A new kind of classroom: virtual reality initiatives grow at Lehigh

The Lehigh community is experimenting with the possibilities of virtual reality in practical situations.

A pilot study by the College of Education is using virtual reality headsets to improve the learning of K-8 students. The children will be asked to view images on their headsets and communicate their thoughts and feelings in response. Professor Scott Garrigan and the Centennial School lead teacher Sara Heintzelman will test the children over the course of a few days to see if there’s a link between VR and educational proficiency.

“VR is currently unknown territory,” Garrigan said. “It is more than a new medium. You must be intensely involved, and there is so much we don’t know.”

The proposed study can only begin after getting approval from Lehigh’s Office of Institutional Research, but Garrigan said he hopes to begin the study later this spring.

“We have been looking at info on screens for years,” Garrigan said. “With VR, we aren’t looking at it, we’re in it. The opportunity was there, so it was the perfect environment to find (Heintzelman) and other people with VR expertise.”

VR came to Lehigh last year through a partnership with the United Nations to show what it’s like to live in a Syrian refugee camp. Bill Hunter, the director of the Office of Fellowship Advising and UN Programs, said there were lines of people out the door to try the headsets.

“For a period of five to six minutes, I was in a Syrian refugee camp, and no matter where I turned, something was happening,” Hunter said. “When I took off the headset, I said, ‘How can we bring this to Lehigh? We need students to experience this.’”

Hunter said VR is a particularly helpful tool when learning about global events because although it is hard to replace the actual experience, if it is too dangerous to go, this is the next best thing.

Students at Lehigh are also taking advantage of the possibilities VR presents, though much closer to home. Alex Spiezio, ’18, Asanté Asiedu, ‘17, and Nick Zambas, ‘17, created Verta, a streaming app that allows people to take a virtual tour of Lehigh.

Spiezio, who has been working with VR for almost six years now, said he was amazed by the headsets since he first saw them.

“I bought a headset and immediately started using it to make my own experiences,” Spiezio said. “Everyday I worked on it until I made my first experience, walking through my own house.”

He said VR is at a basic state right now, only tricking your eyes and ears into thinking you are in the experience. He said he hopes to see virtual reality that immerses all five senses in the near future.

While VR has potential drawbacks such as nausea or vertigo, Garrigan said HTC Vive headsets could offset the side effects. Some headsets have a bit of a lag, which can cause some people to become nauseous. He said as technology gets better, the lag caused by the headset’s view will be reduced to a state closer to actual reality.

Spiezio said he hopes to see VR widely used around campus in the near future.