![Africa VR Campus and Center Co-Founder and Associate Director Tom Nickel smiles against a Zoom background of a Cambodian village.](https://twomaverix.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Tom-Nickel-1024x572.jpg)
“Once we work together on projects,…we see that the differences between us aren’t that great,’ says Africa VR Campus and Center Co-founder and Associate Director Dr. Tom Nickel.
His vision? To empower people from all over the world, towards a better future.
Tom’s work with Africa VR Campus and Center has been key to their outreach to students, covered in our earlier interviews with Founder/CEO Paul Simon Waiyaki and XR Girls Founder Diana Njeri.
Based in Seattle, Washington, he is both Chief Visionary at My VR Projects, as well as Executive Director for Continuing Education at Alliant International University.
“I’ve always been a media guy,” he says.
His media expertise led directly to his involvement with Africa VR Campus and Center.
Tom hosts street art events for social good, creating environments on Wednesdays, middays, in Engage VR. In VRChat, Tom co-hosts a virtual weekly meetup, “Death Q & A”, with Ryan Astheimer, where participants share their feelings on mortality. And on Engage, he also hosts “Saying Goodbye”, a group session in which participants discuss the ways they’re dealing with loss.
Tom talked about his experiences, offered a closer look at creating events in virtual reality and issued an invitation for anyone who hasn’t yet experienced VR, to come and find out more.
On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:
- Tom’s introduction into creating virtual reality professionally;
- How he first met Waiyaki during an event in the metaverse;
- How Africa VR Campus and Center grew and evolved;
- The growth of the cohort;
- The future vision for the program;
- Tom’s role in the growth of the organization;
- What’s involved in connecting people for VR events;
- Tom’s vision for a more positive metaverse;
- How to get involved in some of the virtual communities creating positive social change;
- One obstacle he’s encountering, in sparking interest in virtual reality;
- One of Tom’s best experiences since co-founding Africa VR Campus and Center;
- The next step he anticipates, in expanding Africa VR Campus and Center’s educational outreach;
- A closer look at the virtual events Tom hosts, and how to join them (they’re free!).