Virtual Environments Studio
The Virtual Environments Studio is a series of 3 rooms that facilitate the full range of experiences for people interested in immersive environments. The first room, Newman 4010, is a computer lab with bookable seats that students can use to develop VR and AR experiences. The computers have a wide range of development software available, and VR headsets exist in the space for quick testing inside VR. A full list of the available software can be found below.
Once a project is further along, developers may want to move to the second room, Newman 4020, where room tracking is setup and a higher end PC is made available. This room is also the place for students, faculty, and patrons to experience virtual reality in a relaxed setting without having any prior knowledge of the technology. We provide the hardware and software for games, movies, artistic experiences, and educational content. This space also houses our volumetric capture system, capable of recording a 3D volume of space and producing meshes of that recording for use in other applications. Reserve your time to come and play or to test out your own VR projects.
The third space, Newman 4030, is for advanced development and research projects. This full-room-tracked space also offers full performance motion capture, 3D spatial audio, enterprise grade VR/AR hardware, and mixed reality recording hardware and software. Patrons can book this space after speaking with staff about their project and ensuring they know how to use the hardware safely and effectively.
Newman 4010
- Development computers with advanced software
- HTC Vive Headset
- Apple Mac Computer for iOS development
Newman 4020
- HTC Vive Pro 2
- Valve Index with Knuckles Controllers
- Meta Quest Pro
- HTC XR Elite
- 3 HTC Vive Trackers
- High-end PC with an Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU
- 10 Azure Kinect Camera Volumetric Capture System
- Volumetric Capture compatible desktop computer
- Blackmagic Cinema 6k Camera for Volumetric Capture
Newman 4030
- ZED AI Stereoscopic Camera
- Varjo XR3 Headset
- HTC Vive Pro 2
- HTC XR Elite
- Meta Quest Pro
- 12 Speaker Dante Spatial Audio System
- 20 Camera Optitracks Motion Capture System
- Faceware Facial Motion Capture Helmet
- Green Screen for Mixed Reality Recording
If you are interested in the Microsoft Hololens 2 or taking a VR headset home with you, they can be checked out from the Studios Technology Lending Desk by making a booking. The equipment in the Virtual Environments Studio cannot be removed from the studio.
- Blender
- Depthkit Studio
- Fusion 360
- Inkscape
- Maya
- MotionBuilder
- Motive: Body
- OBS Studio
- Shepherd Facial Motion Capture
- Unity 3D
- Unreal Engine
- Visual Studio
- Visual Studio Code
If you want to know what kinds of VR experiences are preinstalled in the studio, please see this list.
Studio Resources
- Request an Experience – Fill out this form to request a new game/experience/software to the studio. All requests will be reviewed against our acquisition policy.
- Acquisition Policy – The studio’s policy for the types of experiences we will and will not acquire for the patron use.
- List of Available Experiences – View a list of the experiences we currently have available in the studio.
Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality Development
Campus Resources
- The Cube at Moss Arts Center
- Perform + Experience Studios at Moss Arts Center
- Advanced Research Computing Visualization Services
Software Learning Resources
- LinkedIn Learning – search LinkedIn Learning for Virtual Reality tutorials for beginners.
- Unreal – tutorials for using the VR development software Unreal.
- Unity – tutorials for using the VR development software Unity.
Patrons and users are responsible for the following:
- Upon arrival, inform the student worker that you have a scheduled booking.
- Arrive within 30 minutes of your booking time or the reservation is forfeited, and the room becomes available for others on a first-come, first-served basis for the remainder of the reservation period.
- Leave the room in good condition for the next patrons, including resetting the room and placing trash in trash bins.
- You will be billed for repair or replacement for broken, lost, or stolen equipment. Amount of replacement costs are available upon request. Equipment will be assessed upon completion of booking to determine if these costs are necessary.
- Report any problems or issues with the space or equipment a Studio staff member immediately.
- Don’t leave your personal property unattended, including library materials that have been checked out. The Library is not liable for loss/damage to personal property.
Personal Data and Information
- Studios equipment is preloaded with available applications, and temporary storage space is available during your booking. Long-term storage is not guaranteed. We are not responsible for, nor can we recover, lost data.
General Policies
- Reservations are limited to 2 hours total per person, per day but could be extended with special permission from management.
- Equipment owned by the University Libraries should not be removed from the Studio without prior approval from management.
- Studios are not intended to provide privacy. Library staff may enter the rooms as needed for security, maintenance, or other reasons.
- Library Management reserves the right to resolve schedule problems by adjusting reservations or schedules.
- To cancel a reservation, login to bookings.lib.vt.edu.
- Patrons need to vacate the bookable Studios promptly at the end of their booking, even if no one is waiting to use the space. This is to help avoid close contact between patrons and allow for the student worker to clean the Studio before the next patron comes in.
- Patrons must follow all directives from library staff, including orders to leave the building in the situation in which the library needs to close early.
- Community members and minors are welcome in the studio. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied and attended to by a guardian.
Repeated violations of these policies could result in administrative action, including – but not limited to – deletion of reservations or removal of an individual’s ability to make Studios reservations.
Please note, Studios’ management does not guarantee the availability of all advertised hardware or software due to unforeseen maintenance. Some advanced equipment may require consultation with the Studio manager before it will be made available.
Open Hours
The Studio closes for official university closings and most holidays and breaks. Visit the University Libraries hours page for info on closures and open hours updates.
Workshops
The Studios Network offers many free workshops on various technologies, including virtual and augmented reality development. See our list of upcoming workshops for information on how to register.
Contact
Email virtualstudio@vt.edu or stop by Newman Library, Room 4020
Need Help?
We offer consultations on topics like VR/AR Development and others. Visit our consultations page to see what topics we cover and request a time to speak with someone.
Student Jobs
Open positions for student employment in the Studios Network are listed on Handshake.com. If you are interested in working in one or more of the studios and have questions, please reach out to librarystudios@vt.edu for more information on current opportunities.