Online Educa Berlin isanannual global, cross-sector conference and exhibition on digital learning and training. The conferencegathers participants from around the world to learn about developments in learning technologies.
University of Stavanger was invited to talk about 360° video simulation and used the 360ViSi project as case subject. Video producer Mari Linn Larsen and Media Engineer Kåre Spanne presented the project in front of an audience of 60 people.
Mari Linn Larsen and Kåre Spanne from University of Stavanger and the 360ViSi project.An audience of 60 people attended the session.
“I am very pleased that so many wanted to hear about our experiences from the 360ViSi Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliance and were interested in learning how to use 360° simulation in their own education,” says Mari Linn Larsen.
The feedback from the participants was positive, and many of them had questions.
“The presentation sparked an interesting discussion in the room, where we could elaborate further on the kind of situations where 360° simulation can enhance education and increase the access to training,” Kåre Spanne explains.
Media Engineer Kåre Spanne on 360 simulation.Great interest from the audience who engaged in useful discussions.
The cases were recorded by UCV’s team of academics at the university’s Virtual Hospital.
Behind the scenes
This video shows the stages and topics to consider when recording 360º video for education.
Creating a teaching methodology which is applicable to 360º video is the goal of the 360ViSi project, to help nursing students enhance their clinical, communication and team-working skills.
“Four 360º cases were recorded after creating a case script for each and carrying out a briefing with the technicians. Innovating in new teaching methodologies is something that we love doing for our nursing students!” says Esther Navarro, Dr of Nursing at UCV.
In a previous post, we described what a metaverse is and how can it be used. Interestingly, only a few months later, Quasar Dynamics, partner of the 360 ViSi project developed a metaverse for the basketball EuroLeague Final Four competition.
The EuroLeague is a European professional basketball club competition, widely recognized as the top-tier league in Europe. It consists of 18 teams and its first season took place in 1958.
EuroLeagueLand explained
The main objectives of the EuroLeague were to attract attention as metaverses were raising popularity, engage with the youngest fans (generation z) and to be considered as an innovative sports league.
“To achieve these objectives, we had to think about multiple features that could be interesting for basketball fans who could not physically visit the fan zone in Belgrade,” explains Lead developer at Quasar Dynamics, Jaíme Diaz González.
These are the features Quasar included in the EuroleagueLand.
A complete 3D environment of the fan zone where users can visit the main sponsors (Turkish Airlines, Adidas, BKT etc.)
Main land in the EuroLeague Metaverse.
Every sponsor had its own and unique room, where fans accessed exclusive content
Sponsor Turkish Airlines’ VIP room in the metaverse.
3D Avatar customization, so that users can freely change their appearance.
Users could create their own avatars.
Interact with other users through a chat or with animations like dancing, cheering and greeting
Play 5 custom minigames related to their sponsors and Basketball. You can try two of the games here: Three Point contest and Throw.
Unlock rewards if users scored high on the games. The score was translated into basketZ tokens were used to access exclusive content like a live interview with Shane Larkin, one of the best EuroLeague players, or DJ sessions
Live interview with EuroLeague player.DJ session with avatars dancing.
You were even able to watch live streaming of the final four matches with your friends.
Final matches streamed live in the EuroLeagueLand metaverse.
“The hardest part of the development was making the EuroLeagueLand metaverse fully accessible to all users. We were able to optimize it for any kind of device (Android, iOS, Windows) and with any web browser,” says González.
Therefore, you can try it here with your favorite device and an internet connection.
Why is it considered a metaverse?
The EuroLeagueLand can be considered a metaverse because it is a complete 3D world where users can navigate using their preferred device. They can interact with each other and live unique experiences kilometers away from the real event.
“We were able to achieve impressive numbers. 30,000 unique users got connected during the 7 days of the finals,” González states.
“Finally, we think that metaverses are still too new. Its definition may change from one person to the other. However, we are sure that in the future many real events will have its virtual counterpart,” he concludes.
According to the team at Screen Story, this was a great opportunity to apply interactive 360° video to a real user case. With the help of 360° technology, they were able to make the exhibition into a digital version – open to anyone, for free.
Explore the exhibition
The exhibition is still available online, so feel free to visit it. Navigate around and have a look at this example of one of the many ways to use 360° video.
In contrast to a normal video, the interactive 360° video allows you to choose what you want to look at and where you want to go, just as you would if you attended the exhibition physically.
The 360ViSi projects proceeds according to plan – well almost. Erasmus+ project work usually entails face-to-face interaction and discussions over the table, but this is prevented by the ongoing pandemic. This week, the project partners gather in digital meetings four days in a row instead.
What makes a good case?
So far, a lot of work has gone into planning, researching available technology and mapping the project partner’s different competences. Now the time has come to find the right test cases.
– We are assessing what would be of most value to students, what kind of interactivity would possible in each case and which cases would give most impact with regards to reducing the need for physical training facilities, explains Mari-Linn Atterås Larsen from University of Stavanger.
A proposal for a standard procedure for describing the test cases has been made, which will also be discussed and completed during the workshop. This is done to ensure the same format and quality throughout the project.
Each partner gets the opportunity to present focus areas and dilemmas for production to each other, and with the technical video skilled partners following the discussion, the creative and visual perspectives are well taken care of.
The workshop takes place 19-24 October at 12-14 CET.
