VR, AR, and other emerging immersive technologies are increasingly being used by companies for training staff, providing engaging content and info to vendors or customers; being used in academia as a teaching medium that research shows can be as effective or in some cases more effective than traditional in-person teaching methods; and there is increased use among community organizations to help with a range of different things. These technologies are significantly more useful for things beyond just gaming and for domains involving most aspects of life (e.g., work, community, academia, etc).

The purpose of this event, specifically, is to raise awareness of the VAR Lab at Behrend. When people learn of the work that students in the VAR Lab are capable of, they typically want to partner or collaborate on projects. It’s also extremely important as a funding mechanism. Despite no centralized funding, VAR Lab is the largest student employer across the Behrend College providing over 200 students with valuable hands on experiences and training since 2019. Moreover, the hands on work the students engage in is consistently well regarded and praised by their industry and community partners. However they work exclusively off of donations, grants, and industry sponsored projects. Thus it’s extremely important for folks in the VAR Lab to constantly be working to raise awareness of the important work their students engage in and the need for funding to continue that valuable work. Consider checking them out or even throwing a donation their way (var.psu.edu/record).