Grant will support virtual reality for architecture students A U.S. Department of Education grant is helping Mississippi State incorporate virtual reality technology into its architecture curriculum. Three years ago, students at Mississippi State's School of Architecture became among the first in the nation required to use laptop computers as a part of their curriculum. Now, the architecture school is believed to be the first in the world to integrate virtual reality technology into undergraduate courses.
Virtual reality enables students to experience their designs as three-dimensional visual imagery.
Using specially designed equipment and sophisticated computer programs, they can walk through a building they have designed as though it had already been built. The sensation is that of being totally surrounded by the image. Virtual reality is one of the possibilities that will be an ongoing part of our curriculum. The technology brings students closer in touch with their mental images of buildings and what they draw using traditional media. It allows them to more fully externalize these images.