PROSPECT — Long River Middle School students last week got to experience what it’s like to have LeBron James drive past them on the basketball court and float in space. No, the reigning NBA finals MVP didn’t come to town and students weren’t blasted into the stratosphere, but it felt that way thanks to virtual reality.

“At one point I looked down and there was a black hole. It was like everywhere I looked there was something,” said seventh-grader Sydney McMullen after using Oculus Rift, a virtual reality system, before adding, “It was like I was actually there in the world that I was in.”

The Oculus Rift system was just one of the new and emerging technologies students in the school’s talented and gifted program got to test out Oct. 28 during a hands-on program on holographic computing and virtual reality.

“These virtual learning and 3D internet technologies allow abstract STEM ideas to become real,” said Rachel Ryan, who teaches the talented and gifted program.

The program was led by William Barry, assistant professor of philosophy at Notre Dame De Namur University in California. Aside from the Oculus Rift, Barry also brought with him a Microsoft Hololens developer’s kit. The Hololens, which won’t be released commercially until 2020, allowed students to see a hologram of the anatomy of a human body.

Barry said he wanted students to explore the new technology to think about how their lives will be in the future and the potential it has for jobs when they get older.

“Most of you are going to be involved in careers that you could never have imagined,” Barry told the students.

Students also toured museums in virtual reality using Google Cardboard headsets, saw hearts jump off pieces of paper using the 4D Anatomy app, and got to see what they look like to everyone else using a “true mirror.”

A true mirror uses two 90-degree mirrors to show people how other people see them, since a reflection in a regular mirror is backwards. The true mirror stood out compared to the technology that was available for students to explore. Barry said he brought the true mirror for students to start looking at and thinking about the world differently.

“That’s what today’s about; is to play and see the world in a different way so that you can use your imaginations for a better future,” he said.

Ryan said virtual learning acts as a facilitator that easily provides a platform for self-directed learning in students. Once they form they questions, she said, a student can interact and control their surroundings.

“My students can now become a part of an abstract idea. It allows them a tool to fully explore complex subjects,” Ryan said. “They can travel through the inner human ear or design buildings.”

Technology like the Oculus Rift and Microsoft Hololens is expensive and likely won’t be an option for most public schools for some time. However, Ryan pointed out, there is plenty of cheap or free options, like Google Cardboard headsets and the 4D Anatomy app, available for teachers to help engage students.

“There’s so many things out there for educators that are free,” she said.