The VRLab is an initiative by Jorge Cardoso, André Perrotta, Licínio Roque, and Paula Silva to develop a Virtual Reality Lab at the Department of Informatics Engineering.
Virtual Reality (VR) technology is as old as the technology that seeded the Internet, or the technology that put the man on the moon. The concept has become mainstream in recent years with the large amount of investment by major companies such as Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and the availability of high-quality consumer products such as the Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, Microsoft HoloLens, etc.
VR has been a research and pedagogical tool for longer than the current wave. It is now a mature research field, but also a technological tool, being applied to diverse domains such as medicine, industry, architecture, design, teaching, entertainment, social communication, heritage, arts.
Even though VR is a well-established technology with clear indication that it will be an important medium of the future, it is underexplored and under-represented at DEI. Thus, if DEI is to continue to represent our many possible technological futures, we need to create the conditions for students, professors, and researchers to engage with this technology from innovative developer and user perspectives.
The VRLab will provide these conditions by allowing access to knowledge, equipment, and experiences. Going beyond a set of equipment and teaching/learning activities, it will embody the very nature of VR by being simultaneously a physical AND a virtual space. Leveraging existing Social VR platforms, such as Mozilla Hubs, in the VRLab, people will be able to meet, learn, exchange ideas, both physically and virtually.
Sponsors
The VRLab would not have been possible without the kind support of our sponsors.
If you wish to support our vision and passion for all things related to Virtual Reality, and contribute to a better teaching, learning, and research environment for our students and researchers, please get in touch with us at vrlab@dei.uc.pt.
