October 27, 2017
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| Police Chief Scott Fraser enjoys his virtual roller-coaster ride. (WAYNE LOWRIE/The Recorder and Times |
Ever had a hankering to stroll the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul? Or swim among the jellyfish through a coral reef? Maybe climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is on your bucket list. Or how about a terror-fuelled ride on a roller coaster?
All of this and more is now possible from a chair in the Brockville Public Library, thanks to the library’s new virtual reality technology.
The library has purchased a new computer and virtual-reality software with a $5,000 grant from the Brockville and Area Community Foundation.
The virtual reality equipment is on the second floor of the library and available free to anyone over the age of 16 who first must take about 20 minutes of training in how to use the machine.
Emily Farrell, chief executive officer of the library, said the virtual reality equipment is part of the library’s mission to expand its reach into the community.
“The library is more than books, and that’s something we’re trying to show here,” said Farrell, adding that the new equipment is part of the library’s motto to “engage, evolve, experience.”
She said people today search for information in places other than books – for example, online or through the new virtual reality machine.
“This is not for gamers,” she insisted. “It’s for experiencing and exploring, not for playing.”
Virtual reality can be an educational tool to allow people to explore places that they could never visit on their own, she said. The equipment also has applications for on-the-job training, she added.
“People can travel, people can explore, people can learn things,” she said.
And Farrell said the library hopes that people attracted inside by the virtual reality machine will be introduced to some of the other services offered by the library. E-books and audio books are available, for example, and the library even loans out fishing rods.
Brockville Police Chief Scott Fraser, also vice-chairman of the community foundation, was given the honour of being the first member of the public to try out the software.
The chief was sent on a heart-pounding ride on a roller coaster. Fraser bobbed and swayed and shouted as the machine took him on the imaginary wild ride.
“My hands were sweating in there,” Fraser said afterward. “It was very realistic, very fun."
Source: The Recorder
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