Now in its third year, the Oculus Launch Pad initiative was created to support virtual reality (VR) content creators from diverse backgrounds, helping them develop and nurture their ideas to bring them to market. For those interested in VR content creation, applications are now in their final week.
The Oculus Launch Pad begins with a two-day boot camp at Oculus HQ in California, 23rd-24th June 2018. 100 applicants will be chosen, gaining expert tuition from VR professionals via hands-on workshops to build up the technical skills they’ll need to tackle the challenges of building a VR prototype.
Applications selected to participate will receive a complimentary Samsung Gear VR headset and admission to the boot camp, which includes hands-on courses to support their passion for VR development, on-site meals during the boot camp and a travel stipend of $1,500 USD.
Once the boot camp has finished participants will receive three months of live-streamed educational programming, joining a growing online community of peers with additional coaching from Oculus, Unity and more. As the programme begins to wind down participants will be able to compete for a limited number of Oculus Launch Pad Scholarships, where Oculus may award competitive scholarships in the amount of $5,000-50,000, totalling up to $250,000.
2017’s scholarship winners included Andy Tsen with Conjure Strike, a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) title which recently launch via Early Access on the Oculus Store. Another winner was Derek A. Ham and his I Am A Man: VR Experience, letting people experience the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike and the events leading up to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
VRFocus held its own Virtual Reality Diversity Initiative (VRDI) event last week in London, UK, aiming to help women, people of colour, members of the LGBTQ community and people from other underrepresented backgrounds learn more about VR development, with a combination of talks from experts in immersive technology and hands-on workshops.
If you’re still interested in applying applications are open until 20th May, 2018. For further updates on Oculus Launch Pad, keep reading VRFocus.
via Mint VR