Amazement, Discouragement and Bereavement

Last week in my class, we had the amazing honor of having some pretty interesting guests. We had guest speakers who specialize in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Man, was it cool!! I was in complete awe of all of the technology each speaker shared with us. It was truly incredible.

The first guest was Jaime Donally, the founder of ARVRinEDU, which stands for Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality in Education. ARVRinEdU is the use of immersive technology used in education. Jaime showed us all different apps that were like magic. Within seconds, she had the topic she was teaching about programmed into room. By scanning a QR code, her phone came to life with all different virtual objects that seemed to be right in the room with us. Like we should reach behind the phone, and touch it. My favorite was when my Professor showed us a mouse-pad like mat that you pointed your phone at and were able to project larger than live animals all within ONE tap. I wish I had something like this when I was in high school Especially in my anatomy and physiology class because we could have larger than live organs, body parts and everything about the body we'd be able to see. This experience was super amazing, and I hope to come with ways I can use all of this technology in my field of Social Work.

Our next guest was Chris Madsen, a expert in AR/VR who showed us a platform called Engage. Engage is a fully immersive technology hat specializes in advanced virtual reality training and education. This presentation was utterly amazing. I was speechless the entire time because of cool this platform was. One second were watching a quick video, and then all of a sudden a life-sized elephant walked by!! This technology and the ability to screen share on Zoom made it possible for us to see Chris standing in a room, on top of the earth, presenting to all of us. He was fully functional too. He was moving in real time, and could even walk around. His virtual mouth even synced up to when he was talking! This was definitely a truly amazing experience, and I hope to find a way to utilize this in my studies. My Professor showed me virtual reality view of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. As a Jewish Studies minor, this was a pretty emotional and breathtaking experience for me. We were able to look in her bedroom, the room they stayed in, we could look out the window, and even had the most notably famous bookcase that her family hid behind. This was truly one of the most amazing things I had ever seen, and I hope to find other events and history that I can virtually view.

How VR and AR will be training tomorrow’s workforce

To discuss more in detail, I want to discuss some of the articles I have read to learn more about augmented and virtual reality. The first article, titled "How VR and AR will be training tomorrow’s workforce" discusses the positive and negative attributes towards this way of leaning. This article was honest with its readers in regards to the safety of viewers when using the AR/VR devices. This article reports users feel disoriented after using the device for more than an hour at a time. Users feel motion sickness after some time, but his article states that researchers are already attempting to come with a solution for this. Another point the article made was about the steep cost for the VR units. Units cost an average of $3,000 per unit. As new technologies come into play and different companies make their own version of VR equipment, the prices might take a decline to more meet the pockets of consumers.

Explore an Invisible Museum in Augmented Reality

This article was my favorite to read because it is right up my alley. This article explains how augmented reality is used to view a museum exhibit right at your fingertips. With the use of a tablet equipped with AR/VR capabilities, you are able to see the museum right in front of you. With my new iPad pro, I was actually able to test some features out, and I was amazed! If you look at the exhibit the right way, you will be able to look closely and see all of the amazing features. I really enjoyed being able to experience it first hand. I want to continue using the app and other apps to find more AR/VR experience for Holocaust and Genocide studies.

Light Brite and Polite Chapter 8

This weeks chapter talked about how when emailing consumers, you should always include a signature that includes your name, you position, the company you work for, the address, your email address, and the phone and fax number. Having all of this at the end of your emails adds more of a professional tone to your emails, and shows that your consumers are talking to the right persons. This also provides many ways for your consumers to be able to contact you. I enjoyed this section because I focus really hard on my signatures at both my job and my internship. Here is an example of my signature on my work email.

Cassidy Hoff

Receptionist

Four Quarters Inc.

This week has been a rough one, as both of my pet rats have crossed the rainbow bridge. I am so deeply sad and will miss them so much. RIP Calliope and Delilah.