentials.” The Writing Platform, 20 July 2018, thewritingplatform.com/2018/07/virtual-reality-literature-examples-potentials/.

The Writing Platform gives a look into the world of literature and how VR can be used to enhance a reader’s experience. Digital literature has existed for a while but moving it into the XR fields is a newer development. Not only does this new medium allow for a more interactive experience, but it can also give people a different outlook on the importance of storytelling and how it impacts them. Reading can give people a certain level of immersion depending on the imagination they have, but by adding VR into the literary experience, the immersion into the world becomes even more intense, allowing for a new reading experience. Being able to step into the pages of one’s favorite book would not only allow readers to become more connected with the literature but also provide a new experience in terms of how they view the literature and potentially its meaning.

The potential of VR and literature have no bounds, though it is important to draw a line between digital literature and VR movies and games. There should be some interactive element as well but not enough to make it into a videogame, as digital literature should focus on the storytelling primarily. Another interesting application of VR and literature would be to create a 3D space that represents the world of an already existing novel. Classic literature could be explored in new depths using VR, and the potential is never-ending. One example of digital literature mentioned is “A Place Called Ormalcy.” It was entirely designed for and developed in VR constructed using MasterpieceVR to create each chapter.

Psychology

Martin, Sam. “Virtual Reality Might Be the Next Big Thing for Mental Health.” Scientific American, 24 June 2019, blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/virtual-reality-might-be-the-next-big-thing-for-mental-health/.

The Scientific American dives right into the benefits of using VR to give insight into the working of human brains. Mental health has always been a predominant issue in society, and VR technology could help remedy mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other things like fears. From applications in therapy to diagnosing symptoms, VR could be a great help to psychologists and other mental health professionals. VR has already proved successful in treating PTSD, and work is being done to see if it can be used for other issues such as addiction, claustrophobia, and teenage depression through exposure therapy. VR applications for diagnosis can test people for schizophrenia, ADHD, and autism.

The opportunities that VR provide for diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders is something that will definitely be expanded upon in the future. The importance that this application holds is vital, as it could help people who don’t feel comfortable going to talk to a real person about their issues, as well as catching an underlying problem that might have gone undetected. While this technology still needs more experimentation, it is still a step in the right direction for creating new ways to help people with mental health issues.

Social Justice & Film

Warren, Matt. “Balancing Social Justice and Immersive Entertainment.” Film Independent, 29 Oct. 2019, www.filmindependent.org/blog/balancing-social-justice-and-immersive-entertainment/.

This article by Film Independent talks about the importance of representing social justice in the immersive entertainment industry. Representation in the media is extremely important, so when a new form of media arises, the need for representation expands to this new platform. XR technology provides many different new ways of communicating concepts and ideas to a wide variety of audiences and ensuring some presence of representation for social justice is crucial. From art to movies to video games, there are many different ways that XR is used to communicate with the world, so using this as a platform to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, BLM, and other social conscious ideas is a no brainer. The article includes a recorded talk by several exciting immersive storytellers as well as giving examples of projects that are already out there for people to experience. One story is Shogaolu’s Another Dream. It is the third installment of her Queer in a Time of Forced Migration multi-media series, which takes a look at the stories of politically displaced LGBTQ+ people. The potential for the advocation for social justice will grow with the VR platform, and it should not be ignored.

Tourism

“VR for Tourism.” Immersion VR, immersionvr.co.uk/about-360vr/vr-for-tourism/.

Immersion VR’s article speaks about how the tourism industry is being revolutionized by the VR medium. From the wide scale of flyover tours to the detail of visiting ancient sites, the possibilities that are achievable with VR technology are endless. Rather than simply using computer-generated images, 360 VR tourism is becoming more and more popular as it uses actual images from the sites, providing a more realistic experience. Another application besides interactive tourism entails 360 VR videos in which you can sit and look around while not needing to control anything.

The future of VR travel is growing rapidly, especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the amount of resources available are on the rise. Some even go as far as to have VR flight experiences to pretend they are traveling from destination to destination. Other applications include VR booking interfaces, travel for senior citizens, and landmark destination experiences.

