This Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) resource guide is intended to supplement LIBytes, the dedicated space in NIE Library for exploring immersive technologies, robotics and artificial intelligent robots.
Here you will find a basic introduction to VR and AR, information about the VR and AR services currently available at LIBytes, and educational resources for you to learn more.
LIBytes includes a work space for individuals or groups utilizing Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technologies, including:
At LIBytes you can...
If you'd like to schedule a VR or AR session in the NIE Library's LIBytes, or you have any questions on VR or AR, please contact the Digital Library Services team at 6219-6151 or 6219-6118. You may also book a consultation session here.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated experience that allows the user to be immersed in and/or interact with a virtual environment. Watch the video below to learn more.
Virtual reality (VR) allows in-depth interaction with digital environments. Using game-building technologies such as real-time rendering, it is possible to create responsive digital environments to enhance teaching, learning, and entertainment. Spatial and immersive technologies include head mounted displays, body-tracking cameras, holographic projectors and other controllers.
VR can include:
Augmented Reality (AR) grafts an added layer of information over the real world. AR experiences vary, but all share the premise that the viewer will use some sort of in-between device to overlay material on the environment around them. Typically, a mobile phone or tablet with rear facing camera is called into service as a window into an AR-enhanced space. Applications of AR can include placing furniture inside one’s home, making a picture or poster come alive, trapping digital monsters in a game scenario, measuring items simply by pointing at their edges and the like.
A 360° photo or video is an image that covers 360 degrees of view. This can be achieved by using a 360° video camera such as the Insta360 One X which NIE currently has (from IN-Learning). 360° video cameras capture overlapping fields of view using multiple lenses. Using special software, the different views are stitched together and typically stored in a rectangular frame called an equirectangular projection.
Check out this video produced for The Lion King by Total Cinema 360.
You can use “click and drag” to experience every angle, from backstage to the top of Pride Rock. Unlike most virtual reality captures of landscapes, sporting events or concerts, The Lion King’s allows viewers to experience “Circle of Life” from the actors’ point of view and see activity otherwise invisible to an audience. The camera allows viewers – in a seamless 360° sweep – to experience the number from within it, completely surrounded by the 31 cast members onstage, Julie Taymor’s eye-popping puppets and masks, the audience seated in the Minskoff Theatre auditorium, set pieces flying in from above and actors emerging from two floors below the stage as Pride Rock rises up to present Mufasa, Rafiki and baby Simba. The virtual reality technology enables viewers to choose where to look at every point, inviting repeat viewings of the video to take in every possible vantage point.