The Winslow Academic Center is going through a revitalization and construction period with the final product of the construction being a state-of-the-art virtual reality lab. The VR simulation will be used by different majors including biology, biochemistry, exercise science, health science, education and fashion.
Hailey Garrison, the program chair for the biology and biochemistry programs, said students will get real-life experiences in a virtual setting.
“I think the one that most everyone is excited about is the crime scene processing simulation that we’re going to get set up,” Garrison said.
“A lot of the crime scene investigation process can’t necessarily be simulated here because it’s kind of expensive, so it’ll let students go from the crime scene into the crime lab, but all through a simulated environment.”
Garrison also hopes that organizations like the esports and gaming club will use the space’s updated gaming computers for their tournaments.
The creation of the lab was possible because of a $800,000 grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center in September of 2023 to purchase the VR lab. The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center also awarded a grant for lab equipment in the 2022-2023 academic year.
Ben Bailey, Assistant Vice President for Facilities and Capital Management, was involved in the process of organizing the lab.
“We partnered with Eck MacNeely Architects to come up with a layout and a plan and start to develop a refurbishment plan around how to make that work,” Bailey said. “So really it was a group effort to decide how and when. So since early June, we’ve been full tilt to get it to where it is today.”
The Senior Management Team had ideas of multiple options of locations where the lab could be located before deciding on Winslow.
“I think there’s no secret we’d really like to reinvigorate the Winslow-Brennan Library Complex, and so this is a great first step to bring different kinds of technology someplace other than just the Science and Technology [Center]. We had spaces we might’ve been able to use elsewhere, but it would have been off the beaten path and not as accessible,” Bailey said.
Provost Dr. Chrystal Porter said that putting the VR lab into Winslow would help to spread educational technology across campus.
“There was a large conversation with the Senior Management Team in regards to what is the center of campus, where a lot of the activity was happening in the STC, and then you have this whole other side of the campus,” Porter said, “And so this was part of the effort to kind of reshift what we consider to be ‘center.’”
Porter, from an academic standpoint, is looking forward to the educational opportunity that the VR lab will bring to campus to further learning and help students.
“It’s a visual sign that Lasell is very current and trying to stay on pace with technology as it relates to our different disciplines. Obviously, there’s a huge need in the health sciences because they require a lot of very technical equipment and things like that,” Porter said.
She continued, “But it also is just speaking to today’s students, just where learning can be fun. And this is an opportunity for all of our disciplines to explore different softwares, different educational opportunities to still get the practical information, but add a little entertainment in there too.”
Bailey added how the space will be utilized. “As a platform, this is a totally new teaching platform. I think being on the cutting edge is exciting, but I also think we get to create,” Bailey said.
“We’ve converted a physical space, but we’re also creating how we’re gonna use this new platform, not just for us, but hopefully for other higher education institutions around the region,” he said.
The Senior Management Team hopes to have the project completed and open for the public to view for Family, Friends, and Alumni Weekend on Oct. 18-20.
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