Have you tried Virtual Reality (commonly referred to as VR)? Even if you haven’t tried it yet, you have probably seen the commercials for the headsets and maybe you’ve seen videos of people playing games in VR. Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) are new and upcoming trends, and we at Ignacio Community Library (ICL) are here to show you what these fun new technologies are all about.
I was a Beta Oculus user when VR was in its infancy, back in 2016, so I have been around the VR block, as it were. My Rift headset was so new, the touch controller technology didn’t exist yet, so I played with the included Xbox controller back then. My favorite game to play on the Rift was Pinball FX2 VR, which was a game in which you play pinball in a virtual environment that matched the pinball game; for example, the “Under the Sea” table has us playing underwater, and I must constantly remind myself that I can breathe air while I’m playing!
The most popular VR game of all time (so far) is Beat Saber, a game where you stand in a virtual hallway holding a red and blue lightsaber while you listen to fantastic music. The musical beats (represented as red and blue blocks with arrows on them) fly toward you and you slice them with your lightsabers to the tune of the music. When you play Beat Saber, it is obvious how this came to be the most popular game on the entire platform; it is a blast!
Since I am a VR enthusiast, one of the first adult programs I wanted to host here was “Try VR” back on March 14. In order to facilitate hosting this event, I needed to borrow equipment from both the Pine River Library in Bayfield and the Colorado State Library. To my delight, this program was well attended; thank you, Ignacio residents!
After hosting this program, we received multiple requests to have more VR programming, both from the program evaluations forms, and afterward from patrons walking in and verbally requesting it. Luckily, we were able to partner with our wonderful Friends of the Library group to qualify for discounted equipment and we now have four Quest Pro headsets of our own here at ICL for VR programming!
We are now hosting VR Programming here at ICL for adults (and teens 13 and up with an adult and a waiver form) every third Thursday of each month. Our next event will be on Thursday, July 18 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.; this will be our last general “Try VR” event before we move into our travel and gaming series. Starting in September, we will alternate months between VR travel programs and virtual gaming together with games such as Wander, Beat Saber, Pinball, Walkabout Mini Golf, Cornhole, Bowling, and more. We hope you will come and join us!