Virtual Reality (VR) Lab

The VR lab has open hours which vary each semester, as they are run by our VR Lab Student Assistants, who are here to help you use our VR lab equipment and ensure your safety. Be sure to check this page or our instagram to keep up to date on our open hours. We do not hold open hours during the summer or winter sessions, but we are available to reserve a time for events/groups. 

VR Lab Spring 2025 Open Hours

• SUNDAYS

  • 1:00PM - 3:00PM

• WEDNESDAYS

  • 4:00PM - 6:00PM

• THURSDAYS

  • 4:00PM - 6:00PM

• FRIDAYS

  • 2:00PM - 6:30PM

You don't need an appointment or to register to come to our open hours. Just stop in and play our many VR games or use our VR educational tools. 

Policies

1. The VR lab is available to all Bryant University students, faculty and staff
2. The VR lab may be available to use by outside organizations for events/retreats. Please contact Laura Kohl to discuss.
3. Everyone using the VR lab must read and sign our Health and Safety Waiver before using the VR equipment (you only need to do this once).
4. Faculty looking to reserve the VR lab for a class must request a time two weeks in advance of your requested date. 
5. Any student, staff or faculty group, club or organization looking to reserve a time to use the VR lab for an event must request a time two weeks in advance of your requested date.
6. Food and Drink are allowed in the VR lab, but MUST remain on the tables away from the equipment, whether in open hours or a reserved event.

Health and Safety 

1. Be sure to fill out our Health and Safety Waiver before use of any equipment
2. Be aware of cables during use of the Oculus Rift S.
3. Be aware of others using the VR equipment when you are not using the equipment yourself. You are to move out of their way, as they cannot see you while in VR.
4. Make certain the controllers are secured to your wrists and stay within the boundary grid during use.
5. If you feel nausea or discomfort, take the headset off and sit down.
6. Like other gaming products that produce light flashing visual effects, the VR headset may trigger epileptic seizures, fainting or dizziness, even if you have no history of these conditions.
7. Consult your doctor before using the VR equipment if you have a pre-existing medical condition (e.g. heart ailment, anxiety disorders, or PTSD).

The main goal of Bryant University's VR lab is to integrate emerging technologies with higher education, and to foster creative and innovative learning experiences. We have provided several classes with immersive environments that bring history and differing perspectives to life, interactive music experiences, as well as creative team-building puzzle solving activities. 

If you are a faculty member who would like to incorporate VR into your curriculum, please reach out to your library liaison, or one of the VR lab staff members, Laura Kohl and Lynn Perri. 

Below are some VR programs that we are currently using in various Bryant University classes that showcase the impact of virtual reality in education. If you are a faculty member that is interested in using VR in your class, please take a look at the programs we already use. We will work with you to find a program that suits your curriculum, even if it is one we don't use currently, so please reach out to us with an idea of what you would like your students to learn, and we can research VR programs that would effectively suit the needs of your class.

VR Programs Used in Multiple Departments

• Google Earth VR
  • From history classes, anthropology classes to sociology classes, we have used GoogleEarth VR to put students directly in the location of an area they're currently studying, or to explore a country that they've never seen before.
• Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
  • This is a puzzle solving team building exercise that has been used in introductory classes of business, management, and student success classes to get students interacting and collaborating with one another in order to successfully disarm a cartoon bomb.

• VR for Good

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  VR Programs Used in Specific Classes/Departments

• PsyTech VR
  • This is a program used for Psychology (Class#) that is designed to work as an exposure therapy tool within a curriculum teaching students how to help patients in a therapy setting. 
• Ovation VR
  • This is a program used in (Public Speaking class) where students perform a speech in VR in front of an audience that will react positively or negatively depending on different factors. Students can also use this to practice interviewing for a job with AI interviewers. 
• Beat Saber and Kizuna AI "Touch the Beat" 
  • These are fun rhythm games that have been used in ACI (#) that get students performing precise actions in accordance with the rhythm of the songs playing in VR.