And The Winner Is…
Our ‘Get Plugged In ATX 2017’ sponsors, HTC VIVE, ASUS and Skullcandy, allowed us to give away an entire VR starter kit to one lucky winner. The contest was easy enough, all you had to do was come rock out at our amazing event during SXSW week and drop your business card to be entered to win. This year Yalo was on a mission to introduce VR technology to as many people as possible.
Thanks to our amazing setup crew, led by Mr. Niraj Velummylym, we had three HTC VIVE demo stations running Google’s Tilt Brush program throughout the event; all powered by the ASUS VivoPC X. The VR demos were a huge hit! Most of our guests were left scrambling for their business cards in an attempt to try and win this amazing system. In the end though, it was Tracy Cocquyt-McKernan of Two Brown Dogs Realty who came away with the big prize. Our Yalo tribe was pumped to deliver this VR system to our contest winner, little did we know there would be an even bigger winner in this story.
Tracy quickly informed our team that she and her husband decided they would like to donate the VR system to the Hembree Springs Elementary School STEM lab. The lab was in need of additional equipment and Tracy & John felt this was a perfect opportunity to give back. Teacher, Jenny Soberanis and Principal, Laurie Woodruff, were both thrilled to learn about the generous donation. Jenny says that she is very excited to start planning the curriculum around the new VR system and has already envisioned the possibilities of a multiple headset environment.
The Hembree Springs STEM lab already featured some pretty cool tech, including codable Spheros, a Dremel 3D printer and programable Cubelets, but judging by the student reactions, I think it’s safe to say that the VIVE/ASUS/Skullcandy VR system is the new rock star of this classroom! VR in school settings will become a more common occurrence in the coming years, especially as hardware prices continue to drop and the content library continues to grow. This technology offers so many possibilities, but when it comes to education, this is a true game changer! VR is introducing a fundamentally new way for students to interact and learn in the classroom.
Our Yalo tribe couldn’t have been more pleased with this ending. The goal was to introduce VR technology to as many people as possible, and thanks to Tracy & John, as well as all our sponsors, we were able to accomplish this in a truly impactful way.
