College hosts conference in virtual reality for first time

Students of Lethbridge College, welcome to the future.

On Thursday, the college was the site of “Merging Realities: An Event of Multiple Perspectives.” The event was a full-day conference hosted entirely in virtual reality.

The first time that hosting an entire conference in VR has ever been attempted.

Kris Hodgson, chair of the School of Media and Design and a coorganizer of the event along with Multimedia Production instructor Mike McCready, said the event highlights some of the work being done by students.

“This conference is really a catalyst for the virtual reality curriculum that’s been developed at Lethbridge College in the school of media and design,” said Hodgson. “We have three different programs in the school of media and design using virtual reality already.”

Those programs include games and animation, interior design and journalism.

Students from the Multimedia Production program took a handson role in organizing the conference.

“Virtual and augmented reality are growing at a phenomenal rate,” said Tayla Scott, a second-year Multimedia Production student in a recent news release. “Being able to cultivate Alberta’s AR/VR industry through merging realities as a student at Lethbridge College is an experience I will never forget.”

The conference featured a number of guest speakers who joined from around the world, including MetaVRse co-founder and CEO Alan Smithson, Google Daydream content specialist Alex Katzen and Emmy-nominated speaker Cathy Hackl.

“The education we are excited about can come in so many different areas,” said Hodgson. He said immersive technology can bring greater awareness, empathy and understanding to stories when viewers are given an opportunity to be in them and interact with them.

“It’s a greater awareness,” he said. “You can really see and understand. I think the empathy piece is one of the strongest things. Really having that caring and understanding.

“When you see something on the television, we’ve become so desensitized. This is a whole new level.

“And hopefully we don’t get desensitized at this level in understanding global events.”

Merging Realities is funded in part by an $8,100 Connect Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

@IMartensHerald Herald photo by Ian Martens Michael Slovak, a Grade 9 student at Willow Creek Composite High School, plays a virtual reality game during the Merging Realities virtual reality conference Thursday at Lethbridge College.