Remington Orange, producer at the XRcast Studio, is spearheading a new series called VAR Travels, with co-hosts Marcus Jacobs and Lauren Cass. VAR Travels is a mixed reality podcast that uses the Google Earth VR program to take the audience on a global journey. The program is unique in that it provides comprehensive visual data
Reflecting on the past year, we are pleased to report that 2022 was a highly successful year for VAR Edu, Behrend's immersive Open Lab. The program established a strong presence on campus and was accessible to anyone interested in learning about immersive technologies. In Spring 2022, VAR Edu introduced open hours for the final 8
VAR Studios recently hosted an Augmented Reality (AR) workshop in collaboration with Teaching and Learning with Technology from the University Park campus at the Penn State Behrend campus. TLT provided iPads for participants to create augmented reality assets using Adobe Aero, a leading AR creation platform. The workshop was open to Behrend students and faculty
VAR Edu, Behrend's immersive Open Lab, has been awarded a $100,000 grant by the Learning Space Committee to enhance the learning environment. The grant proposal was authored and submitted by Dr. Chris Shelton, the Director, and Marcus Jacobs, the graduate project manager, in Fall 2022. The funds will be used to equip the space with
VAR Studios is thrilled to announce the launch of a new studio space that expands our production capabilities. The XRcast podcasting studio is designed to capture mixed reality content, with limitless use cases for creating more engaging course materials, producing VR RunThroughs of various virtual reality programs, entertainment. Faculty can use these reviews to choose
Thank you to Animation Career Review for including Penn State Behrend among the Top 50 AR/VR colleges in the US. Click here to see the rankings for yourself. The VAR Lab is honored to be a part of the Behrend campus and benefit from the presence of several great technology-related programs. The organization is proud
Over the course of several months, students and faculty collaborated to capture scans of about a dozen historical objects from two distinct eras (1890s and 1950s) gathered from the archives of the Hagen History Center and community partners. To ensure the best quality final product, scans were often repeated multiple times using our Artec Structured
VAR Studios, Behrend’s XR Makerspace, is proud to announce the recent acquisition of a pair of structured light scanners. These scanners increase our capabilities to efficiently create 3D assets from a variety of real-world objects. The technology uses flashing light and several camera sensors set at varying depths to capture the shape and texture of
The VAR Lab is pleased to announce that it has moved to a new space that is better suited to the needs of the organization. The original location of the VAR Lab was Business Suite 218 of the Merwin Building in Knowledge Park. However, the space was relatively small for all the ideas and initiatives
During the Spring of 2022, the VAR Lab was given the opportunity to present its work at Teaching and Learning with Technology's (TLT's) annual Symposium. The presentation was aimed at introducing the VAR Lab and its work to integrate immersive technologies at Behrend. The presentation was delivered by the Director of the VAR Lab, Dr.
