Education Project of the Year at the AV Awards
Finalist
The hardware – The Igloo education team worked with UA92 to design and install a 7x6-metre retrofitted immersive room, kitted out with eight 5000-lumen projectors and Igloo’s IMPII (Immersive Media Player) which is ideal for a managing multiple different types of immersive content simultaneously without compromising performance.
The software – In 2023, UA92 became Igloo’s first UK education client to install Igloo Core Engine (ICE), the operating system for immersive spaces which can handle almost any type of immersive content and makes it easy for educators to access, prepare and deliver immersive lessons.
The content – One thing that makes ICE ideal for educators is it can handle almost any immersive or traditional content. This has meant that UA92 has been able to create a range of custom content for its space, including a custom-built metaverse platform, 360° video, images and presentations, as well as specialist immersive learning content. Lecturers also make use of a wide range of freely available online content, using ICE’s integrations with tools like YouTube 360, Matterport and Google Streetview to enhance their teaching.
UA92’s “deliberatively different approach” certainly extends to immersive learning and it’s amazing to see how the University has incorporated immersive technology across its core departments of Digital, Business, Sport and Media, using the space for:
And, as one of UA92’s flagship presentation spaces, the immersive room has been used for various outreach events with UA92’s industry partners, including:
“There’s no point having all of this fabulous technology, these great tools and opportunities to engage people in immersive experiences if educators can’t use the software. ICE takes away all the difficulty, simplifying everything into one easy app where you’re able to create different sessions for different subject areas so everything is ready to go for immersive education.”
Aaron Saxton
Director of Disruptive Learning, UA92.
Having spent a year enhancing teaching and research using Igloo, UA92 have some other exciting projects in the pipeline:
Integrating the Igloo with Azure Kinect motion tracking cameras – to capture and visualise sports performance data, including heat maps, reaction times and physiological pin clouds. This will initially be used by Sports Science students, with the aim of rolling out to professional sports teams.
Researching the future of immersive media – using 360° film production, UA92’s Head of Media is using the space to explore how immersive content will change the media landscape.
Expanding use across all subjects – the aim of the Digital Academy is to impact every student’s experience at UA92, and the same goes for the immersive room.
“Whenever we take students or business partners into the Igloo they’re blown away by the technology.”
Sara Prowse
CEO of UA92
“The Igloo brings education to life in new, exciting ways. You could be in space, on top of mountains, travelling through the human body, playing an incredible VR game, or using web content to bring your assessments and education to life. It’s really taking education to a new level."
Aaron Saxton
Director of Disruptive Learning, UA92
"ICE has made the whole process of interacting with the space much more seamless and much more accessible for teaching and education."
Aaron Saxton
Director of Disruptive Learning, UA92
