Project Description
In Spring 2023, VAR Edu collaborated with Penn State Behrend’s Admissions office to host an immersive outreach integration event, introducing forty high school students from the Erie area to the VR/AR technologies and capabilities available at the college. The event featured a range of science programs, including Abelena’s Atom Maker, Mission ISS, and Titans of Space, allowing students to select the programs they were interested in exploring.
To maximize efficiency, the students were divided into two groups of twenty, with each group allocated thirty minutes to experience the technology. The students were then paired up and assigned to one of the ten user spaces within the immersive classroom. Each student had approximately 15 minutes of in-headset experience, while their classmates could observe the virtual environment on a nearby TV through a live-cast.
This event provided an exceptional opportunity for VAR Edu to engage with potential future students and showcase the educational possibilities offered by Behrend in the virtual and augmented reality domains. It highlighted VAR Edu’s versatility as an Open Lab, capable of facilitating various types of events, including in-class, out-of-class, and outreach experiences.
