San Clemente Times in collaboration with SCHS PTSA.
San Clemente High School teacher David Luciani recently introduced a virtual reality system to the school’s art program, which was made possible with a PTSA mini-grant. Last spring, Luciani presented his idea to principal Chris Carter and was awarded the grant to buy an HTC Vive Virtual Reality headset, a super hi-definition TV, and a portable stand.
Using the Google Tilt Brush program, the students have access to include Google Earth VR, an anatomy program, and a virtual art museum. In addition to Tilt Brush, they have ZBrush, which is a professional-level digital sculpting software used by many colleges and game design companies. “This will allow students to refine drawings to the point where they can export files to a 3D printer and see their creation come out of the digital world printed in plastic,” Luciani said.
Senior student, Emma Timmons, demonstrated ZBrush with the use of an art tablet and stylus. Timmons said it’s like clay sculpting with infinite mass. She adds that having the VR room at school “opened up a whole new realm of creativity, ideas and things to look forward to and accomplish through art.”
Timmons, an advanced art student, has been accepted to Laguna College of Art & Design, and plans to major in game design.
Students are able to use the VR room by taking Luciani’s Drawing and Painting class. This enables students to utilize their traditional skill set digitally, while discovering new features and exploring the almost limitless possibilities of what can be done in the VR room.
The goal is to have the entire process of creating and printing in one room, Currently, there are 3D printers on campus but not in the VR room. This resource will likely be accessible to students as they become more proficient working with the ZBrush program.
“It’s pretty incredible to have this technology available to high school students, and I’m very grateful to have so much support in the effort to innovate,” Luciani said.
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