Awardee: Zachary Cofran
Semester of Award: Spring 2018
Materials Awarded: HTC Vive Pro VR headset
HTC Vive Pro accessories starter kit
Alienware Aurora workstation
Project Description:
The Fergusson grant was used to establish a Virtual Reality (VR) unit in the Biological Anthropology laboratory. The purpose was to develop a VR environment in which to analyze and reconstruct fossil specimens. The computer and VR equipment arrived in late Summer 2018, and my URSI students were able to begin learning how to write Unity programming code to move 3D models of fossils into the VR environment. Unfortunately, that was the last I was able to work with the materials, since I was away on leave in Fall 2018. Fortunately, though, I will be working with a Computer Science major this coming Summer on a Ford Scholars project, specifically to create the VR environment and develop ways to incorporate it into classroom settings. Therefore, while my semester’s absence caused a delay in the project, there should be very fruitful results by July of this year.