Girls Inc. recently collaborated with the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana and the IU School of Informatics STARS (Science, Technology and Research Scholars) to learn about virtual reality, video game creation and production, and using Photoshop.

Participants started off in a virtual reality lab. In this room, the girls had an opportunity to build their own virtual world and then navigate someone through it. Next, they moved to the advanced visualization lab. This room had large monitors that broke down the visual aspects of the virtual world. The girls learned about why these screens are needed and how virtual reality worlds are brought together. The last room they visited contained a green screen.

All of the girls posed in front of the green screen and then used Photoshop to place themselves in different scenes from around the world. Through this process, the girls saw how easy it is to manipulate a picture.

“They got to use Photoshop for good and not for bad,” said Adrianne Slash, program support coordinator, Girls Inc.

The girls really enjoyed the last room that they were in. It displayed artwork from video games that IUPUI students had made. The room showed them that they are capable of making games of their own someday.