Virtual Reality at the Clarion
Meghan Quintero, Staff WriterVirtual Reality at the Clarion
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Be an alien slayer, a cowboy on the western front, an astronaut in space, a diver undersea the possibilities are endless with virtual reality, VR. Through virtual reality, one is able to not only experience different scenery such as coral reefs and mountains but watch videos from sources such as Youtube.
“It was cool being able to see something in the 3D format, but it’s not worth being nauseous,” Amaya Esparza (20) said about her experience with the virtual reality technology in the Clarion class period.
The accessibility to the public has improved to the point where virtual reality representatives are able to bring equipment to schools for students to experience in their classrooms. The Granite Hills High School Clarion class used the VR headset on May 9 with the instruction of Travis Engstrand who is Digital Learning coach for Grossmont Union High School District; Mike Johnson who is a teacher on special assignment; in addition to Clarion, Avid, and Reflections teacher Jill Bhowmik. The students experienced the Moon, the Earth from the point of view outside the atmosphere in space, and other out of this world places through Google Expedition.
For some students such as Zachary Boggeln (20) “Being able to actually see with proportion what the astronauts saw” was the best part of the VR experience.
On Friday, May 10, the Clarion staff had to the opportunity to use 360-degree cameras, in groups, to take pictures of places around campus. The cameras used WiFi to connect to one of the group member’s phones using the theta app.
Being able to experience virtual reality has become more accessible to the average person. There are vendors on sites such as E-bay that sell simple virtual reality headsets that only require a cell phone for as low as $1.99. There are also virtual reality sets that connect to games and handsets to PlayStation, Xbox's, and PC’s and are manufactured by brands such as Sony, Oculus Rift, PlayStation for upwards of $299.
The Grossmont High School District has visited about 5 high schools recently with the new headsets. Recently the Grossmont Union School District purchased $20 headsets to replace the previous cardboard headsets. The headsets are black and made of hard plastic with a front that opens to place the mobile device in, adjustable straps and adjustable screen distance. The screen being either further or closer to the viewer’s eyes adjusts the blurriness of the image. For some students in the Clarion staff the headsets felt heavy while being worn.
MVI_6672.MOV“I think the 360 experience prompts more questions than if you’re just reading a book or looking at a magazine, and questioning is really important to learning,” Johnson said. Johnson has his Masters in Educational Technology and was the first Technology Coordinator at Mount Miguel High School.
Due to the new headsets being purchased more schools are asking for classroom VR experiences. virtual reality can be used in a variety of ways. From an AP(Advanced Placement) art class to a science or English class. Almost any class could use and most likely benefit from a VR experience.
“I hope it becomes another way to engage students and to allow different opportunities for learning for students,” Engstrand said.
To further enhance the comprehension of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, an English teacher at El Cajon Valley High school used VR to study the balcony from the balcony scene in the play. For science, a class could experience the solar system and different biospheres while an AP art class could visit famous settings of paintings and art museums.
There are endless possibilities to what can be experienced through VR and it is unknown what the future may bring for virtual reality users. In the future, it may be possible to experience concerts, political debates, sports games, and maybe even interactive movies or television shows. different types of scenery such as mountain tops and coral reefs.
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