Bowie State University's (BSU) Targeted Infusion Project entitled - Increasing Expertise of Minority Students by Development of a Virtual and Augmented Reality Laboratory for Research and Education at Bowie State University - will enhance the computer science and mathematics curriculum and increase research opportunities for undergraduate students by deploying Virtual and Augmented Reality (VAR) as a research and educational vehicle to immerse students in research and critical thinking challenges. The Department of Computer Science enrolls about 250 undergraduate majors, most of whom are African-American.
The objectives of this proposal are to: 1) enhance the Virtual Reality course curriculum with more inquiry based problem-solving activities and hand-on experiences based on Virtual and Augmented Reality educational modules; 2) develop the Virtual and Augmented Reality Laboratory for research and education in the Computer Science Department to provide undergraduate students with realistic immersive learning environments; and 3) acquire instrumentation to further develop the teaching and research infrastructure in VAR laboratories. The project seeks to prepare computer science majors at BSU to be competitive to enter graduate programs and the workforce.
The grant has resulted in the development of the Virtual and Augmented Reality Laboratory for Research and Education in the Computer Science Department at Bowie State University (BSU) to provide undergraduate students with realistic immersive learning environments. The Virtual Reality (VR) Laboratory at BSU consists of both hardware and software laboratories. The hardware lab is equipped with current state of art equipment such as Corner Cave, 3D Wall, Head Mounted Displays (nVisor SX111, Z800 Dual Pro Ruggedized, Oculus rift), 3D projectors, and Cyber Glove III. The grant has prepared computer science majors at BSU to be competitive to enter graduate programs and the workforce by enhancement of the Virtual Reality (VR) course curriculum with more inquiry based problem-solving activities and hands-on experiences with Virtual and Augmented Reality educational modules. The grant has resulted in publication of 3 journal papers and 18 conference proceedings in national and international conferences. Additionally, the students have presented their research work in 19 posters and oral presentations at conferences and research expos. The grant has funded more than 25 students in 3 years at BSU to work as research assistants and gain research experience by working with hands-on real world projects in the VR Lab. The research work resulted in the development and evaluation of immersive multi-user VR environments (airplane evacuation, subway evacuation, and VR city environment) for performing virtual evacuation drills. The grant has provided undergraduate students and graduate students at BSU with the facility to use realistic immersive learning environments by using the VR equipment in several undergraduate and graduate classes. Its outreach activities included the use of networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube to publicize African American achievement in VR and it will lead to increased public interest in VR fields and help recruit students from underrepresented groups to pursue STEM careers. Multiple workshops and talks were organized at BSU to create interest in STEM fields and to increase the number African American in the VR workforce and graduate programs. Outreach activities also included organizing Virtual Reality booths at events such as International Festivals and USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo for STEM in Washington Convention Center, Washington D.C in 2012 and 2014.
