Working closely with the team at the University, we specified and installed a 6-metre immersive cylinder powered by our Igloo Enterprise software. So, students have a wealth of capabilities at their fingertips, from working with simple 360° videos or photos, to working with game engines such as Unity via Igloo Realtime, and the whole of the internet available in an immersive space via Igloo Web.
It’s been installed in a carefully chosen spot directly opposite the entrance to the Faculty of Technology building (in fact, an existing staircase was removed to give the Igloo more room). And, with bold branding, the Igloo makes for an incredibly eye-catching centrepiece that no one misses when they set foot in the building.
Early in 2022, eight groups of eight students each set out on projects that would make use of the Igloo and its many capabilities.
One-half of the groups worked on an interactive museum experience using Unity and Igloo’s plug-in for the game engine, which allowed the experience to be shown in the Igloo. And the other half worked on an interactive learning experience targeted at Key Stage 2, which could be built with Unity or as a web-based app to be shown using Igloo Web.
Throughout the projects, the students had interactions with Team Igloo to help guide their work, which culminated in a final Digital Showcase at the end of the term. In this way, the students began to make links with industry and get a feel for how development is in the real world.
We attended the Digital Showcase and reported on the outcomes in our latest in-depth case study.
The University is looking forward to making its new immersive facility available to other organisations too – for example, inviting local schools in, or hiring the space out to businesses for training and meetings too. It’ll also be offered for other faculties and subjects to take advantage of.
Students are already asking plenty of questions on how else they might use the space – for a fashion show, for viewing CAD drawings, and so on. And, it’ll be used by two PhD candidates to investigate how it can be used in gamification, and in how students can improve the way they learn in a new, different environment.
"The technology inspires innovation and gives students the potential to work in bleeding edge fields - that’s really quite precious for our potential graduates. The students are getting a very real experience of developing content on a very new platform and they’re all very excited and enthused by that.”
Dr Kate MacFarlane, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science
“We set up a call for other faculties to come and see the Igloo. Everyone was blown away by it and they’re thinking about how they can use it with their students, and engage with ours too. So it’s already helping form collaborations across the University.”
Professor John Murray, Academic Dean – Faculty of Technology
“We didn't want this technology to be hidden away in a room, we wanted it to become a centrepiece for the building. It puts the University at the forefront of technology.”
Paul Graham, Senior Lecturer University Enterprise Zone Digital Incubator
