Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


U Nevada Reno Workshops Help Students Create VR Content

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 10/08/19
University of Nevada Reno Multimedia Production Specialist Michelle Rebaleati tries out a virtual reality headset.

University of Nevada Reno Multimedia Production Specialist Michelle Rebaleati tries out a virtual reality headset.

A university library in Nevada is hosting a set of immersion events that combine theory with practice. The University of Nevada, Reno has hosted virtual reality sessions for the last couple of years, ever since it opened @Reality, a 640-square-foot VR and augmented reality studio in the campus' Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center in 2017. The goal of the studio is to provide a space where students, faculty and staff can explore, study and learn how to create new applications for VR and AR.

The latest round of sessions will run each Tuesday evening in two-week increments. Separate workshops will cover 360-degree video and photo creation, photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and game development using Unreal and Unity. According to the university, the first week describes the topic and the second week lets participants "apply the knowledge and have a hands-on experience with creating virtual reality content."

"It is our hope that by hosting VR sessions the University Libraries is inspiring more members of the campus community to use VR in their field," said Multimedia Production Specialist Michelle Rebaleati, in an article about the program. "Because this technology is evolving at a fast pace, we are continuing to learn how to incorporate VR into university course work, research and more."

"Our goal this year for students, is to give them tools in virtual reality to further their independent fields and to understand ways to approach virtual reality that will impact their studies and areas of interest," added Tim Hoover, who will serve as lead presenter for the sessions.

The university will also be hosting a November meet-up to enable faculty to hear from each other on research involving VR and AR. Last year the institution piloted the use of VR technology in nursing and medical education to help students develop situational awareness and communication techniques.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • CIS Sandbox Tutor Eli Blouin at Bentley University imagines a future technology learning partner that supports curiosity, critical thinking, feedback, and personalized learning.

    Student Voices: Technology as a Future Learning Partner

    A data analytics and marketing major at Bentley University and a distinguished lecturer at the university explore the future of "technology learning partners" — technologies that participate in the learning process by asking questions and giving feedback, not just information search results.

  • Abstract energetic glowing lines with particles

    Meta Steps Up Enterprise AI Ambitions with Muse Spark Launch

    Meta has announced the launch of Muse Spark 1.1, a multimodal reasoning model designed for agentic AI, alongside a new Meta Model API that gives developers access to the model for the first time.

  • Businessman using laptop analyzing data and growth graph chart

    AI Budgets in Education Show No Sign of Decline

    The vast majority of education organizations (98%) expect their AI infrastructure budgets to either increase or hold steady over the next year, according to a recent report from cloud storage provider Wasabi.

  • Dana Brunson facilitates a roundtable discussion with research and higher education IT leaders

    Internet2: Closing the Access Gap for Research Cyberinfrastructure

    Internet2's Research Engagement Team brings CIOs and other campus technology leadership together with research computing and data facilitators, forming a community that enables research cyberinfrastructure at institutions of all types and sizes.