Blum Hall opens state-of-the-art AR/VR lab
By Maya Rector
The new Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) lab in Blum Hall has students and faculty alike excited about the possibilities that lie ahead given the emergence of AR/VR as an up-and-coming field within the engineering industry. We spoke with Dr. Allen Yang, Chief Scientist of the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership and the Executive Director of the Center of Augmented Cognition, who took part in making the lab a reality.
What are your current goals for the space?
We envision the VR Lab constructed in the Fung Institute to be a well-used space for the Master of Engineering students who are interested in pursuing a career in the emerging market of AR/VR. With the proliferation of AR/VR technologies and devices, we have seen many other colleges getting interested in adopting AR/VR in their educational programs — examples include the architecture department, graduate school of journalism, and the university Arts + Design Program. The lab will also become a makerspace for investigators from broad backgrounds to share their teaching and research experiences.
What does a space like this mean for the UC Berkeley campus?
The space is one of the first AR/VR labs that is open to the Berkeley campus. AR/VR is all about sharing experiences in virtual and real spaces. We would like to create a co-working space that promotes the applications of AR/VR in education.
The space is one of the first AR/VR labs that is open to the Berkeley campus. AR/VR is all about sharing experiences in virtual and real spaces.
Where do you see the AR/VR lab headed toward in the future?
We look forward to more industrial leaders joining our sponsorship program, and continuing to offer our students and faculty the best AR/VR devices and infrastructure to support the adoption at UCB.
How did the project come about?
The space was conceived by the confluence of the need on campus to create a lab with state-of-the-art VR equipment and strong interest from Berkeley partners in the AR/VR market who are willing to donate their products to sponsor Berkeley educational programs. The approval of the new AR/VR capstone experience program at the Fung Institute and EECS further accelerated the construction of the lab to open in this semester.
How was the project funded?
The project was funded by an agreement between the Fung Institute and the College of Engineering to designate the space for VR education, and then additionally by generous donations from Intel Corporation and RAVV, a Milpitas-based incubator.
