Virtual reality devices are enticing and integral to the library audience as it has the potential to replicate an environment and enable a sensory response within your own learning space. This technology is emerging fast and it is a great opportunity for Libraries to engage with the evolving needs of users in order to maintain an essential service within the community. Hannah, M., Huber, S., & Matei, S. A. (2019) suggests that VR/AR has the ability to recreate places and events that can enhance the learning experience and ignite the ability to reach more people and create a spike in the desire to learn more. This technology allows the means to reach a wider array of people and enhance learning through a unique and enticing experience, continuing the growth of the information profession. VR/AR is an emerging technology that can offer greater insight and user interaction than ever before, thus giving members of the community a new perspective of what amazing resources the library offers. The role of the library is to provide information to users, however with the decreasing need for traditional services such as books, it is important to implement technological resources that assist in making learning more engaging and fun for the individual.
Although VR/AR is a very valuable and enticing resource for members of the library community, the technology is visibly growing in popularity and is beginning to become accessible from many other means. Huber, S., & Matei, S. A. (2019) advises that the 3D objects that can be viewed with this technology exist in privately-owned organisations that are available for use as a free service. It is important to note that information professionals are able to provide enhance this technology far beyond what the 3D objects offer on their own. However, with more and more educational means becoming easily accessible and free within the confines of the internet, individuals may not initiate use through the library services.
References
Hannah, M., Huber, S., & Matei, S. A. (2019). Collecting virtual and augmented reality in the twenty-first century library. Collection Management, 44(2-4), 277-295. doi:10.1080/01462679.2019.1587673