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Years ago, a space exploration documentary was watched by a young and curious mind. The experience proved to be life-changing and would instill purpose into Mary Spio, who would eventually become a space engineer. Her heart longed to one day walk on the moon and with the help of an Oculus headset, her dream came true. Now, Spio has become a huge contributor to the shift in innovation and technologies within the movie industry and beyond. She wants to imprint hope and purpose into the next generation of changemakers by making virtual reality accessible globally. “I always go back to this documentary that had me thinking about what if and then led to me creating industry-changing technologies today that have already impacted the lives of so many and multiple generations thereafter. I just want to make these technologies more accessible,” Spio said exclusively to AfroTech.
Oakland-based tech training program Gameheads has teamed up with some notable partners to launch a game design certificate program at Cal State East Bay this spring. According to a press release, the new program will be hosted through the university’s art and continuing education departments. In partnership with Unity, Oculus from Facebook and Niantic, East Bay’s game design certificate program specifically wants to attract students of color and low income students to participate. “This certificate program is a game changer in breaking down barriers to the tech industry that our students have faced for too long, and it’s possible because of industry leaders like Oculus, Unity and Niantic,” said Gameheads Executive Director Damon Packwood in a statement. “We thank them for helping create true diversity in tech.” Packwood said Gameheads has been committed to providing minority students with more tech education opportunities. This new program at East Bay will be co-taught by game...
Though concert halls are closed and artists have stopped touring, you can still get a front-row seat to some amazing musical experiences. TIDAL has partnered with Facebook’s virtual reality platform Oculus “to bring live, immersive, and intimate music performances straight into people’s homes,” the press release says. Oculus Quest headsets, much like Facebook, help connect people with each other and the world through innovative, world-class VR hardware and software. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Meta Quest (@metaquest) The global music streaming service and social media titan wants fans to feel like they’re standing in the crowd at exclusive performances with VR, high-quality audio, and 2D video. The concerts will be available via virtual reality in the Venues app (found in the Oculus Quest) and in 2D video and high-quality audio in TIDAL. “At a time when livestreamed performances are seen as the new norm, TIDAL’s partnership with Oculus provides music lovers an...
On Thursday, Walmart announced that it will begin using virtual reality headsets to train its employees in compliance, customer service and new technology. Walmart has partnered with Oculus , to provide headsets to each of its retail stores. Each headset costs $199 and Walmart will provide nearly 17,000 of them to stores across the U.S. Employees in all departments will be required to go through the VR training. “The great thing about VR is its ability to make learning experiential,” said Andy Trainor, Walmart’s senior director of Walmart U.S. Academies. “We’ve also seen that VR training boosts confidence and retention while improving test scores 10 to 15 percent – even those associates who simply watched others experience the training saw the same retention boosts.” Walmart plans to provide four headsets to each of its Walmart supercenters and two units to every Neighborhood Market and discount store.