Ever heard of "virtual reality"? Well, my students have! Imagine exploring a coral reef, on your own, without needing to get wet. Or, walking over the surface of Mars without even leaving your living room.
"Virtual reality", in it's current state of development, uses special cameras to shoot videos in all directions at once. Any way a user turns, they're met with a seamless change of view. Just like they were turning their heads or looking around.
Even though this technology will be turned out for use by the general public next year, it's bound to be expensive. The most developed version of the consumer version is called the "Occulus Rift". Including the computer required to process the image and the headset to view it, the projected cost is estimated to be $1500. Several other companies, such as Sony and Microsoft, are working on competitive versions of their own for their gaming consoles.
However, there's no need to wait until next year OR spend over $1000 to experience it. If you have a smartphone and a few household items, you can build a VR device of your own for just a few dollars!
Of course, there are kits available for purchase that include all the parts and only require assembly. We won't be that lazy. We can find the materials list with detailed instructions for making the parts and assembling the devices for ourselves!
That's what we're doing. We're going to build GoogleCardboard VR viewers!
The students will research GoogleCardboard for themselves, generate a materials list, research sources and costs for the materials, download the plans, and build (and use) the device.
Our work on the GoogleCardboard viewers will be interrupted to accommodate preparations for the SRC Science Fair. Starting Monday, Nov. 16, much of our STEM time will be devoted to the Science Fair. However, that should give our teams more time to do more research and gather all their materials. Once the Science Fair is done, we should be ready to jump right into assembling and testing our VR viewers.
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