As part of career guidance work with schoolchildren in this year's November-December, the Institute of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science of Tula State University is implementing an intensive course ‘VR and AR-technologies’.

The aim of the course is to study theoretical bases of formation of virtual spaces (VR-technologies) and augmented reality spaces (AR-technologies) for professional spheres of activity, and also to get practical skills of creation of separate objects for VR and AR-spaces. 

The intensivists are students of grades 8-11 of Education Centres № 4, 7, 14, 36 and 58.

The course includes six thematic blocks dedicated to introduction to VR and AR-technologies, gameplay development, sound overlay, programming, testing, release, building a map of virtual space in the application area, creating three-dimensional graphics and animation using the programme ‘Blender 3D’, educational technology ‘CoSpaces Edu’, creating objects and your own VR-project, working with panoramic cameras and computer graphics.

Classes are held once a week. They are led by Roman Sudakov, a fourth-year student of Computer Science and Informatics, under the guidance of teachers from the Institute of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. 

- Today, on the sixth of November, we have the second session of the intensives. Students are getting acquainted with the Blender software for 3D-modelling, animation and visualisation, - he said. - The children are enthusiastic, so it is a pleasure to work with them.

Yaroslav Drozdov studies in the 9-th ‘A’ class of Education Centre № 36. He learnt about the Intensive from his computer science teacher Tatyana Alexeyevna Solovyova, who works as an engineer at the Department of Computational Mechanics and Mathematics at Tula State University.

- Since I am interested in programming and 3D modelling, I decided to go for sure. I have only positive impressions from the first class. It's always great to learn something new! Besides, they pay attention to each of us and explain everything in detail,’ said Yaroslav. - I am going to enrol for a speciality in the S.I. Mosin Technical College of Tula State University. And then I'm going to get a higher education at our university.

Tatyana Krikunkova

Photographs by Mikhail Gindin