PennImmersive

PennImmersive is a Penn Libraries’ initiative launched in concert with Penn’s Year of Innovation to engage the campus in a public research project to explore the potential of virtual reality, augmented reality, and 3D modeling in teaching, research, and learning. We believe it is worth critically examining technologies as well as existing and potential connections across disciplines as a community. 

We need your skills!

How you can get involved...

  1. Join the PennImmersive listserv where you will learn about the people engaged in the project, the research and instruction at Penn that are using these new technologies, upcoming events and hands-on workshops, and more!
  2. Check out our immersive production and experience equipment! Or, request a consultation or group workshop in VR production, 3D Printing, Mobile Augmented Reality.
  3. Subscribe to the PennImmersive blog: http://pennimmersive.blog
  4. Learn more about how the project planning team defined success and see a draft project plan for Fall 2017. You can get involved, too!

Why VR/AR/3D?

Penn researchers, faculty, and students already conduct research and instruction using Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and 3D platforms. Moreover, the literature on the efficacy of these tools in academe is growing. We want to document pedagogical techniques, scholarly uses, and current peer-reviewed scholarship on their efficacy to raise awareness and enable the Penn community to pose new research questions as platforms, tools, and conventions evolve. Woman in vr goggles

Do immersive digital environments impact how we create meaning or interpret phenomena? If so, how? Can this impact be transformational?

Why Penn Libraries?

We have and are expanding technologies, spaces, and staff expertise in spatial and immersive technologies. As a central organization at Penn, we support all faculty, students, and staff, and ensure our resources are widely available. For example, we have consumer and professional grade:

  • 3D scanning, printing, modeling software, large-format visualization and display, and staff expertise
  • VR video recording equipment, editing software, and staff expertise
  • VR systems such as Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard
  • AR systems such as Hololens and Zappar