How Immersive Technology Can Create a Competitive Edge to the Campus Visitor Experience, and other Vital Insights for Campus Leaders
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Tour de Force: How Immersive Technology Can Create a Competitive Edge to the Campus Visitor Experience, and other Vital Insights for Campus Leaders
Executive Summary
Immersive technology projects can bring a campus to life and provide universities a competitive edge
ROI from technology-driven campus projects is measured in how the immersive technology and branding raises the visitor’s emotions
Explaining virtual, augmented, and mixed realities in campuses spaces
Following the higher education herd when it comes to technology is a mistake some universities make
Universities should embrace and foster the tech expertise and knowledge-base today’s college students bring to your campus
A tech trend that university leaders might be overlooking in 2021
A key focal point in university’s plans to managing post-pandemic return to campus and athletic facilities
Bringing the female perspective to the forefront in athletic facility design
Dimensional Innovations for Multidimensional Campuses
Campus leaders, including presidents, chancellors, deans, development officers, enrollment managers, admissions directors, and campus architects, are regularly mulling over how to best enrich their campus visitor experience.
How technology is leveraged can give one’s institution an edge in student recruitment, alumni engagement, and donor cultivation spaces. Throw in the post-pandemic uncertainties regarding how to manage the return to campus this fall and the approachability of campuses across the country has never been more important to university leaders.
AV explores the campus visitor experience frontier with Drew Berst, Executive Director for Dimensional Innovations (DI), an innovative firm that specializes in campus-based projects from the design phase all the way through fabrication and implementation.
Berst shared with AV a few best practices for university leaders to consider when thinking about investing in technology to engage campus visitors and stakeholders. We also get a glimpse into the latest technologies including virtual reality and augmented reality projects schools are beginning to utilize on their campuses.
We Second that Emotion
“Most people pick a school because it feels right,” Berst said as he explained the importance of drawing on emotion and the human connection people have with their future, current, or former school. “Immersive-technologies brought to campus create another layer of emotion. The purpose of interactive technology is to engage the audience for a call to action -- come to my school, come to my program, enroll here, donate here. We are trying to personify culture. Once you walk into a space, you should know exactly what this program or school is about.”
As university leaders consider what might be next on their capital project wishlist, the idea phase for any creative, tech-infused campus project is an important one. Berst noted that the most fertile ground for ideas to elevate the campus visitor experience and, more precisely, to share the school’s story, come from people living and working on campus -- those who know their school and campus best -- and no idea should be assumed too far-fetched.
“University personnel should come with their ideas regardless of how crazy they are. We’re a company that can make that happen.”
DI’s approach to the project ideation phase is to come with a blank slate and meet with anyone tied to the campus -- students, administrators, coaches, alumni, and donors. DI also conducts focus groups, surveys stakeholders, and conducts interviews and other research to supplement this step.
One recently completed DI project was the 180-degree immersive theatre built in the US Naval Academy’s athletics department.
The immersive theatre experience at Navy asks prospective student-athletes “Who will you become?” and compels visitors, through 24 active touchscreens, to immerse themselves in Navy’s historic culture and literally see themselves in a Navy uniform through augmented reality.
One World, Multiple Realities
When scouting out immersive technology projects, it’s important to understand the multiple “realities” at play.
The Franklin Institute helps explain the distinctions between AR, VR, and MR and the umbrella term XR:
Augmented reality (AR) adds digital elements to a live view often by using the camera on a smartphone. Examples of augmented reality experiences include Snapchat lenses and the game Pokemon Go.
Virtual reality (VR) involves a complete immersion experience that shuts out the physical world. Using VR devices such as HTC Vive, Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard, users can be transported into a number of real world and imagined environments, such as the middle of a squawking penguin colony or even the back of a dragon.
A Mixed Reality (MR) experience combines elements of both AR and VR, allowing real world and digital objects to interact. Mixed reality technology is just now starting to take off with Microsoft’s HoloLens as one of the most notable early apparatuses.
Extended Reality (XR) is an umbrella term that covers all of the various technologies that enhance our senses, whether they’re providing additional information about the actual world or creating totally unreal, simulated worlds for us to experience. It includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies.
Berst expands on these terms of art. “VR takes you into a completely virtual environment. Virtual has grown during the COVID environment -- meeting as avatars and meeting together. Avatars are interesting but take a degree of personalization out of communication.”
An advantage to AR is the ability to update it easily. AR mixes real with digital environments. “Something on you or your phone would have embedded augment indicators within that real life environment. It could be utilized for campus tours where the user gets information via AR about that campus [as they are touring].”
