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Best Buy, Oculus Bring VR to Teens at Chicago Teen Tech Center

Virtual reality is becoming one of the leading technology trends, and Oculus has teamed up with Best Buy to bring this emerging tech to students in underserved communities.

Students at the Best Buy Teen Tech Center at Little Black Pearl school in Chicago were recently surprised by Oculus with VR headsets to use in the center. These headsets will introduce students to the possibilities of VR, while also showing how the cutting-edge technology can be applied to their own future career aspirations.

As part of this donation, Oculus will also provide educational suggestions for VR and mentorship from their engineers to students at the center, helping them get the most out of their VR experience.

Cameron, a ninth-grader at Little Black Pearl and a frequent Teen Tech Center visitor, said that he was thrilled to try VR for the first time. “VR is cool because it feels like you exist in another place. And the fact that you can make your world whatever you wanted it to be — I’m excited to create my own,” he said.

The Teen Tech Center at Little Black Pearl is the first of four Teen Tech Centers across the country to receive Oculus Rift and Oculus Go virtual reality setups donated by Oculus.

Best Buy Teen Tech Centers are a place where teens can develop critical skills through hands-on activities that explore their interests in programming, film-making, music production and design. Each center works to address the opportunity gap by giving youth access to tech education opportunities, relationships that help to build confidence, and a foundation for school and career success.

 

Learn more about Best Buy’s commitment to youth by clicking here.