Virtual Reality and Libraries

 

    VR is one of many tools available to a library. Libraries can, and some--like MSUN--offer VR tours of their libraries where interested users can "walk through" the library from the comfort of their device.

    Implementing VR in a library has challenges as well. For expersive equipment like VR, many libraries don't feel comfortable offering it without staff supervision and would not allow customers to check it out and take it home (Ellern & Cruz). Because VR is an emerging technology, not much is known about its effect on the human brain, and for that reason, many libraries that do offer it, restrict it by age so as not to risk harming the developing mind (Ellern & Cruz)

Works Cited

Ellern, Gillian D., and Laura Cruz. “Black, White, and Grey: The Wicked Problem of Virtual Reality in Libraries.” Information Technology & Libraries, vol. 40, no. 4, Dec. 2021, pp. 1–18. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.palomar.edu/10.6017/ital.v40i4.12915.

MSUN - Library Virtual Tour (360 VR Video), MSUN, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwtluUvtG2Y.