December 1, 2020December 8, 2020

Teaching Blender

Karp Library Fellows Experiences with Studio X

By Emma Schaale
Karp Library Fellow, Public Programs Coordinator for Studio X
June 2020 – October 2020
Area of Focus: Varies between considering branding for Studio X, creating promotional materials, and conceptualizing workshop for Studio X’s fall programming

For the past month, I’ve been working on an exciting project… a Blender workshop for Studio X, which took place on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020! This came about as a collaborative effort between Studio X and Tinkerspace to create introductory programming on immersive technologies for the UR community.

We first prioritized workshops for Unity, a video game development environment, due to faculty and student interest in this platform. This was not my area of expertise, as I primarily work in Unreal Engine 4, a similar but different development tool. Luckily, Sebastian Jakymiw, the Karp Library Fellow Immersive Technologies Developer for Studio X, has worked extensively with Unity and was able to take on the lead instruction for those workshops. However, I participated in the conversations between him; Meaghan Moody, Studio X’s Immersive Technologies Librarian; and Allegra Tennis, STEM Librarian.

Because students and faculty are also interested in 3D content creation, Meaghan and I started brainstorming a workshop focused on 3D modeling. Having completed recent coursework (CSC131: Recreational Graphics) for 3D modeling as well as having created my own personal gaming projects, I felt comfortable teaching a workshop on Blender, which is a popular, free, and open-source 3D creation software.

One of the most important considerations we had in our conversations is how to brand our programming. This is crucial for building an image and personality for Studio X, so that a community can form around it as well as pique students’ interest. We wanted these workshops to grab students’ attention and spark their creativity. Immersive technologies are still very new and might seem complicated to students. For example, if you’ve never heard of Blender before, an “Intro to Blender” workshop may seem irrelevant or uninteresting to you. While a “Create a 3D Animal with Blender” workshop might just catch your eye.

To prepare for this workshop, my first step was to scout YouTube for existing 3D modeling tutorials. Some of my favorites are by Grant Abbitt, who has hundreds of tutorials and workshops posted to his channel. I was inspired, in particular, by this video on creating low-poly animals and decided to use to use this as the basis for the workshop.

While working on the outline for my workshop, I considered how to make the process more interactive. During a YouTube video, the user can pause or speed up the instruction, but for a live session, I would need to ensure that my students have time to see everything on the screen. For new users, Blender’s user interface can be especially overwhelming–especially when you’re learning it virtually!

This was also mentioned during a practice workshop, which I ran for Meaghan, Allegra, and Sebastian. Allegra advised that I should take more time to make sure attendees can follow my cursor on the screen. I related to this frustration based on my own experiences learning new technologies in the classroom, so it was intuitive to incorporate this.

screenshot of Blender interface with a 3D modeled cat from the workshop test run. — Screenshot from the Blender practice workshop

During this practice run, it was great to hear that my trial participants found my tutorial to be a great introduction. It’s a difficult software to teach to first-time users, but I was satisfied to hear that they had a fun time learning.

During the actual workshop, I had quite a fun experience introducing the class to Blender’s user interface. Before diving in though, I described how this platform is used for all kinds of projects such as animated films, video games, and virtual reality experiences. I also broke down some basic terminology and concepts. For example, I explained that a mesh is composed of vertices, edges, and faces.

I also explained that Blender’s user interface can seem even more intimidating than the user interface of software like Adobe Premiere Pro or Photoshop. I demonstrated how to perform basics edits in Object and Edit Mode, how to trace along a reference image using extrusions and edits in Edit Mode, how to apply color to the model, and finally, how to export the model.

screenshot of my desktop from the workshop. On the left, Blender is open, and the author is editing a model. On the right, are attendees Zoom windows. — Screenshot from the official workshop on August 23, 2020

Perhaps the most important advice I received was from Allegra, who suggested I really slow down my instruction. At times, I felt like I was waiting hours in between steps while hovering my mouse over a button or demonstrating keyboard shortcuts. Yet, a couple of times, students asked me to repeat these actions. I learned that going slowly is crucial while teaching a complex software like Blender, especially in a virtual teaching environment.

