Posts in Category: Gaming
Virtual Reality!
What a crazy thing!
I had tried virtual reality (VR) once before at Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry. The process involved putting on a pair of goggles and then proceeding to convince myself that the plank I was standing on was not actually on top of a sky scraper and if I were to fall I wouldn’t actually fall to my death. Even though I knew that to be true, it still felt terrifying. The only way I could walk the plank was by going down onto all fours and rolling off. Yes, my classmates laughed. My heart was 
racing and my palms were sweaty even after finishing the challenge.
UVic Experience
My experience at UVic last week was not as intense. It was lighter introduction to the VR world. However, I did become nauseous and had to put the device down earlier than I wanted to. Apparently women are more likely than men to feel motion sickness in VR. Here’s a related article that argues motion sickness in women to be caused by posture –> https://www.newscientist.com/article/2115648-posture-could-explain-why-women-get-more-vr-sickness-than-men/ .
At UVic, I flew around Google maps, exploring European castles and tropical beaches, and occasionally shooting off into outer space. It was pretty neat but unfortunately (fortunately?) lacked the “thrill” of my first experience. This time around my VR experience was more about enjoying the scenery and learning about different geographic locations, rather than pushing my physical and mental body to the limit.
VR in Education
I could see VR beingused as a educational tool. However, I did learn that anyone under the age of 13 years old should not use VR, and those between the ages of 13-15 can use it but should do so sparingly. I could see VR being used in an art room to help render 3D models before they’re actually brought to life, and could also provide a space for students who want to work B I G but don’t have the capacity to due to lack of funds, time, etc. These students could build their work in VR and then show the class what their work would look like if it were in real life!
Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash
Learning Code
Today we learned a bit about coding by Rich McCue (website: http://richmccue.com/)! There’s a few different sites that help first-timers learn the basics of coding. Some include:
Scratch – https://scratch.mit.edu/
Grasshopper – https://grasshopper.codes/
Hour of Code – https://hourofcode.com/ca
Code BC – http://codebc.ca/
My Focus
I explored Scratch, which is known to be a more visual and intuitive way to begin learning code. While easy to navigate, being a total beginner with code, I did find there was a learning curve, and I think in order to advance in this program I would need to either spend time watching instructional videos or consult Rich or Val. Here’s a photo of what I did today!
I developed a character, and had a lot of fun doing it. However, I didn’t get around to making the character move or speak. I would need some more help with this.
Overall
I could see this being a great introduction for students wanting to learn more about code, and for those who show interest in animation as there is some cross-over.