MetaCenter<\/a> and the senior design courses it facilitates represent a new frontier for the College of Engineering.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cPeople are used to using it for gaming, and students are having fun while learning. It\u2019s great to see their engagement,\u201d said Emel Demircan, associate professor in both the biomedical and mechanical & aerospace engineering departments. \u201cWe are super excited because it’s a first in the college of engineering. We see excitement from the students, and it’s gotten better every week.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recent strides in virtual reality technology have given the tool a wider range of applications. From manufacturers training new operators virtually to doctors educating patients about surgeries, virtual reality represents a new frontier. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Demircan, along with her colleague I-Hung Khoo, professor of biomedical and electrical engineering, are training a generation of engineers that can both design and utilize VR.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to not only use what is available but also develop our own libraries and assets. This requires a lot of programming, which we integrate into our curriculum,\u201d said Demircan. \u201cWe want our students, especially our biomedical and mechanical engineering students, to get immersed in programming. They aren\u2019t just going to use the system, they are going to develop new environments.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both Demircan and Khoo utilize VR in their research, recently receiving a patient for developing\u00a0a system that integrates sensors, feedback and virtual reality. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOriginally, we plan to use this system for professional athletes, in order to improve performance and prevent injuries,\u201d said Demircan. \u201cThe motivation is to eventually create a low-cost version that can be used outside the lab environment, in people\u2019s homes, in hospitals or in the field.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Khoo, for instance, is hard at work improving sensors that VR systems utilize.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of sensing [the system] is really just in the hands, not even the fingers. So our hope is that we can bring in additional sensors, ones that could detect fingers or maybe even full-body. That would create a lot of different ideas on how we could make VR more useful,\u201d he explained. \u00a0<\/p>\n
These new strides could not only make a difference in life-saving surgeries or military training, but could improve the efficiency and functionality of something as mundane as a cross-country meeting. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVR brings a new dimension [to meetings],\u201d said Khoo. \u201cOn Zoom we just look at each other through a camera, but with VR you can actually interact, work on a product together, manipulate objects, write on whiteboards. It\u2019s as if you are together in the same room.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the first semester in the MetaCenter complete, Demircan and Khoo are excited at what the future holds. Partnerships on faculty research, hosting outreach events, working on projects with industry leaders, the possibilities are virtually limitless.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On September 17, 1994, the children\u2019s TV program \u201cMagic School Bus\u201d aired an episode where students, using the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1818,1820,7,1815,1823,1821,1822,1819,131,133,132,1817,1816],"class_list":["post-223503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-49ers","tag-cal-state","tag-california","tag-college","tag-conoley","tag-csu","tag-csulb","tag-dirtbags","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-long-beach-state","tag-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}