Congratulations to Catherine Bell and Ben Burgh, the new co-presidents of the Athens GGDA chapter!

Catherine Bell is an engineering PhD student working in the Virtual Experiences Lab at the University of Georgia. She works with various VR headsets and the Microsoft Kinect to build virtual experiences using Unity. Last year, she used the Kinect in order to introduce kids to STEM concepts with assistance from a virtual buddy. Currently, she serves as the Unity development lead on another project using the Kinect. This project is designed to encourage kids to develop healthy exercising habits by having them interact with and take care of a virtual pet.

Ben Burgh also works at UGA's Virtual Experiences lab. For the past two years, his research has overlapped closely with VR gaming issues, such as the question "what should you do if someone walks through a virtual wall?" He released "Breadwinner VR" on Steam, a fun game where you have to sort bread at an irresponsibly fast pace.

The chapter's next meeting is 8 pm Monday, Jan. 15 at the Rook and Pawn.