Virtual Reality Development Lab

Immersion

The Process - An Overview

The process of creating virtual environments with the VRDL is specifically designed to support the educational model of progressive learning designed to teach students that technology is fun, not frightening. It opens a door to possibilities and opportunities that are limited only by the students' own imaginations, and it does so by engaging them in the process of "active learning." It places them in a position where they are driven to create, to research, to analyze, and to think independently about a subject rather than just "listen and absorb." It reaches out to students with a wide range of learning styles and abilities.

The authoring studio is very easy to learn, technologically straightforward, and each step becomes the building block for the next. Even the most elaborate Virtual Reality experiences produced with the VRDL can be simplified ino the three progressive stages.

Essentially, each project involves three basic steps: capturing media (images, movies, sounds,etc) from a particular location, transforming those digital photos and files into a 3-D virtual reality environment, and then linking those environments together into a "virtual tour" that tells some sort of story.

For example, one project might involve a virtual tour of your school. Different stops on the tour might include the trophy room with a voiceover explaining the school's academic and athletic achievements, a statue of the school's founder with a brief explanation of the school's history; and perhaps even a stop at the cafeteria where you can listen to interviews of both students and teachers as they give their take on what it means to be a part of your educational community.

Another group might choose to take its audience on a virtual hike. Different stops on the hike might explain particular aspects of the area's geology and biology or even potential threats posed by nearby development or pollution.

Yet another group might choose to take you on a tour through time rather than space. If there is an area in your community where rapid change is taking place, such as a building being constructed or a road being built, students could shoot the same area over time such that the project records the development. They could research the potential impact of the new structure on the community and even interview community leaders to find out why and how the development came to pass.