A busy summer with the University Libraries Creation and Innovation Hubs!
The Libraries Creation and Innovation Hubs had a busy summer, welcoming future students into our spaces, promoting our resources to internal and external partners, and preparing for the fall semester. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at our work these past months!
Expanding community access
We strengthened partnerships with several groups returning to bring youth to our spaces for fun and learning.
The Camp for Kids Who Stutter, a week-long summer experience for kids entering 5th through 9th grade, returned for the third year in a row to do crafts and virtual reality (VR) gaming as a part of their campus explorations. The camp, directed by speech-language pathologist Erin Bodner, focuses on building confidence among children with speech disorders, and campers are encouraged to work in groups and communicate in their own ways.
M-ASCEND, a summer internship for high school and undergraduate students focused on increasing diversity in the cancer research and care workforce, returned to the VR Studio to engage students in active learning and explore how virtual reality can be used in learning the science of cancer. Students also played games in virtual reality to take a fun break during a rigorous program.
Finally, we partnered with the Wangensteen Historical Library and the Department of Neuroscience to welcome back Go4Brains in the VR Studio. Students explored depictions of the brain, both past and future, looking at artifacts from the Wangensteen Historical Library alongside 3D models of brains and neurons in virtual reality.
Exploring our services
We hosted two events for Libraries staff: our semesterly staff crafting event, and our Bring Your Kids to Play Day. Both of these events encourage Libraries staff from across the Twin Cities campuses to explore our spaces and services and gain a fuller understanding of how we support student learning and creativity.
There are around 300 professional staffers in the Libraries, and with many of them working in different areas and locations, it’s hard for us all to meet! Over the last year, we’ve hosted regular events where craft-savvy Libraries staff can meet each other and learn a new skill. This May, we met in the Toaster and focused on yarn crafts: crochet, knitting, and pom-pom making!
The summer is also a great time for our staff to bring in their families to see what we do. We hosted a Bring Your Kids to Play event in the makerspace and VR Studio in the Health Sciences Library. The kids got to play with new technologies like 3D printing, VR, and the Chompsaw cardboard cutters, while Libraries staff got to see our spaces in a new light.
Welcoming new faces
This summer, we welcomed new additions to our team! Ava is a high school senior who interned with us from June through August as part of the Step-Up program. She is interested in architecture, and was excited to join our team to try new things like 3D modeling, which she thinks will be helpful and interesting to her future career. She spent the summer completing the Maker Bootcamp, researching the impacts of AI-generated media for a video project, and learning about Sketchup and Enscape, architectural software for designing and viewing 3D models of structures. Come into the Virtual Reality Studio this fall to see some of the impacts Ava made to our space - check out our group photo below for a sneak peek!
Emerson also adopted a new furry friend into their family. Welcome Bina, their 14-week-old rescue pup! Bina loves using her razor-sharp puppy teeth as seam rippers for her stuffed toys. Perhaps in the fall, Bina could teach a workshop on how to sew toys back together again… if she’s not too busy napping.
Getting ready for fall
Of course, summer is the perfect time for us to get ready to welcome new and returning students in the fall! We started our summer strong with a week of fixing, organizing, and cleaning in the makerspace, ensuring that we could put our best foot forward for next semester.
Our Virtual Reality Studio also got a big refresh of new equipment! Eighteen Meta Quest 3S headsets have replaced the older Meta Quest 2 headsets. Anyone with library borrowing privileges can borrow these items, and they can be checked out from the Health Sciences Library on the 5th floor of Phillips-Wangensteen Building, just down the hall from the Virtual Reality Studio. Unlike the Quest 2 headsets, the Meta Quest 3S has color passthrough cameras that allow mixed reality experiences, such as 3D drawing and games, that use one’s own room as part of the experience.
Additionally, we replaced the older 360 degree cameras with five new Insta360 X5 cameras. They feature an impressive 8K resolution for a greater immersed feeling when watching your 360 degree videos in your virtual reality headset. Once we get closer to the fall and winter breaks, consider exploring this technology by using a 360 degree camera to record your vacations, so you can later go back and re-live the best moments in VR!
We hope you’re feeling inspired about how you can use the Creation and Innovation Hubs to enhance your learning, take productive breaks, and create something new. We look forward to welcoming you back this fall semester!