Cincinnati/Dayton VR Meetup A Success
On Friday, February 28, 2014, AvaCon Vice President Chris Collins (Avatar: Fleep Tuque) attended the Cincinnati/Dayton Virtual Reality Meetup. The meetup featured demos of the Oculus Rift, Durovis Dive, Razer Hydra, zSpace, CAVE, Leap Motion, Nvis HMDs, 3D projection systems, and a variety of virtual environments, VR software and platforms, and other related technology.
“I was surprised at how well attended the meetup was, there were visitors from all over the region, including a lady who travelled all the way from Ann Arbor, MI,” said Chris. Â “There were students and academics from area schools and universities, of course, but also people from industry like GE and P&G, as well as plenty of hobbyists and gamers.”
In collaboration with colleagues from the University of Cincinnati Center for Cognition, Action, & Perception and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center TEAM VR Lab, Chris demoed the Oculus Rift and showcased  a few recent projects being developed at the University of Cincinnati Center for Simulations & Virtual Environments Research, including environmental models that will be used for pediatric sports therapy and basic research.  “Many people hadn’t yet experienced the Rift, so it was fun to see their reaction for the first time,” she said.
The event was hosted at Miami University in Oxford, OH by event organizers Eric Hodgson, Director of the Smale Interactive Visualization Center, and Reverend Kyle, host of the VR Podcast and contributor to the Road to VR website.
