Virtual Reality

Lehman College to Build VR Center in NYC

• By Sri Ravipati
• 12/21/16

With virtual reality and augmented reality markets projected to exceed $160 billion by 2020, an infusion of talent will be needed to meet the workforce demand. Lehman College, a liberal arts college that is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, today unveiled its plans to build an Interactive Digital Center (IDC) that will train future VR and AR professionals.  

As part of the college’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the IDC will “support the training of new VR and AR professionals as well as support the development of VR and AR applications that will assist in teaching Lehman’s students,” according to a prepared statement.

Lehman partnered with EON Reality, a VR services company, to build the new center on its satellite campus CUNY on the Concourse. EON Reality has worked with other institutions to build IDCs and help develop workforce skills in interactive and 3D technology — another market that is expected to increase in the coming years.

“This effort will provide invaluable state-of-the-art experiential training to students of our School of Continuing and Professional Studies — positioning them well for the opportunities of the burgeoning VR/AR industry,” commented Jose Luiz Cruz, president of Lehman College, in a statement.

The college said that the first phase for the center involves the creation of a VR and AR training facility and development lab called the EON Entrepreneur School. There, selected individuals will participate in a program that involves three months of classroom training followed by seven months of project-based learning (developing work for real customers). The facility will also have an “Icube Mobile” — a 360-degree immersive room for students to test their work.

The IDC is scheduled to open during Q2 2017. Applications are now open.

Further information is available on the EON Reality site.