How to be an AR Longhorn
The University of Texas’ AR map mailer seeks to delight and engage prospective students
This week I got to sit down and play around with the University of Texas’ AR map mailer which was put together by the University’s ImagineLab. This mailer is an artistic and playful rendering of the University grounds which simultaneously functions as the basis for an AR experience accessible on IOS or Android equipped smartphones. The phone interacts with the map to create an interactive tour of some of the University’s most notable landmarks. These include The UT tower, the Main Mall, Jester Residence Dormitory, and Daryl Royal Stadium. The whole experience is accessed simply by pointing a smartphone camera at the QR code in the lower left corner of the map and following the prompts. But how does the experience work?
After pointing my smartphone (Samsung Galaxy, Android Version 9) at the QR code and accepting the prompt to engage I am taken to an orange screen with a small circle in the center of the screen portraying a cartoon character of a longhorn while the background turns orange while the app loads. Conveniently, I do not have to download anything here, the whole experience is web-based so I needn’t worry about having to uninstall the app after I’m done using it. Next I am directed to point my phone at the map. (I printed out the map, but you can also use a map displayed on a monitor. I noticed the scaling and functionality were not nearly as stable on a computer monitor and I had to adjust the screen zoom to get all of the elements to be detected by my phone.)
Once I centered my phone on the map, a loud “Moo” emanated from my phone speaker and I was greeted by a hat-wearing, Texas-drawl-having animated version of the cow I had seen while the app was loading on my phone. “Hey there partner, the name’s Bevo. Welcome to UT Austin” says the animated bovine representation of the University’s beloved and long-horned mascot. I am directed to take a look around as several 3-dimensional representations of the buildings on the map pop out on my phone. I stand up and walk around the map and am impressed to see that the faces of the images don’t follow me as I move. Instead I am able to see the structures and Bevo in profile, from behind, or from above. If I do happen to lose the framing of the map, Bevo nudges me with “Whoops, looks like we got turned around…” and directs me to get the map back in the middle of my frame. I should mention that there are two buttons on the screen, one resembling speech balloons, which hide the captions, and one circle with a line through it that is used to take a photo of what is in the phone’s browser window. I took several screenshots and also used the button throughout this demo and found that the screenshots were much larger files however, I didn’t notice a huge drop off in image quality between the two.
From here I could touch any of the four landmarks representing The UT tower, The Main Mall, The Jester Dorm/Residence Hall, or the Daryl Royal Stadium on my screen to select them. Choosing Jester hall brings up a slideshow with images of typical dorm rooms and student experience in the halls. Choosing the Main mall loads a short 360° video of a traditional style Chinese dragon dance troupe performing. Choosing the Stadium reveals a similar 360° video taken directly in front of the goal post as the cheerleaders and football players come pouring out of the tunnel at the start of a football game. Typically in these type of 360° videos a logo is placed to cover up the base of the camera and this experience is no different with an image of the cartoon Bevo imploring the viewer to “Look up! Move your phone up!” I did find that this scene at the stadium was much more impressive with my phone in landscape orientation allowing for a better field of view. The screenshot below shows an image taken within the AR app. The image overlays the screen while I simultaneously look around with the phone’s video camera still active. I mention this because this functionality did cause a problem in the next and final part of the AR experience.
Choosing the final landmark, the UT Tower, activated my rear-facing/selfie camera. I was prompted to “See yourself at UT” and was presented with a number of options for altering my appearance. This was pretty fun as I could choose between a variety of hats, masks, horns, and face makeup. Using the included image capture button I was able to take a selfie of myself “wearing” these fashion statements. The picture below on the left was taken using the in app image capture button and the one on the right was taken using a screenshot. This again shows how the chosen picture becomes frozen overlaying the active video camera. In this particular scene it became problematic. Having taken my selfie , the photo continued to float in the center of my screen and I was unable to close the selfie image. I tried using the share function and the app became quite laggy. This may be an issue with my particular phone and/or Android version but the end result was having to restart the browser.
When I reloaded the app and started again, I did notice that the 3D UT tower also had a propensity for vanishing from certain angles. Despite this intermittent 3D tower, I was still able to select this experience by tapping the map tower on the phone screen.
