Latest VR tech heads to classrooms thanks to $20k grant

Ibrahim Yucel, a SUNY Polytechnic Institute assistant professor and faculty lead for the school’s interactive media and game design degree program, works with a student using the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset.

The latest in virtual reality technology is headed to SUNY Poly classrooms thanks to the efforts of Interactive Media and Game Design faculty lead Dr. Ibrahim Yucel and a grant from SUNY’s Innovative Instruction Research Council.

Through the council, SUNY Poly and Dr. Yucel have been awarded a $20,000 Innovative Instruction Technology Grant (IITG) for the Immersive Augmented Reality Classroom Project – an effort to incorporate the latest in augmented and virtual reality headsets into a variety of classrooms.

“The first subject area we are exploring is anatomy, and using devices such as the Microsoft Hololens and HTC Vive to provide detailed 3D bodies to students who would have to rely on plastic models or flat 2D images in the past,” Dr. Yucel explains. “We plan to study the technologies’ effectiveness and make more general purpose educational tools for this hardware. I hope the “ARC” will allow students to interact with the computing interfaces of the future and give them the opportunity to innovate in a new design space.”

Funding from this award will go toward more headsets and development costs of the software.

IITG is a competitive grants program open to faculty and support staff across the SUNY system and all disciplines. IITG encourages development of innovations that meet SUNY’s transformative vision. Grant recipients openly share their project outcomes, enabling SUNY colleagues to replicate and build upon an innovation.

The Interactive Media and Game Design (IMGD) program continues to build constant momentum since it was approved in Summer 2016 by the New York State Education Department and the State University of New York. The Bachelor of Science degree program welcomes its first full freshman class this Fall 2017 semester, with 44 freshmen and 9 transfer students enrolled.

The addition of the IMGD program to SUNY Poly curriculum came in response to the continued growth of the gaming and interactive media industry and addresses the increasing demand for skilled workers who can maintain that growth.

As part of the program, students choose one of three concentrations: Interactive Design; Business, Marketing and Entrepreneurship; and Asset Production. Students learn how to successfully create, deliver and market interactive content and gaming entertainment through hands-on research and development opportunities. Potential career options include lead designers, concept artists, scriptwriters, and project managers, among others.

“Our program is in a terrific position to expand the boundaries of interactive media & game design,” said Dr. Andrew Russell, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. “The program is very well aligned with industry partners, and we are also have  applied learning initiatives with local K-12 schools as well as partners in health care and other fields. With new facilities under construction, and such strong interest from students, industry, and community partners, we feel like we’re taking the first steps into an exciting and dynamic new field.”