UOIT researcher discusses virtual reality's future in game development

With Facebook's recent purchase of Irvine, California-based immersive virtual reality (VR) technology giant Oculus VR (creator of the Oculus Rift headset), VR is getting all the buzz in the world of game development. Sitting at the forefront of this innovative technology is University of Ontario Institute of Technology's (UOIT) Neil Schneider, Manager, Immersive Technology Services, Faculty of Business and Information of Technology (FBIT) - and the media is clamouring for his knowledge.

Schneider, who is also the Executive Director of the Immersive Technology Alliance, was recently interviewed by Develop, a European-based game development news site, about the  future of VR gaming and what UOIT is doing to help develop it.

"At the University of Ontario Institute of Technology we are developing an immersive technology division, and we are already adding VR and AR (augmented reality) as a staple for our game development students in the Faculty of Business and IT," Schneider said in the article, entitled VR’s gaming future and why it’s not a fad. "It's critical that the academic world embraces this because their students will likely be the biggest idea makers and technology influencers in the not too distant future. The industry should of course back the academic world too — their business future is highly dependent on this community and what they have to offer short- and long-term."