Lethbridge College entered the world of virtual reality, bringing together partners across Southern Alberta for a business mixer on Thursday.
Virtual reality and 360-degree video offers the viewer an experience unlike any other.
“Virtual reality is usually a simulated or animated environment like an arcade game or even your typical Sony PlayStation game, or something like that,” event organizer Kris Hodgson said. “With 360, it’s actual footage but it’s filmed with a 360-degree camera so when you put on the virtual reality goggles, it’s like you’re actually in the event.”
Video-gaming is only the beginning. The technology is already being used in the agriculture industry.
“When you look at a combine, a lot of people outside the farming industry think it’s a unit that you put into gear and go, but there’s so much technology behind how a combine works,” Matt Wright, chief experience officer with Mammoth VR said. “Using technology like this is a wow factor for their clients.”
Andrea Sandul, co-founder of The Port Coworking Space, came to see how the technology could work in her business.
“Right now, we have a video but if we could use something like virtual reality to allow them to experience it more in depth, and someone across the country is thinking about checking it out, great, we can give them a virtual tour,” Sandul said.
Hodgson is a journalism instructor at Lethbridge College where his students are already using the virtual reality to draw viewers in, and create an experience.
“What I’m focused on with our Digital Communications and Media program, is filming in 360 and wondering if … people want to consume the news in this new format,” he said. “It’s a brand new way of storytelling and we want to be on the cusp of that.”
Students tested the 360-degree technology during a mock disaster earlier in the year.
“What that means is not only are you watching this on a television screen, but you put on a virtual reality headset and suddenly, the scene is all around you.”
With endless possibilities, it’s clear the future of virtual reality is just the beginning.
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