ET Lab Provides New Interactive Technology and Learning Experiences 

Creighton’s Emerging Technologies Lab allows students to think creatively through collaborative projects and interactive learning experiences. The lab’s goal, according to Creighton’s Emerging Technologies Department, “is to help our campus community confidently integrate emerging tools into teaching, research and academic work today and into the future.” 

Ziyad Mohammed, a College of Arts and Sciences junior who works in the ET Lab and uses it for Robotics Club as club president, highlights how the lab is a dynamic environment that allows people to learn new technology through discovering new ways of using it. He adds, “I think that’s really helpful for the future of a university and just any institution as a whole.” 

The lab, located in lower Reinert-Alumni Memorial Library across from the Information Technology help desk, features artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) experiences, faculty research, collaborative projects with the Library’s Makerspace and more, according to Mohammed, who describes a few of the crossovers. 

A VR event in which the ET lab partnered with Occupational Therapy faculty allowed students to participate in a virtual learning experience where they could more easily see how the infrastructure of a house could influence someone who has a disability. Another event, involving the Philosophy Department, involved real experience with the trolley problem. Students were fully immersed in the famous ethical dilemma, having to invest and make the choice themselves, which adds a new layer of depth to the scenario. 

Furthermore, if someone is working on a project in the Makerspace that might require more AI applications, Mohammed says they will be referred to the ET lab. These collaborative experiences between departments and labs highlight Creighton’s commitment to working together to discover the new capabilities that technology can offer. 

“I think learning can sometimes be hard, because you can’t really visualize some things as well,” Mohammed says, who goes on to describe how AR and VR are great ways of adding real-world impact to learning experiences, as one is being fully immersed in that environment. This especially applies to Creighton’s first-ever Robotics Club, as Mohammed highlights how the ET lab will help to allow exploration of how AI can be mixed with robotics. 

The lab has now started to offer open hours, according to the Creighton Emerging Technologies website, where anyone can enter and immerse themselves in the new technology, which is a great interactive way to keep up with new developments in the world. The ET lab’s hours are Monday 3-5 p.m., Wednesday from 2-5 p.m., Thursday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., and Friday from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. 

“[The lab] provides a free resource for people to use on campus,” College of Arts and Sciences junior Aidan Keith said. 

Those who immerse themselves in the lab will find themselves discovering new technologies they didn’t even know existed. One unique aspect of the lab that Mohammed highlights is the hologram projector, which transforms a 2D image into 3D. It also offers other random items, including a lightsaber. You never know what you may find or discover, but you can be sure you’ll learn something new about the changing landscape of technology in today’s world.