So that’s my walk through of the user experience. Now I want to discuss the purpose and appeal of this AR experience for prospective students as well as opportunities to enhance the experience. According to Stacy Bingle, using AR to bring “products and services to life can help consumers choose from among their many options by making the selection more palpable,” (2018). Choosing a University is a huge and expensive choice and the competition among institutions of higher learning is stout. By utilizing AR technology in its pitching to prospective students, the University of Texas is appealing to recent high-school graduates who wish to be part of a forward looking institution. By having an immersive experience, prospective attendees to the college are able to engage with the university according to their motivations to learn, discover, and explore.
This also follows a popular trend among many universities which are beginning to include AR technology in their marketing efforts. These efforts range from AR admission acceptance letters (Tan, 2017), AR course catalogs (Ravipati, 2017), and interactive tours (Mandelbaum, 2015). In fact, research has shown that AR is extremely useful for increasing student motivation in the learning process (Bacca-Acosta, Baldiris, Graf & Kinshuk, 2014). The AR experience places the participant’s physical experience in a digital context and as a result prospective students learn to relate the wonder, joy, and delight of exploring the UT campus through modern technology with its physical landmarks. It is also worth mentioning the utility of the app, which theoretically can allow anyone, anywhere to experience a campus tour without the expense, inconvenience and especially in these pandemic times, the danger of leaving home.
Furthermore, the app touches firmly on Gensler’s experience modes, providing fulfillment of all five functions. The task of orientation, which is mandatory for all new students, is fulfilled. The social mode is fulfilled when users are able to talk about their experience and to share screen captures and selfies of themselves in virtual UT gear. The discovery mode is fulfilled as they discover the locations and significance of UT’s landmarks and also the functions of the app. Entertainment occurs with the fun banter and animation of a talking mascot (Bevo) and witnessing the dragon dance, cheerleaders and football players rushing the football field. Finally, aspiration is completed when the prospective student looks forward to experiencing all of the places seen in the app and maybe even participating in creating exciting projects like this AR experience on their own as UT students.
All that being said, I do think there is a lot of room to add to the ARmailer. I think a simple Q&A featuring the most commonly asked questions answered by Bevo would be useful and entertaining. It would be great to add some historical context to some of the landmarks shown, giving a deeper insight into the legacy and prestige of the University. Another function could allow participants in the experience to leave their own mark on the app, giving them a symbolic sense of ownership in the AR orientation. Perhaps a photobooth where people could add their selfie to a “wall of visitors”. This would allow prospective students to see their own selfie among all of the other students who are considering attending, giving a strong sense of belonging as well as a sense of what their cohort might look like. Finally, it would be good to include some examples of a typical day of life at the university. Feeling the energy of walking among a group of fellow students, sitting in a beautiful lecture hall with a prestigious/celebrity speaker, seeing live music at the Cactus cafe, bowling at the Texas Union underground, or studying in a sunbeam on the grass. All of these daily events represent scenarios in which prospects could imagine themselves taking part.
As it is, the AR map mailer is an exciting development for Texas recruiting and one with tremendous potential. While there is still much that can be added, this experience already communicates the attitude and aesthetic of the University while also suggesting an exciting and innovative experience that should appeal to anyone considering applying to the school.
Bacca-Acosta, Jorge & Baldiris, Silvia & Fabregat, Ramón & Graf, Sabine & Kinshuk, Dr. (2014). Augmented Reality Trends in Education: A Systematic Review of Research and Applications. Educational Technology and Society. 17. 133–149.
Bingle, Stacy. (2018, June 4). Augmented Reality Raises the Bar for Consumer Expectations. Mintel Blog. https://www.mintel.com/blog/new-market-trends/augmented-reality-raises-the-bar-for-consumer-expectations
Mandelbaum, Abi. (2015, July 17). Augmented Reality on Campus. Collegexpress. https://www.collegexpress.com/counselors-and-parents/college-counselors/blog/augmented-reality-campus/
Ravipati, Sri. (2017, April 4). Scaling up Admissions and Recruiting with AR. Campus Technology. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/04/04/scaling-up-admissions-and-recruiting-with-ar.aspx
Tan, Yvette. (2017, July 5). University Sends Acceptance Letters with AR and it’s Blowing Minds. Mashable. https://mashable.com/2017/07/05/ar-college-acceptance/
