‘Bravemind’ experience comes to Heroes Hall

Marine Corps veteran Sgt. Christopher Merkle speaks about his experience with post-traumatic stress disorder at a preview of “Bravemind: Using Virtual Reality to Combat PTSD,” an exhibit coming to Heroes Hall at the OC Fair & Event Center.

Items collected from Marine veteran Sgt. Christopher Merkle are displayed during a preview of “Bravemind: Using Virtual Reality to Combat PTSD,” a new exhibit opening at the Heroes Hall veterans museum at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.

Shannon Kubitz views a war-torn street in Iraq through a virtual reality headset during a preview of “Bravemind: Using Virtual Reality to Combat PTSD,” an exhibit coming to Heroes Hall at the OC Fair & Event Center.

Andrew Leeds and David Kwok from USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, both of whom had a hand in the project, attend a preview of the Heroes Hall exhibit “Bravemind: Using Virtual Reality to Combat PTSD.”

Albert “Skip” Rizzo of USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies speaks during a preview of Heroes Hall’s new exhibit, “Bravemind: Using Virtual Reality to Combat PTSD,” at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.

Andrew Leeds, right, from USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, who worked on the project, chats with a guest during a preview of the new Heroes Hall exhibit, “Bravemind: Using Virtual Reality to Combat PTSD.”

A guest views an Iraqi street scene through a virtual reality headset during a preview of “Bravemind: Using Virtual Reality to Combat PTSD,” a new exhibit at the Heroes Hall veterans museum at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.