Leveraging the potential of immersive technologies for education, community, and industry in an equitable and sustainable way.

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Strategic Units

AI + Machine Learning

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Our unit focused on artificial intelligence development

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Immersive Technology

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Our makerspace unit focused on immersive creation.

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Autonomous Robotics

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Our unit focused on developing robotic and autonomous solutions

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News & Media

New Robot Dog BenBen!

  Have you seen a new robot dog roaming around campus and wondered who he is? That’s BenBen! He’s the

VAR at a Glance

Research, teaching, partnerships, and funding impact through January 2026.

Realized Value $2.32M
Total Value Generated
$2.32M
Labor | Facilities | Visiting Scholars
Grants, Awards and Gifts
$1.35M
38 grants funded
Student Positions
247
115 unique | 74% paid
Partnerships
150+
Academia | Industry | Nonprofits
Open Lab Deliverables
196
47% by lead contributor
Return on Investment
$18K
Seed Grant | 2019
12,800%
Conservative ROI
Excludes speculative value
$2.32M
Realized Value | 2026
XR Classroom | 2,715 Total
60
FA21
172
SP22
625
FA22
706
SP23
1,152
FA24
Individuals engaged per semester
2nd-Year Retention Rate
98.6%
VAR Lab Researchers
vs
75.4%
Behrend Average
+23.2 pp above college average
Student Composition
Humanities and SS
45%
Engineering
42%
Business
9%
Science
4%
Undergrad
80%
Graduate
20%
Paid Roles
74%
Funding Breakdown
Grants (38)
$1,185,796
Faculty Effort
~$630,818
Facilities
~$228,249
Visiting Scholars
$162,283
Corporate + Private
$65,895
Student Awards (14)
$41,700
+ $198,654 in proposals under review
AI and Tech | 20+ Tools
ChatGPT / OpenAI Google Gemini Claude GitHub Copilot Adobe Firefly DaVinci Resolve ElevenLabs NVIDIA NeMo PyTorch Hugging Face YOLO ComfyUI Convai XR Skydio Drones Unitree Go2 Topaz Labs Runway / Pika
LLMs | Generative Media | Vision | Speech | Autonomous Systems

Penn State

7+ campuses | TLT | ICDS | All 4 schools

Higher Ed

USC | Michigan | CMU | Korea | Brazil

Industry

US Steel | Erie Insurance | Adobe | STERIS

Community

Carnegie Science | Hagen | Girl Scouts

Grants and Federal

ECGRA | Fish and Wildlife | Erie Fdn

Projects & Events

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Our Partners

Explore our organization’s mission and learn more on the about page. If you have any inquiries or wish to get in touch, please visit our contact page. Your interest is highly appreciated!

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