CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Virtual reality in the form of Oculus Rift comes to the Redbud branch of the Lake County Library every Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m.

The free 10-minute sessions are open to the public for ages 12 and above.

Lake County’s Redbud Library is one of 100 public libraries in California that have received free virtual reality kits from Oculus Rift, the company that pioneered VR.

Oculus, along with VAR Libraries, the California State Library and Califa, a nonprofit consortium that represents 220 libraries in California, brought the pilot program to the libraries all across the state.

The kits include Oculus headsets, hand controls, and computers to run the software.

The software package features a variety of educational software titles, such as Apollo 11, Star Chart, The Body VR, Ocean Rift and Mars Odyssey.

Library staff is on hand to set up the equipment and assist patrons during the Oculus sessions.

Mark Curran, a library employee, says that sitting down while using the Oculus Rift is highly recommended since the faux realism can be daunting at times.

Researchers are using this pilot program to study how VR can be incorporated into school curricula.

VR can be a powerful tool to expand on traditional teaching methods with the potential to change how education is done in the future.

The library is located at 14785 Burns Valley Road in Clearlake, telephone 707-994-5115.

The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.co.lake.ca.us and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary.