Virtual reality makes kids out of all of us

Acadiana got to experience astronomy, deep-sea exploration and human anatomy all summer, and it wasn't just kids trying on virtual reality headsets.

The Lafayette Science Museum opened its eight VR stations in June and saw the museum "packed" all summer, director Kevin Krantz said.

And he saw that adults and kids alike wanted to learn more about virtual reality and the worlds opened up by the immersive technology.

"A really cool thing about it is this experience isn't restricted by age," Krantz said.

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The museum does limit it a little, setting a minimum age of fifth grade. That's based on science, though, and the amount of space between children's eyes.

The younger you are, and the closer together your eyes are, the less you would see on the VR headsets.

"The stereographic element is lost on younger ones," he said.

Plus, adults don't want to miss out.

"Fifth-graders come in, experience space flight," Krantz said. "And then for adults, it's just as wondrous."

The museum worked with Holbrook Multimedia Inc., Nimlok and CGI Federal to make the $150,000 project a reality. The Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission sponsored the tourism experience.

Some of the custom-built stations are 10 feet by 10 feet, and others are 5 feet by 5 feet with "really straightforward" interfaces, Krantz said.

Unlike other exhibits that are brought in to the museum, this one was built here and designed from scratch.

"We designed this to show we do have exhibits kids like, but the fact is we're not a children's museum and have things that adults love," he said.

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His staff and others involved worked "tirelessly" to make sure it all worked consistently, he said.

"For something as technologically advanced as virtual reality lab is, it's extremely stable," he said, adding that it has "really proven itself."

The eight stations offer eight very different experiences that cover astronomy, oceanography (theBlu), world geography, an introduction to virtual reality (the Lab), local content with Acadiana 360, the arts with Google TiltBrush, biology (the Body) and aeronautics.

Four are standing and four seated because standing while an aluminum boat and the water of Lake Martin rush by you can be a little disorienting.

Everyone gets 15 minutes per station.

"It's plenty enough (time) to get a feel for it and create interest for the other experiences," Krantz said.

Some of the experiences will cycle out as new ones take their places.

"It's really easy to keep fresh and update the experiences," Krantz said.

Another exhibit featuring virtual reality will open in October. An oil field exploration exhibit will allow people to visit an offshore rig without leaving the museum.

It opens Oct. 19 and is sponsored by LAGCOE.