Following the Higher Education Herd on Technology Can Be a Mistake
One mistake universities can make with the latest and greatest technology is following the higher education herd without a clear reason for the investment, Berst noted. Specialized projects driven by technology and a cutting-edge experience should have a clear raison d’etre. “Don’t design for design’s sake,” Berst noted. “Don’t add technology for technology’s sake. There needs to be a purpose behind each project.”
Berst encouraged university leaders to ask themselves a few key questions as they cultivate the direction and purpose of such a project.
“What is the technology doing? What is its function? How quickly will it become obsolete?. Just because it’s cool now doesn’t mean it will impact the audience in the future.”
A Key Question to Ask in Managing the Return to Campuses and Stadiums
When it comes to strategies for campus leaders, including those in athletics, to navigate the return of students, faculty, and staff to campus -- along with fans to stadiums and arenas -- following local, state, and federal guidelines is a given.
In Berst’s view, campus leaders should be asking a different question when thinking of their return to campus plan -- one that focuses less on guidelines and more on how people are impacted: “How afraid are students, faculty, staff, fans and other visitors?”
Allaying the fears and uncertainties of these primary stakeholders through simplified education and protocols will help university leaders gain traction with managing the return to campus and stadiums processes.
“You have to figure out baseline challenges to really understand and be empathetic to your fans’ challenges and fears,” Berst added. “You are dealing with human beings, not a pandemic.”
One Tech Trend that University Leaders Might be Overlooking in 2021
Berst suggests universities should be thinking about investing in virtual recruiting centers.
“A number of students enroll at universities without ever setting foot on campus. That is amazing when you think about it. That tells you there is healthy competition in the virtual environment for making enrollment decisions.”
Berst alluded to the underlying analytic opportunities tied to a virtual recruiting center that would be useful to enrollment managers and admissions directions -- a key touchpoint for universities that lends itself to adding technology to learn about behavior and interests in a virtual environment.
“It may be worth the university’s investment to better understand enrollment considerations in a virtual landscape. We can capture more of those people who don’t make a campus visit who are still considering your institution.”
Current and Future Students are Tech-Savvy and Well-Informed. Embrace Them.
“One thing that is special to me as a father of three is that kids have a skill set that is pretty damn cool.” Berst said. “It is obviously heavily technical. Facebook was created by college students and handed to adults, not the reverse. A lot of technology and innovation comes from the college student population. Universities could be accessing that knowledge base better.”
Beyond the technology immersion the younger generation already possess, which tools and resources their university can provide them with will be a key to success.
“[Incoming students] may be the first generation of college students that have more knowledge about certain subjects, especially in technology, than maybe the university’s faculty and staff,” Berst noted.
“Access that [student] knowledge and give these students tools and access to things they don’t have access to. At a young age, Bill Gates had access to a computer. What is the next thing? What are kids trying to get access to that they can get access to? This is an untapped resource [on your campus]. It’s a beautiful environment to be learning from each other.”
University leaders, Berst noted, would be well-served to pay close attention to what their current and future students are engaging in from a technology standpoint and how your campus can serve their technology needs.
“You’re trying to figure out what the younger audience’s language is and paying attention to what they care about,” Berst said. “The younger generation is completely immersed in technology, since they were infants. Kids today are some of the most-informed consumers. Most things the older generation was influenced by had a lot to do with your parents. It’s not as true anymore. It’s, ‘Hey, Alexa’ to solve a problem, not, ‘Hey Mom or Dad.’”
University leaders should be keen to the fact prospective students know what’s available to them because of the deep well of information only a click away via the Internet and social media. This includes something as fundamental to the college experience as residence halls. “Kids are way too informed -- embrace it.”
A Few Closing Perspectives from Drew Berst of Dimensional Innovations
Bringing Female Perspective to Athletic Facilities Used by Females
“Most locker rooms are male-centric. Can we look at locker rooms with a female-centric perspective? What do female student-athletes need in a locker room that have been male-centric designed.”
Donor Involvement with Immersive Technology Projects Presents a New Way to Engage
“Donors get involved with design on occasion, too. We will work with a client and donor throughout the process. We’ve participated in pitch sessions with university clients with a prospective donor. Bringing visuals is very impactful -- it helps people understand.”
Technology to Enhance In-Game Fan Experience Should Accomplish One of Two Things
“Bring fans closer to the team on the field or bring fans closer to the other fans around them.”
To see Dimensional Innovation’s cutting-edge immersive technology projects tied to higher education, college sports, and student-life, click here.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
