Immersive Tours Pilot
What is the Immersive Tours Pilot?
This new pilot offering leverages the (University Courseware-approved) ThingLink platform, allowing creators to easily upload their 360º content into its cloud-based editing space. Students are then able to create individual scenes from their spherical recordings, adding details like text descriptions, audio guidance, photo or video embeds and more. Scenes can be linked together to create “walking’ tours of larger or more complex spaces.
How have immersive tours been used?
How does an immersive tour differ from a 360º video?
Once tours are published, the viewer becomes the director of their own experience, selecting tagged hot spots and moving between scenes at their own pace in their desktop browser, mobile phone or Virtual Reality (VR) headset.
What assistance is available as a pilot participant?
From faculty consultation to in-class training to student support, the Immersive Tours Pilot connects you with the right tools and storytelling expertise to make your projects and assignments classroom favorites.
Our consultants will work with you to evaluate learning goals and create an assignment description, match instruction with project deliverables, train students on 360º imagery recording and storytelling via ThingLink, provision enterprise accounts to students and maximize access to mentorship and support for your class(es) no matter the activity.
Is my project a good fit for the Immersive Tours Pilot?
- working in the field or on-location and recording place-based 360º images
- researching and storytelling around places that have previously been imaged
- building tours individually or in small groups
- mixing reality with digital content to provide additional information
- projects require access to 360º imagery that cannot be recorded or otherwise accessed *
- projects require immediate, simultaneous collaboration
- letting students know early-on that they will be using 360º imagery and creating interactive tours for their projects
- scheduling training sessions for students around 360º storytelling and ThingLink
Assignment Ideas
Teaching Resources
360º Storytelling
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General Tutorials
Specialized Tutorials
Contact Us
About Tour Technologies
Hardware
360º camera technology is relatively new, having arrived on the consumer market around 2017. As such, IMEX Lab is exploring a variety of recording platforms and making various cameras available through the Media Commons loaner pool across the Commonwealth, as well as at the lab at University Park.
Students, faculty and staff can borrow camera equipment to use for creating immersive tour content and tutorials are available for all models currently provided and supported by IMEX Lab.
IMEX Lab is also looking to develop its camera lending pool to meet faculty needs. Let us know if there is camera gear you would like to try.
Software
ThingLink is an award-winning education technology platform that makes it easy to augment images, videos, and virtual tours with additional information and links.
Virtual walk-throughs and tours give students access to real-world environments and situations that would otherwise be out of their reach. Interactive 360° images and videos help develop contextual understanding, academic vocabulary and skills in remote locations, cultures, work environments, or social situations.
Over 4 million teachers and students use ThingLink for creating accessible, visual learning experiences in the cloud.
Fall 2024 Submissions
The Immersive Tours Pilot is accepting applications to join its cohort of faculty participants. We would love to hear your ideas for ways to engage your students with immersive content through our cameras and ThingLink. Please take a few moments to complete the Form for Submissions where you can let us know the details of what you’d like to accomplish. We’ll get back in touch to help clarify the specifics and determine if our pilot is a good fit for your goals. We look forward to seeing your application.