How 羞羞视频's Web Team Built an In-House Virtual Campus Tour
We鈥檙e excited to launch the new Virtual Campus Tour, giving applicants, students, staff, and our wider community the chance to explore 羞羞视频鈥檚 stunning riverside campus from wherever they are.
Featuring interactive 360掳 images, the tour highlights our modern facilities and key locations to help everyone navigate campus and discover what makes 羞羞视频 special. Created entirely in-house, this is an evolving project that we鈥檒l continue to refine and expand as the University changes 鈥� the joys of keeping it under the 羞羞视频 banner!
The idea took root after attending a conference last year where it became clear that immersive experiences beyond videos or static images are now essential, which prompted me to want to find a new solution urgently. There were just too many benefits to ignore. We needed the virtual tour to sing about our facilities and campus, giving people control over what they look for and where they go at the same time, helping them to picture themselves here on campus. This realisation happened to coincide with a time of increasingly limited budgets and resources, so we needed a creative solution - an in-house, super cheap and maintainable/controllable replacement to the expensive externally produced versions most universities have.
Following stakeholder meetings and discussions, we decided to progress further and start the process of finding a suitable platform and then gather a limited series of 360 images. Thanks to a small team of talented Scott Sutherland School students (and their fancy camera) and their unique insight, things gathered momentum. The project was met with equal enthusiasm in every school and department that we visited - proud to showcase the equipment, services and facilities we have hidden away. A great example of how making spaces available and known to others can help promote collaboration. This included Gray鈥檚 School of Art students using the School of Health鈥檚 Clinical Skills wards and equipment as a still life study reference, something they鈥檇 never be able access in a real hospital.
Capturing the images was simple, making sure the spaces were ready to be featured was something different 鈥� university buildings are very busy places! Once we found a suitable time and were happy that the leaves were swept from the floor, everything looked tidy and presentable, and importantly that we had a good hiding place, it only took us 15 seconds to take each image. It was the best game of hide and seek I can remember playing! It must鈥檝e looked hilarious for any off-camera by-standers, you would usually find us crouched down behind a car or a lab bench, or squeezing ourselves behind a tree to get away from the camera. If you can guess where we hid in some of the trickier locations, like in a spot the ball competition, I鈥檇 be tempted to give you a prize!
When the images were ready, they were then uploaded and carefully connected through the online platform we鈥檇 chosen. Stitching it all together was the most time-consuming part. Getting virtually lost in the Sir Ian Wood Building corridors is just as disorienting as doing it in person (yet another reason we need a virtual tour!). Our initial plan of 10鈥�15 images per building quickly snowballed into over 700 photos covering nearly the entire campus.
There鈥檚 no hiding that this is my passion project, coincidentally it鈥檚 also taken nine months from my initial thoughts to launching it out into the world! Over that time, our small team has poured hundreds of hours - and an amazing amount of coffee - into this project. The result is something we鈥檙e genuinely proud of, and we hope you find it a valuable addition, but it doesn鈥檛 stop here. Like our website, this project will never be truly 鈥渇inished,鈥� and we鈥檒l continue improving it over time, continually fixing issues, broken or missing links, adding and changing the photos, gathering and actioning on important feedback along the way - the polishing is ongoing.
The main aim of the project was to produce a useful resource for everyone to explore the campus in a virtual environment. As vital and obviously important as they are to a university, I was conscious that it shouldn鈥檛 just be for our applicants and students, it should be a useful asset for many others - from community members looking for a new gym, to alumni who want to see where their donations have made a difference, to people with anxiety or accessibility needs who want to explore the campus before they visit in person. My own family has navigated mental health and physical disabilities, so this makes my heart sing to know that with a little extra time and effort, we can help encourage even more people to engage with our university and experience what we have to offer.
After 19 years at the university, I鈥檓 still very much team 羞羞视频, but I鈥檇 say that during the past nine months of this project, this feeling has only strengthened for me, reiterating what an amazing group of people the University is made of. Despite the recent challenges, we continue to help and encourage each other, making a real difference to people鈥檚 lives, contributing to ultimately produce brilliant graduates and partnerships.
Take a look and explore 羞羞视频!
