TY - JOUR
T1 - Constructing a campus-wide infrastructure for virtual reality
AU - Cabada, Elisandro
AU - Kurt, Eric
AU - Ward, David
N1 - Funding Information:
Much of the equipment selected and purchased for the grant funded loanable tech pool was informed by VR@Illinois grant submissions. It was found that most of the funded submissions involving requests for access to technology needed either VR headsets or higher resolution 360 media production equipment. Constructing the loaner pool was also informed by requests made through the Media Commons consultations and email requests. VR equipment from the Media Commons became available to students and faculty in September 2019. From September-December, these items circulated 57 times, with an average loan period of 9 days per item. The majority of the use was for headsets (48 out of 57 or 84% of total circulations), with 360 cameras (4 circulations or 7%) and the PlayStation VR kit (5 circulations or 9%) rounding out the use. This establishes a strong baseline number to measure against as the classes and research teams supported by the grant begin to access the loaner pool.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The tools, techniques, and physical infrastructure to conduct VR explorations can be expensive and require specialized facilities and training, creating obstacles for faculty and students to explore potential applications. A gap exists for a trusted environment to develop and support best practices. This study documents lessons learned from the transformation of existing library spaces into VR content creation and exploration spaces, as part of an integrated campus-wide initiative. Results argue for the central role libraries can play in the VR lifecycle. The study presents recommendations for adapting to the rapidly-developing VR marketplace, suggests methodologies for standardizing hardware deployment, training, and application support, and recommends a support structure for academic VR support.
AB - The tools, techniques, and physical infrastructure to conduct VR explorations can be expensive and require specialized facilities and training, creating obstacles for faculty and students to explore potential applications. A gap exists for a trusted environment to develop and support best practices. This study documents lessons learned from the transformation of existing library spaces into VR content creation and exploration spaces, as part of an integrated campus-wide initiative. Results argue for the central role libraries can play in the VR lifecycle. The study presents recommendations for adapting to the rapidly-developing VR marketplace, suggests methodologies for standardizing hardware deployment, training, and application support, and recommends a support structure for academic VR support.
KW - Virtual reality
KW - extended reality
KW - immersive environments
KW - mixed reality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100797483&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85100797483&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10691316.2021.1881680
DO - 10.1080/10691316.2021.1881680
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85100797483
SN - 1069-1316
VL - 27
SP - 281
EP - 304
JO - College and Undergraduate Libraries
JF - College and Undergraduate Libraries
IS - 2-4
ER -