Oculus Rift/HTC VIVE

The virtual reality room at Western Carolina University Hunter Library has been in place and open to all students and faculty for several years. It is equipped with 5 VR stations (2 Oculus Rifts, 2 HTC VIVEs, and 1 PlayStation VR). Each VR gaming-level computer station or gaming console is reservable using the library’s scheduling software (SpringShare’s LibCal system) for the authorized campus community. COVID restrictions (March 2020) closed this room down to everyone until Fall 2021. Before this time, controllers were checked out at the circulation desk once the reservation was confirmed by the library staff. A variety of free software could be downloaded and used on these stations.

For this study (August 29 - October 1, 2021), the VR room was opened to just these undergraduate neuropsychology courses provided COVID-19 precautions were met and the activities in the room were monitored by the teaching assistant (TA) assigned to this study. The TA was trained in the use of the room, the VR equipment, and software, as well as the library and cleaning procedures by the systems librarian who monitored its use over this study period. The TA was debriefed after the study period and this experience will be used to form policies for opening up the area in the coming semester. The students and TA were required to wear masks covering noses and mouth at all times while in the VR room. This is a requirement in all instructional spaces on campus but especially important in this area given that the equipment was directly in contact with faces and hands. Silicone covers were purchased for the headsets and controllers to make them easier to clean. Alcohol wipes were available to the TA and students in the room and used on the keyboards, mice, chair arms, and headsets after each session.

A special calendar was set up in LibCal for the times that the TA was scheduled to be in the room. This calendar was set so each request for a session by students defaulted at 1 hour and 15 minutes long. This allowed one hour for the session and 15 minutes for cleaning between sessions. To help minimize the time needed between student sessions, at the beginning of their scheduled time, the TA checked out the controllers and turned on the VR stations making sure they were ready for students’ reservations. Most of the students used the LibCal software to schedule their session so after the assignment period, statistics were collected from the software.