Virtual reality is a technology that uses headsets to create a visually immersive environment that simulates a unique or unusual experience. The Incline Village Library offers demonstrations of this technology twice a month during Virtual Reality Studio. Register to use one of three different VR headsets and experience that month’s featured educational or cultural app. Then choose from a library of games and other fun experiences.
This month to celebrate Heart Health Month, VR Studio will feature Organon VR Anatomy, an interactive human anatomy application. In this experience, you enter a virtual lab and explore different human body systems including the skeletal, muscular, and cardiovascular systems. Use a hand controller to select, rotate, and examine the heart and other parts of the body up close.
Virtual reality can transport you to a world that is extreme, far away, or otherwise inaccessible. Become a photojournalist kayaking through the Antarctic Ocean in National Geographic Explore VR or float through zero gravity as you move through the International Space Station. The Dat So La Lee Virtual Museum is an experience developed by the @Reality Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno and features the woven baskets of this Washo craftswoman. Unlike many museums, in this experience you can pick up and look at the priceless artifacts.
The library has three different VR headsets including the Oculus GO (headset and one hand controller), the Oculus Quest (headset and two hand controllers), and the HTC Vive (tethered headset and two hand controllers). These sets are provided through grants from Rotary of Tahoe-Incline and the Friends of Washoe County Library. The sets may be used sitting or standing and a librarian is present to help you get started and to supervise.
Other fun experiences include Beat Saber where you use light sabers to smash illuminated blocks to a rhythmic soundtrack. Job Simulator is a fun and silly look at the experience of real-world jobs. Enter the Star Wars universe and hone your Jedi skills in Vader Immortal.
Registration is required and a waiver must be signed to attend VR Studio. Masks are also required at all times. Please do not attend if you feel sick and stop using virtual reality if you become sick. Each headset is used once per VR Studio session and is then disinfected and not used again for 72 hours.
To register visit the Incline Village Library’s calendar of events