Merging Realities event to showcase VR

Virtual reality has become a big factor in businesses’ success in our city. Lethbridge College’s Merging Realities event will focus on ways that virtual reality has helped out business owners in our city in areas like agriculture, architecture, and health care. Digital Communications and Media Instructor at the College, Kris Hodgson-Bright, says if any businesses are interested in working with the college, they should contact the applied research department.

The event will start off on Zoom, says Hodgson-Bright, “We get to talk to five different sectors. It’s a very exciting way of introduce people to a lot of different applications that people typically dismiss as gaming.”

The event begins at 9:30am on June 8 for any potential students wanting to sign up for the Architectural Animation Technology program, and the Virtual and Augmented Reality certificate.

At 10am, the program starts with an introduction of presentations. The first presentation will talk about applications for how virtual reality has worked within Economic Development Lethbridge. It will also show how the college has helped bring its events to organizations and businesses through the AltSpace virtual program.

Hodgson-Bright says the Hamlet of Grand Cache connected with Lethbridge College to work together to create a dinosaur dig by way of virtual reality, “I think it’s really neat that this economic development agency really wanted to think outside of the box, and how they can apply it to their community. Hopefully that opens some minds across the country about how virtual reality could work. It’s just another cool way to bring tourists to your region.”

The next presentation will feature a local architect named Alvin Fritz. Fritz will talk about how he’s used virtual reality in his business to streamline building processes. “Fritz has been a strong partner of Lethbridge College from the beginning, especially with the Architectural Animation Technology program. He’s going to be showcasing a lot of the work he’s been doing within his own business that really ties into the work that the students are doing,” says Hodgson-Bright.

The third presentation will focus on how the health care field is using virtual reality to help train patients to deal with people who have dementia. “The CareGiVR program is one of those that you can practice in a simulated environment multiple times to get comfortable with it,” says Hodgson-Bright.

The presentation will wrap up with an applied research on how to create an immersive project for criminal justice students. Hodgson-Bright says this will help with policing, “Based on what they say, it can actually move the storyline along to gain a greater understanding of training in a high intensity situation in policing.”

For more information on the event, you can visit https://lethbridgecollege.ca/events/merging-realities-2021-impact.