INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
SEU’s IDEA Lab: A Hub of Creativity Picture this: You’re fully submerged in the ocean, swimming freely among schools of fish, bales of sea turtles and pods of dolphins. There is a quiet, cool stillness to the water. Until a patch of sand is suddenly disturbed in the distance and from its murky debris comes a great white shark. Within seconds, the shark begins accelerating in your direction. There is no way you can outswim it but, just before it bites, you remove your virtual reality goggles and are once again standing in SEU’s new IDEA Lab in Mahoney Library. These types of immersive, realistic and educational simulations are now available at Saint Elizabeth University. Funded in part by the National Science Foundation S-STEM Grant, SEU’s IDEA Lab is designed to use technology as an extension of the classroom. “Students can not only utilize virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) but create it,” says Jeffrey Gutkin, director of information technology. “Our AR station will allow students to digitize and scan their movements
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to make video games, and our VR technology benefits both the sciences and the humanities.” In addition to VR and AR, the University also purchased 3D printers and scanners to give students access to cutting-edge technology. Students can 3D print anatomical models to better understand the body, design architectural prototypes and physically produce materials to aid classroom instruction. “In 2005, no one had a concept of smartphones. Now they are how we track our fitness, order our food and facilitate communication,” says Alexander Kareev, instructional technology and media support specialist. “These technologies will be on the same level. They will become supplemental to everyday life, and we want our students to be prepared.”
READY FOR USE IN THE IDEA LAB Prusa Mini and Prusa i3 MK3S+ 3D Printers Oculus Quest 2 VR Headsets Revopoint POP 3D Scanner with Turntable 0.3mm Kinect v2 and motion capture software Raspberry pi and NVIDIA Jetson Nano Amazon Echo Emotive Epoc+, EEG Headset
