About Us
PublicVR is a non -profit (501c3) organization dedicated to providing free software and methods for using Virtual Reality in education and research. Our tools and methods make virtual reality affordable, requiring only commodity electronics and software. We are particularly interested in interactive learning games based on virtual worlds and on projection-based displays which visually immerse the student in the learning space.
We Provide
Free, open-source software which harnesses a modern video game (http://www.UT2004.com) to display in digital domes (e.g ., a planetarium) and multi-screen immersive theaters (e.g ., a CAVE).
A selection of ongoing open-source educational projects which authors and educators may build upon or simply use.
A Knowledge Base containing information for the construction of immersive displays. This includes average hardware prices, efficient designs and clear descriptions for assembly and set-up, and real examples of working VR sites.
A web forum for authors and users to contact us and each other (http://publicvr.org/blog). We use it to coordinate our projects, exchange technical support, and discuss best practices.
Actively support research projects for public installations of low-cost virtual reality software and its educational uses.
Funding
We rely on contributions from the public, industry, cultural and educational foundations and research organizations. As a very new organization, we are just now transitioning from seed grant funding to a wider base.
Team
We have no formal membership. We maintain no membership lists, we collect no dues, we have no membership requirements, and we have no physical meetings. In effect, all members of the public are automatically members of public VR. We do have a board of Directors, officers, and some permanent support contractors (lawyers and an accountant ). Information about them is available upon request. We will list all board members here soon, but our website is still under construction. In the meantime, direct all inquiries to:
Dr. Jeffrey Jacobson, Ph.D., Director PublicVR
jeff@planetjeff.net, 617-435-0517.
Our many collaborators and contributors are listed in the webpages for each project.