LJ likes our VR

Library Journal featured the NCSU Libraries’ VR program in an article about VR in academic libraries in March. Other libraries mentioned include those at Oklahoma University and the University of Washington.

In the article, ­Libraries Fellow Pete Schreiner talks about the Libraries’ open approach to VR offerings, noting that our patrons range from experienced users to complete novices: “Simply [offering] open access to our students, faculty, and staff to come in and use tools that are cost prohibitive to a lot of people” helps these users understand a new technology that is rapidly approaching the mainstream. “You can describe VR—how useful it is, how immersive it is—but until you actually try it…you don’t have a full sense of what it can do.”
LJ credits our open approach for the impressive activity in the VR Studio: “The studio’s weekly intro to VR workshops are proving popular, a group of students are working to develop and publish a VR game using the library’s equipment, students who have studied abroad are hosting VR presentations on their experiences, business school students are using VR for cultural competency training, and others are just spreading the word.”