Would you wear clothes designed in virtual reality (VR)? You may have already. VR is here to stay in the apparel and retail industry, says the Bryan School’s Burlington Industries Excellence Professor Dr. Nancy Hodges.
She and her colleague in the Department of Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies (CARS), Dr. Kittichai “Tu” Watchravesringkan, recently completed three years of research funded by a $528,000 USDA Higher Education Challenge grant.
Along with two collaborating universities, they led a project that developed best practices, course materials, video libraries, assessments, and more for faculty across the U.S. to use when teaching virtual and 3D technologies in their field.
“We wanted to create materials that capture all the important competencies that the student needs to have in order to be successful when they enter the workforce,” says Watchravesringkan.
What are the applications? “You have making prototypes of garments in the virtual environment all the way to designing stores virtually,” says Hodges, who wanted the materials to relate to all areas of CARS from design and product development to retail and consumer behavior.
She says that most of her students have some familiarity with VR headsets from esports and gaming, but technology isn’t just for games, she says. It’s business. Hodges says some of the industry’s biggest brands use VR.
“This project was generated from industry coming to us and saying, ‘We want to help you be able to teach your students these skills so we can hire graduates,’” explains Hodges, who adds that the program changes as the needs of industry change.
by Mercer Bufter ’11 MA