ELIDA, OH (WLIO) - One of the world's largest technology companies is recognizing a computer game design class at a local high school. Our Madison Kenjura has the story.
Meta has acknowledged the work of Elida High School's game design students for their creation of virtual reality simulations for various businesses, including a local car dealership.
"We started building VR apps with the students and decided, why don't we make this a real-world thing? So, it's a little extra pressure and they learned some of the soft skills. So, we approached them and they were kind enough to give us a little bit of their time for me to go take some videos of how they change brakes in the shop. Then, we brought that video back here and basically use that to base our entire VR app. VR is not just games, just like computers are not just for games. Half of the companies in the U.S. are already using VR, or planning to use VR in some way in their company," explained Mark Suter, computer technology and game design teacher at Elida High School.
Through a partnership with the VR platform Unity, Mr. Sutter obtained 22 Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headsets. Game design students were trained in VR technology through a 10-week program and developed simulations, including a prototype simulation for Tom Ahl Dealership titled, "How to Change Brake Pads".
"It's a really interesting opportunity. Especially when in a classroom versus real life due to a professional job. I work on coding for VR training videos, or VR job training simulations for professional groups, instead of just classroom class work. This is more about working with a client instead of doing your own work," said Zoey Riser, a senior at Elida High School.
"It's an incredible experience. I am very proud that I have this opportunity that Mr. Suter gave to me to work on something that will impact the real world. And when I heard about it, I just jumped on the opportunity because it's something I'd like to do rather than do something just learning in classes," commented Max Tieu, a senior at Elida High School.
"It's great to resume experience. I tell them to put these projects on their LinkedIn profile. Even if you don't go into VR development, any time your work with a real company and there's that pressure of what does the client want and whether can we execute that in a timely manner. Other future employers are going to look at that and see, okay this person actually knows what it's like in the real world, they didn't just sit through a class," added Suter.
The student's virtual reality projects have caught the attention of one of the world's biggest technology groups, Meta, who was there filming a documentary on Mr. Suter's game design class.
