Steve Young joins Meta to add virtual reality to Atlanta's Johnson STEM Activity Center - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

He attended the opening of Creator Zone astatine Atlanta’s Johnson STEM Activity Center, a spot wherever teens tin usage Meta Quest 2 headsets to acquisition and make successful virtual reality. The halfway is already location to a robotics and STEM programme for kids tally by Lonnie Johnson for the past 17 years. He caters to students from simple to precocious school, reaching 10,000 a year.

Since 2006, Young and his chap NFL fable Jerry Rice person tally a nonprofit to bring exertion hubs for children to underserved communities successful San Francisco called “8 to 80 Legend Zones.” They met Johnson during the Super Bowl successful Atlanta successful 2019 and person been moving unneurotic ever since backing programs to springiness kids a accidental to larn crippled coding. Now they are partnering with Meta, the firm successor to Facebook, successful hopes of inspiring young Atlanta teens to participate the fields of virtual world and artificial intelligence.

“There is truthful overmuch accidental present if we tin level the playing tract and bring entree to everybody,” said Young astatine the event, which includes students from Ron Clark Academy. (Rice had to cancel astatine the past minute.) “The imagination is the empowerment. How galore kids ne'er get exposed to what mightiness uncover their genius?”

Johnson, a NASA alum and inventor of the Super Soaker, present works with scientists processing a caller procreation of batteries and powerfulness procreation connected apical of his acquisition programs. He thinks Meta volition assistance facilitate probe by enabling scientists each astir the satellite to enactment unneurotic successful the metaverse. And the adjacent generation, helium said, volition marque the difference.

“I privation to spot kids turn and summation aforesaid confidence,” helium said. “This is simply a athletics wherever each kid tin spell pro.”

Troy Jones, who runs Miami-based Status Pro, came to the lawsuit to amusement disconnected his caller NFL Pro Era utilizing Oculus Quest VR. He showed Young however to play and was not amazed that Young figured it retired quickly. “He threw immoderate touchdowns,” Jones said. “He’s a natural!”

With NFL cooperation, Status Pro’s archetypal mentation of the crippled replicates each 32 teams successful their location stadiums but is smaller successful scope than an existent NFL game. He hopes to yet make a multi-player acquisition with 22 autarkic players connected the field.