Get your headsets ready! Which Virtual Reality headset best suits your library?

According to Goldman Sachs (2016), Virtual and Augmented Reality is fast becoming the “…next computing platform…” and could ultimately change the way areas such as education, healthcare, and retail are delivered. Providing access to emerging technologies and resources that may be required by our library clients, such as these, should always be a key priority for a modern library. If clients ask to use a Virtual or Augmented Reality headset we need to have one ready to offer them. The question is, which headset should we provide? There are a number of headset options (also referred to as head-mounted displays, HMDs) available for Virtual Reality purposes. For example, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift (Facebook), GearVR (Samsung), PlayStation VR (Sony), and Google Cardboard. Some headsets require an expensive gaming PC, or a gaming console, whilst others require a mobile device. And these are just the Virtual Reality headsets, the Augmented and Mixed Reality headsets are additional resources for a library to explore and consider. It ultimately depends upon the type of Virtual and Augmented Reality content a library wants to provide, as well as their budget, and client needs. In 2017 a research project between QUT Library and ProQuest entitled Virtual Reality Content in Higher Education Curriculum identified Virtual Reality resources, content and their application within Higher Education. The project team explored and compared the numerous headsets that were available, and this proposed ePoster would provide an overview of the various headsets available, and how they each may be suited to a library. The ePoster will embed Virtual and Augmented Reality features within the digital images to demonstrate some of emerging technology resources potentially being used by library clients. Goldman Sachs. (2016). Virtual and augmented reality: understanding the race for the next computing platform [Report]. Retrieved from http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/pages/technology-driving-innovation-folder/virtual-and-augmented-reality/report.pd