Virtual reality is still a new resource. It has limitless potential that we haven’t even scratched the surface of. People can be exposed to experiences that they never would have had in their ordinary lives. It will have the ability to change people’s perspectives on issues, explore new worlds, and learn more about our world. The range of possibilities will cause people to question both the physical and virtual world. Virtual Reality has the ability for us to discover things about ourselves that otherwise we wouldn’t have. 

Over the past several decades, there has been an exponential growth in technology that humans use to make their lives easier and more efficient. One of the newest and most interesting technological developments in recent time has been virtual reality technology. While many probably see this as just a new way to play video games and explore virtual worlds, many believe that the virtual world can be the home of future workplaces and schools.

Each semester, Writing 105: Uncertainty taught by Professor Kate Phillips begins by collaborating with Studio X. Students are invited to explore uncertainty through an Op-Ed style blog post that examines how extended reality (XR) technologies impact our communication, senses, and understanding of our world around us.

While the concept of virtual reality (VR) is not new, VR in practice has only become ubiquitous in recent years. Due to an increase in media exposure, new technology developments, and an explosion of use cases, VR is swiftly becoming an in-demand medium for a wide variety of users. This article will give you a look into the past, the present, and the future of VR, using the novels Ready Player One and Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline as a framework.

Starting as an XR Specialist at Studio X meant that I needed to learn about all the hardware and software that we provide for use to patrons and utilize ourselves in  projects. We have such a wide variety of tools for all different purposes, so it was really cool to work through each device and really understand how they work and the best places and times to use them. For example, I had never used a 3D scanner like the EinScan.

Personal Experience

I first encountered the idea of virtual reality (VR) when I read the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. As an avid reader of science fiction books, I loved the idea of being able to escape to some virtual world through a VR headset. Soon after I read the book, the movie was released and seeing the concept executed in a visual form only increased my interest in the subject. Despite my fascination, I took it as the book genre labeled it. Fiction.

There is a strong emphasis on fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration in extended reality (XR) at Studio X. Over 50 researchers across the UR use XR technology for their research and teaching, and many come to Studio X for consultation and advice in either program development or engineering.

This summer, I worked full time at Studio X. Even though the campus felt pretty empty with almost all the other undergrads home for summer, there was a lot going on in Studio X! For example, for two weeks in July, we held a pre-college program called “XR: Content Creation and World Building.” In this program, high schoolers came all across the country to learn about the world of extended reality or XR.

This past summer, due to COVID-19 distancing restrictions, a UR student inquired about virtual meeting spaces to foster community in lieu of our physical library spaces. We all miss the pre-pandemic opportunities to meet up and chat. The serendipitous catch-up on campus after class or in between meetings isn't really possible these days and poses a considerable problem for community building.

Understanding how experience and exposure to trauma changes the brain could improve diagnosis and targeted care for conditions like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Ph.D., assistant professor of Neuroscience, has been studying this topic for the past several years and was awarded a new $3.5 million grant to use virtual reality and MRI to look into the circuitry of threat, reward, and cognitive mapping in