UWTSD opted for two state-of-the-art Samsung LED solutions with 18-metre screens, purposefully designed to provide maximum engagement and motivation for students.
An LED solution was chosen primarily for the visual experience, with enhanced brightness and clarity and without the shadowing that can arise on projection-based systems when people stand near the edges of the space. Additionally, LED systems can be repaired on-site with targeted local repairs that don't require whole-screen replacement.
Each screen is capable of High Dynamic Range for maximum colour clarity and a vivid image, bringing the content to life. Also contained in each space is a 55" touchscreen, which controls the environment. Air conditioning units moderate temperature and can even increase temperature for specific immersive experiences or content that portrays temperature rises. 7.1 surround sound fills the space with commanding, attention-grabbing audio.
Igloo Core Engine is the heartbeat of the space, taking the LEDs from just screens to a powerful immersive environment capable of hosting multiple types of immersive and non-immersive content simultaneously. Additionally, it automatically formats the university's content to fit the space, working with its everyday tools, including Unity, Unreal, Matterport, Revizto, almost all web-based content, Google Slides and Street View, and more.
"Whenever people walk in, it is always 'wow', whether it is year threes or adults. I love it. We all love our job too much. We're always thinking about what we can do next. We never switch off really."
Calum Gregory
Immersive Learning Designer
As a pure spectacle, the LED solutions are unmatched. Thanks to the LEDs' pixel density, colour accuracy, and brightness, content is rendered picture-perfectly. This creates not only a higher level of engagement among students, but also allows for more accurate learning with its sharp imagery.
But this space was not built just for spectacle; it is a practical tool in daily use from departments across the university, with statistics including:
Igloo Core Engine is essential to the daily use of the space. With its True Perspective feature automatically formatting the content to the dimensions of the room, multiple content types can be easily used in a single session, and there is minimal downtime in between sessions due to its cloud storage of sessions.
UWTSD is a pioneering user of the Triggers and Actions automation feature in Igloo Core Engine, which lets users set custom 'Actions' based on user-defined 'Triggers', helping keep engagement high with as few button presses as possible. In its early days at the university, Triggers and Actions was used for simple automations, such as video or music playback, but this has since developed into more complex branching scenarios. The most popular use case today is for fully interactive digital 'escape rooms', which allow students to click on elements in the environment to then solve puzzles or learn more about a particular object.
Triggers and Actions is a popular choice at the university due to both driving engagement and also allowing the teacher to assess how each child learns, whether they are cognitive or hands-on, who the leaders are within the group, who is more passive, and so on. These escape rooms have proven so successful across departments that plans are in place for even more complex scenarios that bring real-life physical props and mixed reality headsets in for ultra- immersive dual-reality experiences.
Like many organisations, a large majority of the 3D content used is created in Unity and Unreal, as well as 3DS Max, which is then ported natively into Igloo Core Engine to display in the space. When using this 3D content within the space, as opposed to a VR headset, staff at the university have noticed an increase in soft skills as well as increased information retention, showing more of the students' personal character and encouraging peer-to-peer conversations and problem-solving, even amongst students who had not previously met.
Simulation training is a large part of the teaching that goes on in the space, taking students directly into situations they otherwise wouldn't be able to be in, such as the operational room at a stadium event, elevating the emotional response amongst students and honing communication skills.
Matterport is another tool that sees a lot of use in the space, allowing the university to bring full, navigable 3D environments of existing construction facilities into the space, which can then be used for shared teaching and learning.
The university also uses the space to elevate its simpler tools, such as Google Slides presentations, in a more engaging and visual manner. Nature videos from YouTube 360° have proved popular amongst students, and it also makes use of drones to capture original 360° feeds and content that it can then incorporate into its wider sessions.
Outside of educational use, UWTSD has hosted external stakeholders such as the Kier Group, who use the Revizto software suite within the space to review architectural models and detect design clashes, controlling the experience with an Xbox game controller for intuitive navigation of 3D assets. Having a spatially correct environment that you can stand in and naturally assess scale was essential for Kier Group, whilst recognising that the digital nature of the environment will save time and money in development.
Similarly, John Weaver Construction have hosted health and safety training within the space, using footage from a live building site at different stages of construction, allowing participants to familiarise themselves with breaking ground, installing metal frameworks, brickwork, and rendering - all from one location and one infinitely repeatable session.
"The space increases the learning tenfold, I think. We get a lot of courses, whether that's teaching and learning or all the way through to more industrial environments with construction, manufacturing, and engineering. They often talk about workspaces or going into more hazardous areas.
So, taking them from the classroom and trying to initiate them into that space, you're talking about days out or organising trips. A space like this, you just go immediately; we can take them to that space straight away."
Glyn Jenkins
Digital Experience and Engagement Manager
The space has been a definitive success so far, with an appetite across the university to increase the scope and use of the space across the curriculum, as well as incorporate it into summative assessment.
There are also plans in place to increase the amount of student-created content in the space, getting students more hands-on to increase high employability skills through immersive technology experience. As well as further develop the Triggers and Actions use cases with more expansive and branching scenarios, such as Indiana Jones-themed automated experiences for the Archaeology department.
Having recently upgraded to Igloo Core Engine 2.0, the university will also be looking to take advantage of the new features that have arrived, such as AI Asset Generation, the 3D Model Layer, and Launchpad for quickly loading and switching between sessions.
The ultimate goal of the university, as it continues to implement the technology across the curriculum, is to see it utilised as often and in the same capacity as other teaching rooms around the business.
"Igloo Core Engine makes things so simple.
Even those who are more hesitant with technology, after an hour session with us, they can kind of see how they can use it on a very basic level. Give them a couple of months, and they're fluent and away to go."
Calum Gregory
Immersive Learning Designer
"Initially, there are always a few who are a bit hesitant about all technologies. But now they can see what we can do with the space, and we've had local institutions come to us to see our setup, to see how they then go about putting an Igloo in their place.
It's just blown up, I think that initial worry, early doors of people understanding how it could be used for their context has gone. I can't wait to see what happens next."
Calum Gregory
Immersive Learning Designer
"When we show content, I think that's when people realise how much this space enhances teaching and learning. Some people think it's a gimmick; it's just a big screen, but when we show the content behind it when they come in, then they realise how much it actually enhances teaching and learning."
Nathan Chaplin
VR Technology Specialist