My previous experiences teaching at an all girl’s tech camp in 2018 and as a Publicity Manager for the UR Game Dev Club have made me a much more comfortable instructor. Certainly, having these experiences made me more understanding of the ways others learn and how to make it a comfortable learning environment. While I would say my Blender workshop went well, I’ve had many failures in the past that I have had to learn from. I was even comfortable joking around, which would have been unimaginable a couple of years ago!

Overall, I enjoyed myself during this entire process. I love teaching things I care about, and building this workshop from the ground up was a wonderful experience. I was supported by Studio X, Meaghan, and Allegra, who made me feel more comfortable and confident teaching to my peers. So thank you to Studio X for making this possible!

Are you interested in learning Blender? Check out my workshop slides! Stay tuned for more workshops, and here are some of my favorite resources in the meantime:

August 18, 2020December 4, 2020

New XR training for UR doctoral students

Biomedical engineering graduate student Tom Stoll, right, adjusts a virtual reality head-mounted display on assistant professor Ross Maddox. The array of speakers in Maddox's lab allows researchers to simulate realistic listening environments.

A $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will provide additional impetus to a University of Rochester initiative applying augmented and virtual reality in health, education, product design, remote communication, entertainment, and other fields.

The grant will enable 62 doctoral students to be trained in the skills needed to advance AR/VR technologies and will also help them gain an appreciation for the broader cultural and societal implications of the technologies, says Mujdat Cetin, the principal investigator behind the grant. Other Rochester faculty supporting this initiative are Jannick Rolland, the Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering; Michele Rucci, professor of brain and cognitive sciences; and Zhen Bai, assistant professor of computer science.

Read the full article on the University of Rochester’s Newscenter.

August 18, 2020December 4, 2020

Training Brains with Virtual Reality

Brenna James '20 wearing a virtual reality headset with a computer in the foreground of the photo

Duje Tadin, associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences; Jeffrey Bazarian, professor of emergency medicine; and Feng (Vankee) Lin, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, are working together to see how VR can help treat people with Alzheimer’s disease and those suffering from concussions. Through access to technology and training, Studio X will prepare students to collaborate on and conduct cutting edge research.

*Brenna James ’20 suffered a concussion in high school. Rochester researchers are using VR to create therapeutic treatments that be used at home by patients like her.*

Read the full article via the University of Rochester’s Newscenter.

August 18, 2020December 4, 2020

Augmented Reality Chemical Plant

Coffee mugs on a glass table in Wegmans Hall are transformed into an AR classroom exercise that simulates a sprawling, real-life chemical plant.

Andrew White, assistant professor in the chemical engineering department, and April Luehmann, associate professor and director of secondary science education at the Warner School of Education, are collaborating on research that explores how AR can enhance the way students learn about engineering. Studio X will provide a much-needed space where educators can develop new approaches to increase student learning and engagement.

Read the full article via the University of Rochester’s Newscenter.

August 18, 2020August 18, 2020

The Temple of Jupiter

Elizabeth Colantoni, associate professor of religion and classics, wanted to visualize ancient Roman topography to explore how the Temple of Jupiter fit within the larger context of Roman society. To do that, she collaborated with others at the University of Rochester to create the virtual reality experience seen here, which provides scholars and students new perspectives and expands scholarly conversation.

The experience is based on a model of the temple that Daniel Weiner ’16 (a dual major in computer science and classics) created as an undergraduate, using a program called Sketch-up. Then, in the fall of 2018, Blair Tinker, the Digital Scholarship Lab’s GIS specialist, built this virtual reconstruction, using combined spatial analysis and 3D modeling in Unity Gaming Engine.

August 18, 2020September 8, 2020

Elmina Castle

screenshot of digital elmina unity project.

In “Digital Elmina,” three University of Rochester faculty members—Renato Perucchio, professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering and director of the archeology, technology, and historic structures program; Michael Jarvis, associate professor of history and director of Smiths Island archeology project; and Christopher Muir, professor of mechanical engineering—created 3D reconstructions of Elmina Castle, which were then visualized through Unity Gaming Engine.

Built in 1482, Elmina is the best-preserved and most complete example of early European masonry construction in Ghana and served as an active commercial outpost over four centuries. The castle was also one of the most significant stops on the Atlantic slave trade route. Immersive technologies help us understand Elmina Castle’s past, convey this knowledge in the present, and ensure the castle’s survival in the future.