Amidst the various clubs at Southern Utah University is the campus’ very own virtual and augmented reality club. As part of the VR/AR Club, students learn how to use virtual reality to interact in a virtual world. Through these interactions, they learn how to work with others, test their skills and solve real-life problems.
For some, trying new things may seem intimidating, but for club President Zach Adams, it was well worth it.
“I volunteered to help run the club,” Adams said. “Since then, I’ve been helping plan stuff, putting together activities and making sure everyone knows what is going on.”
He originally helped with the VR/AR Innovation Studio in the engineering building, familiarizing himself with the growing technology. Since then, Adams has had more opportunities to introduce students to the reality of virtual experiences.
“I’ve been interested in VR for a really long time, since like middle school. It’s always been something I’ve been really passionate about, and that’s why I applied to work here doing that,” stated Adams. “It worked out that I had a lot of experience doing games in VR as well since I knew a lot of cool things that would be fun to do for the club.”
The goal of the club is to expand students’ view of virtual reality. Currently, they have 15-20 regular participants, but they hope to expand the participation and provide more students with access to virtual experiences.
“I think a lot of people think of VR as something that is exclusively for video games and part of what we are doing as a club is trying to expand people’s view of VR. Once a month we have a professor that works with the studio and uses VR for their class, showing off how they are using VR,” shared Adams. “Club members get to try out the software they are using. It’s a good chance for students to get to try out something unique that they probably wouldn’t get a chance to try anywhere else.”
The club holds regular events throughout the semester, including weekly meetings every Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. where students can try out new games with classmates. Held in the Multipurpose Center’s Room 109, these events provide both returning and new students with access to VR in situations.
“The director of the VR/AR studio also advises our club, so that way, we get to use the equipment that is in the innovation studio,” said Adams. “We have the student workers from the VR studio that help out with the club as well. They make sure that all of the equipment is being treated properly and teach people how to use it.”
With access to over 23 Quest headsets and 10 classes using VR, participation is inclusive. The technology not only allows students to participate in virtual games and interact with each other, but it can also be used to foster learning experiences.
“Students are more than welcome to come if they have never used VR once,” said Adams. “It’s always fun to see people who have never had an experience with VR try it out for the first time. There is no pressure at all to have any background knowledge at all.”
As SUU implements VR into more coursework and activities, the club becomes a hands-on learning experience for students. Not only does it entertain, but VR can help international students feel at home by allowing them to share their way of living with others.
“It’s culturally inclusive,” Adams shared. “You can do Google Earth on VR, so we have had international students come in and show us where they are from and where they grew up. We could put on the headset, and it was like we were really there. It’s a really cool way to connect with people all over the world.”
As a University Sponsored Organization, SUU’s VR/AR Club receives funding to provide all students with new virtual experiences. As such, professor Aundrea Frahm invites students to come join the club and play VR games each week.
The club’s current focus is on virtual reality, but the goal is to create more experiences for students in augmented reality.
“We have access to AR, and we are trying to do more of it. There just isn’t as much of it as there is VR,” Adams shared. “With the new headsets we have access to, there’s AR built in, so you only really need one place to do both. It’s a pretty cool experience, and once you’ve done it, it helps you understand just how useful it can be for different things at a university.”
With the new addition of a VR lab for the communication department, students have more opportunities to get involved with the club and become proficient in virtual reality. From a classroom opening to club socials, the presence of VR is increasing on campus.
“The classroom, the studio and the club are the same group of people running all three. We work on a lot of that all together,” Adams said. “It’s a very new thing to SUU. We are hoping it is something that people really enjoy and take interest in and that sticks around for a long time.”
Adams also shared how fun it is to introduce people to VR, noting how someone’s face lights up after they put the headset on.
“I’ve learned a lot about how different departments approach teaching, and it’s cool to see how VR can help students learn,” stated Adams. “I really enjoy VR because it allows you to experience things which are completely impossible in the real world. AR has a really cool and promising future for all of the applications that it can have.”
Author: Anna Mower
Photographer: Anna Mower
Editor: Kale Nelson
news@suunews.net
This article was originally published in the March 2024 edition of the University Journal.
