Video Production teacher Justin Seligman has updated his Video 2 and 3 curriculum to include game design, thanks to the addition of virtual reality equipment, which was, in part, donated by a Campolindo parent.

According to Seligman, the class has access to 2 Oculus Quest units, an Oculus Go headset, an Omnidirectional treadmill, and 2 HTC vives. “The goal is to ultimately port, that means put, the games they make onto the virtual reality headsets,” he explained.

Junior Alex Clare, who is in his 3rd year of Video Production, said that the new equipment will “bring diversity to the curriculum. It feels fresh since we’ve done the same stuff for the past 2 years.”

“It’s fun but it’s a big shift in the class,” agreed junior Hunter Markey. “We used to just make videos; now we’re making video games and videos.”

Junior Merritt Lum added that the equipment opens the door for new possibilities. “We’ll also be able to create virtual reality experiences and videos within virtual reality so it does add a new element to film-making, to have it in 360 degrees,” he said. “I’m excited to see what we do with this new equipment.”

The software is “fairy comprehensive and friendly to beginners and experts,” according to Clare. So far, the class has only used the headsets, using them to play virtual reality games.

Markey is excited about the possibilities. “It’s just really interesting to see what the future is for VR. You know, will it replace Xboxes and that stuff? I don’t know. I think that VR is a little bit more fun to play but we’ll see,” he said.

Article by Amanda Young and Kylie Choi published in La Puma on September 10, 2019.