Tech-or-Treat offers Halloween-themed activities infusing science, technology, engineering and math
Children of all ages are invited to Tech-or-Treat, a family-friendly, Halloween-themed event featuring technologies developed by the affiliated faculty and students of Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology.
The free event, designed to give children the opportunity to learn more about science, technology, engineering, and math, will be held in the Cube, Center for the Arts, 190 Alumni Mall, on Wednesday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 8 p.m. Costumes are encouraged.
Children are invited to experience a room full of research and technology-based activities, including “The Labyrinth,” a series of intersecting circles creating a variety of paths throughout the space for participants to travel. The installation features a forest with hanging interactive light and sound components created by Paola Zellner, an assistant professor in the School of Architecture + Design in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, and Tom Martin, an associate professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering.
Hovering above the labyrinth walls, patrolling the upper points of the Cube, will be the Cable Suspended Performance and Entertainment Robot (CaSPER), an autonomous robotic interactive ghost developed by Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa). Additional technologies include 3D projections and printing, and interactive video games.
Other disciplines contributing projects to the event include the School of Visual Arts and the School of Public and International Affairs in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies; and the Departments of Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering.
The event is supported by the Blacksburg Children’s Museum, Kubo Studio, and Imaginations Toy & Furniture Company.
Tech-or-Treat is part of the Center for the Arts’ opening week activities, which include a special opening event for the center’s visual arts galleries on Monday, Oct. 28, and on Sunday, Nov. 3, a community open house filled with family-friendly events and a performance by the conductor-less classical ensemble Sphinx Virtuosi. The opening week is sponsored by Virginia Living Magazine.
Parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street. Virginia Tech faculty and staff possessing a valid Virginia Tech parking permit can enter and exit the garage free of charge at any time, and the public may park in the garage free of charge after 5 p.m. Limited street parking is also available. Parking on Alumni Mall is free on weekdays after 5 p.m.
