Virtual reality is becoming a technology to reckon with. Today, you can enjoy field reality trips as developed by GC Professor Dr Chris Greer and Hannah Jones, graduate student of the Georgia College. The two have for the last 18 months been working extremely hard to create the best content that targets a large audience. Certainly, it has been an amazing journey for the two in developing exciting virtual reality trips that offer an experience like no other to students.
With the VR trips, students could enjoy exciting trips to unknown sites at the comfort of their classrooms. Already, the grant-funded project has its YouTube page that allows you to learn more about the field trip destinations with more on the horizon to be explored. The beauty of the project is that it has been designed and laid on a solid foundation.
“It’s a burgeoning market,” Greer said of the VR trips. “It’s in classrooms but it’s not yet widespread. The costs are coming down. You could roll in a cart like you would with Chromebooks or iPads with 20 Oculus Go’s on it, put them on students and take someplace. We think that’s going to become much more common in the coming five years, so we will have the places for them to visit once they have headsets.”
The duo also filmed VR field trips to Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion, Andalusia, the Flint Riverquarium and others. The process also involves the use of advanced tools such as 360 degrees panoramic camera that shoots in 3D and 8k (Very clear) resolutions. This is all in the name of further immersing students and anyone else who opts to enjoy a virtual trip experience. Your tour guide will only have to speak to the camera as if they are leading any regular tour group through an educational locale or a landmark.
The major goal of a VR field trip is to reduce the need for regular expensive field trips and enhance access to desired locations especially for schools that cannot get their students there.