Professor Tech, or CQUniversity's Professor Michael Cowling as he is otherwise known, was at Bundaberg Library this week to inspire students to get creative with virtual reality technology.
The associate professor in educational technology hosted a special workshop for students to explore all the ways virtual reality could be used for fun and educational purposes.
“I run a lab called the CREATE Lab and we talk about using extended reality in teaching and to help the community understand the world a little better,” he said.
“In the workshop students can play with digital holograms, swim with the sharks, pet dinosaurs or maybe even explore space.”
Professor Tech said teaching the younger generation about virtual reality was important due to the technology's increase in popularity.
“VR has become a really popular commercial product over the last couple of years,” he said.
Virtual reality for education too
While there is plenty of fun to be had with virtual reality, Professor Cowling said it could also be used for teaching.
“We also get some really creative kids who use the VR as more of a tool,” he said.
“They might use it for painting and Google Tilt Brush is a great tool to paint a 3D virtual landscape.”
Professor Tech said while some might have their reservations about virtual reality, it was a technology that could provide many benefits.
“I think there is opportunity for VR to be used for education and community engagement as well,” he said.
“Ultimately I think we do need to expose our kids to this technology because it is going to be something is going to be used more in the future.”
