VOA慢速英语2021--美国大学开设虚拟现实课程

US University Launches First Full Class in Virtual¹ Reality

California's Stanford University has launched its first class taught fully² with virtual reality, or VR, technology.

Virtual reality involves the creation³ of digital environments that can be entered and controlled by humans. People use a headset that permits them to see virtual settings and objects, along with electronic controllers, to experience VR environments.

The new class, or course, is called "Virtual People." It is taught by Jeremy Bailenson, a professor of communication.

Bailenson came up with the idea after teaching students about VR for nearly 20 years. During that time, he saw the technology continue to develop and decided⁴ the best way to demonstrate its abilities was to create a full course experience with VR.

The class covers the expanding influence of VR in many different fields, "including popular culture, engineering, behavioral science and communication," the official course description reads.

Each week the course centers on different areas where VR can be used in the real world. The course includes times when students have individual VR experiences, as well as times when the whole class enters a VR environment at the same time.

"In Virtual People, the students don't just get to try VR a handful of times. VR becomes the medium they rely on," professor Bailenson said in a statement. He added: "To the best of my knowledge, nobody has networked hundreds of students (with) VR headsets for months at a time in the history of virtual reality, or even in the history of teaching."

Each student received an Oculus Quest⁵ 2 headset to use throughout the course. Facebook's parent company Meta created the Quest device. Meta has said such headsets will play a big part in a future "metaverse" it plans to build with other companies.

The university says that during 2021, two courses permitted 263 students to spend nearly 3,500 shared hours together in VR environments. The course description says students can virtually take field trips, hold group discussions and even take part in live music events and other performances.

In addition to the headsets, the course also needed software to connect the students and teachers. For this, Bailenson said the university decided to use the ENGAGE virtual communication system. ENGAGE is used by major companies and educational organizations to hold virtual meetings and events.

Cyan DeVeaux is a doctoral student at Stanford who serves as a teaching assistant for the class. She told The Stanford Daily that VR permits people to "imagine the impossible."

Among class exercises was "a guided meditation⁶ in outer space," DeVeaux said. Students were also able to create performances with different avatars and build unusual settings on their own.

Allison Lettiere took the class before graduating in the field of computer science. She said that in the past, she mostly thought of VR as being linked to video games. But she said the course taught her valuable information about the technology that she might be able to use in her career.

Lettiere said one exercise was particularly helpful. It permitted students to virtually walk in someone else's shoes. She said this could help her better understand the needs some people have with accessibility in technology.

Sophie Marie Wallace is a student majoring in science, technology and society. She said the class helped her connect to virtual experiences that led her to discover a new area of interest, "...using VR to improve sports performance in both land and (water) sports."

The course is part of a study being carried out by Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab. The study is looking at how virtual technologies can be effectively used in educational settings. Bailenson and DeVeaux plan to use data from the class to examine differences in behavior in virtual environments. They hope the data can be used to help understand these differences and lead to an expansion of VR technologies in education.

Words in This Story

digital – adj. created through electronic devices using computer technology; not physically⁷ real

virtual – adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the internet

medium – n. a way of communicating or expressing something

rely – v. to trust someone or something

meditation – n. the act or process of spending time in quiet thought

avatar – n. an electronic image people create to represent themselves in a computer game or on the internet

accessible – adj. easily used or accessed by people with disabilities

1 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 quest   

n.寻求，搜索，追求

参考例句：

• Man will suffer many disappointments in his quest for truth.人类在探索真理过程中必然会遭受挫折。
• His quest for perfection is relentless.他不断追求完美。

6 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。