Virtual Reality (VR) Lab

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The VR Lab at K

The Kalamazoo College Virtual Reality Lab is hosted inside the Center for New Media Design in Room 141 in the Library.

Kalamazoo College students, staff, and faculty are welcome to use the VR lab and our Oculus Rift equipment. Due to COVID restrictions, please limit the number of people in the Lab to four people total in a session. Remain masked and clean the VR headset between uses with sanitary wipes. We ask that all visitors sign the digital VR Lab Waiver form. A preview of the VR Lab Waiver form can be accessed below.

There is also a list of available experiences installed on our Oculus Rift device. The experiences range from comfortable and stationary to active and intense. Our staff can help find something that’s right for you!

Lab Hours

During the academic year the VR Lab hours are as follows:

Monday – Friday: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: Closed

Reservations & Walk-Ins

Kalamazoo College students, faculty, and staff can reserve the VR Lab through the VR Lab in CNMD Bookings page.

To book, simply select the date and time you would like to reserve the VR lab and enter the necessary details. From there you will receive a confirmation email with more details on what to expect upon your arrival. Additionally, please be sure to sign the VR Lab Waiver form before your appointment.

Book the VR Lab

Lab Experiences

There is also a list of available experiences installed on our Oculus Rift device. The experiences range from comfortable and stationary to active and intense. Overall, our staff can help find something that’s right for you!

