Amir Berenjian was fascinated by the world of virtual reality when trying it for the first time, so he started forming his own business which turned into the creation of the Rem5VR Lab.

“My buddy and I tried virtual reality two years ago and were blown away with the technology,” Berenjian said. “We asked ourselves two questions; do we believe in the future of VR (virtual reality), and do we think we can figure out our place in the industry.”

Sophomore Marcos Alvarez said VR can be used to let people achieve goals that they can’t do in reality, including the ability to walk.

“It’s something that can be used to give people opportunities to do things they typically couldn’t do,” Alvarez said. “It could give someone the ability to walk even if they can’t in real life.”

Berenjian said when you are in VR, you are alone and can accomplish training in unique and sometimes more efficient ways.

“When you are in VR, you are completely captive,” Berenjian said. “There are so many areas where VR can be impactful; such as police training, sports training and education.”

According to Berenjian, his shop is open for the public at night, but in the daytime he uses VR to help people.

“During the day, we work on getting VR used in education and improving people’s quality of life,” Berenjian said.

Alvarez said actually experiencing something can help with learning a concept and understanding it better.

“It would be so beneficial to students if we could actually see or live through what we are learning,” said Alvarez. “(When) learning about European history, you could learn so much about European architecture if you actually go see it in that time period.”

According to Berenjian, VR can give people a chance to experience things they have not or aren’t able to experience.

“A lot of people don’t have the ability to go to Europe or travel back in time, but with virtually reality you can,” Berenjian said. “If you are handicapped there (are) a lot of things you can do in VR that (you) can’t (do) in reality.”

According to Alvarez, VR could give anyone the ability to travel.

“It lets people who typically can’t afford to travel travel the world,” Alvarez said.

Freshman Molly Schochet said the Rem5 VR Lab is a creative idea and would love it if VR could take her to summer camp.

“I do think it is a cool idea, (and) it’s unique and new, which always gets a lot of people,” Schochet said. “I would want to go to a virtual reality camp so I could be at camp whenever I wanted to.”

According to Berenjian, VR can help people understand life through the eyes of someone else.

“We have a simulation where you can choose if you want to be a female or a disabled male, and it puts you in a business meeting so you can actually see the discrimination through the eyes of that individual,” Berenjian said.

Alvarez said even though it’s not a real life solution to giving the experience, it is growth.

“It’s not the real thing, but it’s a step forward to advancing our world in a positive way,” Alvarez said.

Rem5 VR Lab, is open weekdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 p.m. 6 p.m.