Merging Realities conference returns to Lethbridge College

It’s a chance for people to see the latest and greatest in virtual and augmented reality — and it has one Lethbridge student looking forward to everything he could learn this September.

“Since I wanted to specialize more in game design and more technical aspects, I didn’t want to limit myself to just the game industry. With VR, there are a lot more open doors,” said Ken Lastuka.

He is just one of dozens of students signed up for the new VR/AR certificate program.

Lastuka and several classmates also helped set up a virtual and augmented reality experience at the second annual Merging Realities conference at Lethbridge College.

An instructor for one of the new programs is glad the conference returned, noting it shows Alberta, and specifically Lethbridge, is helping lead the way in virtual reality.

“Really showing off the kind of stuff we’re doing in Alberta because a lot of people think that this is technology that you only see in Vancouver of Toronto,” said Allyson Cikor.

Lethbridge College instructor Mike McCready also happens to be the president for the Alberta chapter of the VR/AR Association, something the program chairperson is glad to have.

“Having that kind of leadership here at the college has been amazing,” said Kris Hodgson-Bright, chair of the School of Media and Design.

“We have a really fun and dynamic team… We get along very well and we like to stay on the edge of all of these different trends.”

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Lastuka is thrilled to work in a field that allows him to spread his creative wings.

“Being in multimedia and realizing the overall applications that can be applied to not just gaming, but education, teaching training – there’s a lot rich applications and benefits towards VR — and I’m just excited that we’re embracing that,” he said.