VR Experience List

Art Experiences
  • Art Plunge – A shot museum experience where you step into a 3d recreation of that painting.
  • Dreams of Dali – A product of the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, this experience translates Dali’s work and imagery into virtual reality.
  • Chained: A Victorian Nightmare – a creepy immersive inside Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
  • Infinite Art Museum – “Bigger than the Louvre,” this exhibits features an ever-growing roster of contemporary artists who have submitted work. You could be next!
  • Mirage – The Windows Media Player visualizer translated in to virtual reality.
  • NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism – A narrative experience of a possible future in the tradition of Afrofuturism.
  • Oculus Dreamdeck – A stationary, passive VR experience introduces you to dinosaurs, aliens, and heights. A great introduction, but be warned!
  • Sketchfab VR – The 3D design and modelling company offers a series of game worlds, historical sites, simulations, and creatures.
  • The Key – A story about a woman named Anna and her mysterious past. Explore her dreams to uncover the story
  • The Kremer Collection VR Museum – A museum that includes pieces by Rembrandt, Aelbert Cuyp, Frans Hals and many more Old Masters.
  • The OmniGallery – A collection of over 60 art pieces, all gathered together in one place.
  • The Raven VR – a new interpretation of Poe’s poem featuring music by Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater.
  • The Swedish Virtual Art Gallery – A collection of various paintings from the 1800’s
  • The VR Museum of Art – Two two-story VR Museum of Art features canonical works including the Mona Lisa, Michelangelo’s David, Terracotta Army, and many more.
  • Virtual Museum De Fornaris – A virtual collection of Art from the de Fornaris Foundation
  • Within – This service collects numerous short VR visual experiences including documentaries, animation, horror, and music.
Action
  • Arizona Sunshine – A busy, bloody shooter where you stop the zombie apocalypse.
  • Beat Saber – a VR gaming classic of sound and swords of light.
  • Dead and Buried – It’s not zombies this time but ghosts in this “western” themed shooter.
  • Echo VR – Play as a highly-advanced, futuristic robot in zero-gravity.
  • Gorn – A popular, violent sci-fi gladiator battle game. Enter this bloody spectacle with caution!
  • Hardlight Blade – Not exactly a “lightsaber” but this action game lets you battle enemies with a beam of light.
  • Lone Echo – A popular sci-fi action adventure game involving problem solving and futuristic tools.
  • Minecraft – A VR version of the hit sandbox game, build, fight and survive in VR in this 8-bit style game!
  • Robo Recall – The robots are in rebellion and it is your job to stop them in this light-hearted but violent adventure.
  • Space Junkies – First-person shooter games are a popular application of VR, but this game adds a jetpack for another level of motion and intensity.
  • Superhot VR – One the Oculus’s most popular games is an action-filled shooter and combat adventure.
  • The American Dream – A first-person shooter/political cartoon about the absurdity of gun culture and American Exceptionalism.
Be Creative
  • Blocks – A tool for low poly 3d modeling in VR, created by Google.
  • ControlRoom – A VR music creation and editing software, that uses 3d space to make it more intuitive than ever to make music
  • Drops: Rhythem Garden – Arrange objects in virtual space so that the drops trigger tones, events, and resonance. No musical experience required!
  • Exa: The Infinite Instrument – Set up a series of musical touch pads to create pianos, percussions, strings, and play music in VR.
  • Oculus Medium – This sculpting and modelling program simulates the experience of “clay” and other media in the virtual space. Projects can be exported and saved.
  • Quill – This tool allows for illustration and “painting,” but is most remarkable for its introduction of an animation element in its tools.
  • Tilt Brush – Virtual painting in three dimensions is another great introduction to VR. Tilt Brush is easy to use, creative, low stress, and fun!
Historical
  • 1943 Berlin Blitz – In this BBC-created experience, you ride along on a bombing raid over Berlin getting a sense of the danger and gravity of these flights.
  • 7VR Wonders – A low-fi encounter with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Colossus of Rhodes, Temple of Artemis, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
  • Anne Frank House VR – This is a digital recreation of the building where Anne Frank and her family went into hiding. A note: the use of tracking in this experience may be unpleasant for some users.
  • I Am A Man – VR developer and Professor of Graphic Design Derek Ham walks the user through key moments in the Civil Rights movement in the United States.
  • MasterWorks: Journey Through History – An immersive exploration of pre-Incan temples, indigenous cliff dwellings of Colorado, Mt. Rushmore, and Thailand’s ancient capital.
  • Nefertari: Journal to Eternity – Walk into a high resolution scan of Queen Nefetari’s tomb from Egypt’s Valley of the Queens.
  • Notre-Dame de Paris: Journey Back in Time – Visit Notre Dame
  • Rome Reborn – The Forum, Pantheon, and other structures are available as journeys into the ancient past.
  • Universiv – Another historical/science exploration app featuring Ancient Greece, Mars, the Titanic, and other options.
Media, Music, & Entertainment
  • Anthropocene VR – A project looking into how humans affect the state and the future of earth.
  • Bigscreen Beta – A VR program made to make interacting with 2D traditional software in VR easier
  • Blade Runner 2049: Memory Lab – A short VR experience set in the world of Blade Runner 2049, as you visit a Memory Lab in this world.
