The DET club is currently working on a virtual reality of ACU that will highlight both the exterior and interior dimensions of campus.
“There are three virtual reality headsets in the COBA VR lab. Students are welcome to try them out. They should be able to walk in and out of different buildings on campus all while physically being in the same room,” said Camila Rodrigues, senior digital entertainment technology major and DET club president from El Salvador.
When campus was closed this spring due to COVID-19, ACU was able to use virtual reality to showcase campus to incoming students. Now, the DET club is working on making every detail inside each building part of the virtual experience.
“We use a 3D model software to create the actual chair. Then, we apply the texture through photoshop which is like ‘painting the chair’. This takes the simple 3D chair to a realistic replica. We can save this model and copy it in the building when we need it,” said Dr. Brian Burton, associate professor and lead faculty of DET.
This project has been years in the making. There is no funding behind it. Students work on this virtual reality project every Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. in Mabee Business Building room 201. Anyone is welcome to contribute to this highly collaborative process. Students who have skills pertaining to art, technology, and writing are needed.
This virtual reality will be a multipurpose tool. It will improve virtual tours and create more campus wide virtual games like DET’s “Snacc Attacc” found in the app store. For more information follow @acu_det on Instagram.
