There is little doubt that media technologies like the computer or mobile phones substantially affect our society. But for more than 20 years engineers, computer scientists, and social scientists worked together on a new type of technology – Virtual Reality. Related innovations are now leaving the labs and enter offices and living rooms. Driven by billions of investment from major tech companies, VR and related augmented reality devices become consumer grade technology. And they are here to stay. VR is of growing importance in the health domain, in entertainment, as a social medium, in training and education, engineering, and work-related interactions. VR also enjoys growing importance as a research method to study real-world behaviour.

Studying VR is a truly interdisciplinary endeavour. VU scholars therefore work together to more fully understand how VR “works”, hoe it can be utilized as an effective tool to trigger desirable outcomes, and to examine the impact of VR on our society.

To foster this development, Marco Otte, Chief technology officer at the Network Institute, and Tilo Hartmann, head of the department of Communication Science, decided to set up this Virtual Reality Group (“VR@VU”). The group is dedicated to bring together interested VU scholars that study VR, to increase visibility, to enhance the breadth and quality of VR research at the VU, and to join forces in advancing VR research infrastructure. The VU’s Connected World program, and the Network Institute’s interdisciplinary focus on studying the digital society provide a very good fit for such a group. The NI’s tech labs feature cutting-edge VR technology that is accessible for empirical VR studies. So let’s go virtual! Feel free to contact Marco or Tilo if you like to learn more. You are very welcome to join the VR@VU group and help advancing VR research at the VU.
Feel free to contact Marco or Tilo if you are interested. You are very welcome to join the VR@VU group and help advancing VR research at the VU!