  • CNN VR – The news outlet is experimenting with 360-video and other narrative tools to present stories in VR.
  • Coco VR – Explore the world of Coco with a visually outstanding experience that puts you inside Coco’s Land of the Dead. Experience available in Spanish.
  • Coral Compass: Fighting Climate Change in Palau – A 360 degree experience about fighting the effects of climate change on the Island of Palau, an Island in Micronesia
  • Disney Movies VR – The Official Disney VR channel offers experiences featuring Disney characters, Star Wars, and (eventually) Marvel. Good choice for fans!
  • Gangsa Bali VR – “You playing game with “Panggul”, panggul as Stick Drum.” in VR
  • Gong Bali VR – A program that allows you to play gongs in VR.
  • Jurassic World: Apatosaurus – A friendly, 30-ton dinosaur awakens and comes closer to welcome you.
  • Jurassic World: Blue – Explore the island of Isla Nublar as Blue the velociraptor is your guide for encounters with large predators and other dinosaurs.
  • Marshall From Detroit – Take a ride with Eminem and visit the places in Michigan that were central to his youth and growth as a rapper.
  • NextVR – Sports and Entertainment – Go courtside, onto the field, and into the midst of the action for the NBA, fútbol, concerts, the WWE, and other events.
  • Spider-Man Far From Home – Swing high above Manhattan until you confront the latest threat to the city.
  • The People’s House – A series of 360 videos offers you a tour inside the Obamas’ White House featuring appearances by the President and First Lady themselves.
  • TheWaveVR Beta – The WaveVR focuses on music, video, and performance. The roster of available experiences changes monthly.
  • Traveling While Black – A VR experience designed to immerse the viewer in the long history of restriction of movement for black Americans.
  • Vader Immortal – Part one of a first-person adventure that takes you into Vader’s castle on Mustafar. This is the first Star Wars story created with virtual reality in mind.
  • Vader Immortal Episodes I, II, III – A first-person adventure that takes you into Vader’s castle on Mustafar. This is the first Star Wars story created with virtual reality in mind.
Science
  • Apollo 11 VR – More than space exploration, experience the history of this event including archival video and audio.
  • BrainVis – explore real neuroimaging data in a VR environment. Inspect the brain!
  • Calcflow – Model equations, vectors, sinusoidal graphs and other calculus functions in 3D.
  • Discovering Space 2 – Explore the Solar System and deep space.
  • Google Earth VR – Fly across the globe from continent to continent and jump into StreetView for a 360-panorama. This is another enjoyable introduction to VR.
  • Nanome – work with molecular structures in various representations. Great for Chem majors.
  • Oogie – A documentary from the perspective of a beetle named Oogie in the south african desert, created by BBC earth.
  • Pollinator Park – confront a world of ecological crisis in 2050 inside a safe-haven for pollinators.
  • Sharecare VR – 3D representations of organs, systems, and bodily process seek to give the user perspective into what’s going on inside their own body.
  • Wonderful You – An award-winning team takes you inside the womb.
Sports, Fun, and Casual Gaming
  • The Climb – Free solo climb without the risks! Ascend imaginative environments with the Touch controllers to guide you along.
  • Eleven: Table Tennis VR – This simulates the real physics of the game of table tennis.
  • Final Goalie: Football Simulator – Practice your goalie skills in a physically active experience.
  • Job Simulator – A fun way to practice your VR controls while experimenting with hands-on job tasks like being a chef, running a register, and more.
  • Lucky’s Tale – This one might remind you of classic console video games. A rare 3rd person VR experience, follow the main character Lucky from inside the game itself.
  • Oculus First Contact – A great way to start in VR for those who have not tried it previously. A pleasant robot helps you to experiment with the Oculus Touch controls and acclimate to the VR environment.
  • Rec Room – A VR social game, with 4 player quests, paintball, lasertag, disc golf and more! A game with a wonderful community, and lovely aesthetics.
  • Toybox – This game is designed to have fun with interactivity, the controllers, and objects in three-dimensional “space.” Another good introduction.

VR Lab Waiver

We ask that all visitors sign the VR Lab Waiver form before using the VR Lab. By signing the VR Lab Waiver you are agreeing to the terms as follows:

  • I am 18 years of age or older.
  • Virtual reality uses a headset that introduces images and sounds to produce a false reality that may impair my vision and hearing.
  • Risks of virtual reality experiences may include, but are not limited to, injury, disorientation, blurred or double vision and other eye strain, light-headedness, nausea, motion sickness, and headaches. These risks may appear and persist hours after the virtual reality experience.
  • I am free, as the user, to end the virtual reality experience at any time and assume the responsibility to do so to maintain my own well-being.
  • In reading and signing this waiver, I have been made aware of these risks and accept that they accompany the intrinsic qualities of virtual reality experiences.

In order to access and use the Virtual Reality Lab at Kalamazoo College, I waive, release, and exempt Kalamazoo College from any and all claims of liability for consequences of using the Virtual Reality Lab including personal injury, property damage, death, or otherwise.

I am also responsible for any damage to equipment or injuries to my person in connection with participating in virtual reality at Kalamazoo College.