Aurora Ortega reaches for virtual stars with immersive art

I think the way I would describe being an immersive artist intern here at the library is someone who sort of bridges the gap between creating something and showing something off. Before starting, I didn't really have much background. I had done some like 2D game design and worked a little with 3D modeling, but I haven't really ever touched Unity or created anything in VR. What I would say is somewhat of a virtual spacecraft that lets you experience different parts of space history. It's these panels that float around which allow you tactically interact with them and be able to grab different parts and sort of focus on them. I was interested in creating this environment that's based upon my own imagination of space, because I mean, I've never been to space, but someone like Michael Collins has. Reading his notes and looking at his experience and what he made from that inspired me to create this experience. With this project, I was able to share it with the library community and also with the science fair. I just thought, being able to see that people actually liked my work and were able to experience it in the way I intended to, I think that really helped grow my confidence and also just show off—hey, I made this thing and I want to show it to you. I think the university libraries is one of the best resources that students have access to, with the sheer breadth of knowledge in both the librarian staff and also just the materials here. We have so many tools that are, like, able to make pretty much anything. To at least be able to try it and try something new, I can get a better understanding of what I want to do in my life and to create something that I'm interested in.