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Virtual reality at UNSW Open Day

Visitors to UNSW's Open Day this Saturday will have the chance to enter a virtual reality world courtesy of their smartphone and revolutionary 'Google cardboard' glasses.

Published on the 04 Sep 2015 by Benjamin Carter
The smartphone is held to the face inside the Google Cardboard virtual reality box.
The smartphone is held to the face inside the Google Cardboard virtual reality box.

Media contact

Benjamin Carter
UNSW Business School media
02938 50404
benjamin.carter@unsw.edu.au

Visitors to UNSW's Open Day this Saturday (5 September) will have the chance to experience a full virtual reality world, thanks to their smartphone and 'Google cardboard' glasses.

Through the symbiotic pairing of a smartphone app and Google's virtual reality glasses, UNSW Business Classroom VR enables the user to not only walk around the revolutionary flipped classroom but also to activate interactive buoys to play videos, slideshows and other information, all through the use of eye tracking from a smartphone's front camera.

The official launch of the customised virtual reality app is being held to coincide with Open Day.

The aptly named Google cardboard takes the idea of virtual reality, recently popularised by technologies such as the Oculus Rift and HTC vive, to a practical, low-cost place. The custom viewing "glasses" are constructed using a fold-out cardboard with special lenses that, once tethered with a smartphone and held against the face, offer the user an immersive virtual reality experience.

Thanks to special angled lenses inside the box, images seen through the app are experienced in full immersive 3D.

"Through technologies like Google cardboard, we are able to offer prospective students from anywhere in the world the ability to experience the learning environment in ways that will resonate far more than simply looking at pictures of a lecture," says Sarah Lightfoot, Director of Marketing and Student Recruitment at UNSW's Business School.

The virtual experience will be held in the Scientia Building from 9am to 4pm to reproduce UNSW Business School's Flipped Classroom.

Opened in 2014, the Flipped Classroom is located on the ground floor of the Business School. Equipped with the latest technology, the series of formal and informal spaces are designed to facilitate peer-to-peer education and technological collaborative learning which is central to "flipping the classroom".

Watch a video simulation of UNSW Business School's Flipped Classroom virtual reality experience here.

The UNSW Open Day page has more information about what’s on and tips for planning your day.

We’ve listed our top 10 highlights below:

  1. Visit the UNSW Built Environment Luminocity exhibition
  2. Watch our world champion robots play soccer
  3. Try out UNSW Aviation’s flight simulator
  4. Design and craft a ring at UNSW Art & Design’s jewellery workshop
  5. Look out for the ADFA Precision Drill Team
  6. Be inspired at the Arts & Social Sciences’ inaugural ‘Thinking Festival’
  7. Play judge in UNSW Law’s state of the art Moot Court
  8. Visit the Museum of Human Disease
  9. See the Sunswift eVe world record breaking solar car
  10. Come and watch UNSW's top-ranked Quidditch team 

What: UNSW Open Day 2015

When: Saturday, 5 September, 9am-4pm

Where: UNSW Kensington and Paddington campus

More information: Future Students Office, 02 9385 1844  or read more on the UNSW Newsroom.