Founders Memorial Library, 71North Partnership
Studio, https://innovation.niu.edu/71
217 Normal Rd, DeKalb, IL 60115

Welcome to Our virtual reality Black History Month experiment at the Innovation studio here at Northern Illinois University!
Are you a student that wants to learn more about Black History and the various inequalities that many black Americans faced back during the civil rights movement? Currently we have two main experiences that manage to capture Black History Month through the lens of Virtual Reality all throughout the month of February. The MLK experience will walk you through the most influential moment in not only Black history, but the history of the United States in general. One moment you will experience the inequities of housing, voting and policing then you will understand the very meaning of Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech. This VR app was crafted and developed by Time magazine and allows you to interact while being seated in a virtual space which prompts you to look around and interact with various elements that show up. Hand tracking is a necessary element to this experience and makes the user’s interaction very interactive, which helps immensely.
The other experience Travelling while Black puts you in the shoes of various individuals and what they had to go through during the green book years of the United States which focused on the restriction of movement while traveling that black Americans had to endure in 1962. Many of the eye-opening experiences shown vary from protests to the most recent incident with Tamir Rice’s mom going through the news that her son was brutally killed by the police. The two interns here at the Innovation studio will guide a participant through while collecting data on how a person felt about this very eye-opening experience, through the means of a survey which will be utilized via a QR code. Before signing up for this experience be sure to register for First steps which is an experience that walks a person through VR and the various features the meta quest headset can do!

Check out our Sign up page page to sign up for an experience today!
MLK the time is now and Traveling while Black Virtual Reality Schedule starting February 3rd!