Abstract:

In this study, we developed a virtual open campus using Spherical Panorama images. The prototype was evaluated by high school students in order to identify areas for improvement based on their needs. After making improvements based on the evaluation results of the prototype, we re-evaluated the contents with university staff and managers of major facilities in the university, and examined the usefulness of the contents.

This content uses 3D virtual tour production software (Virtual Tour PRO /3dvista) to create a virtual tour of the Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus using Spherical Panorama image. In addition, pop-up windows introducing facilities and videos introducing faculty members and classes of the Faculty of Information and Data Science were added to the virtual tour to provide more detailed information. Users can explore the contents online through their PCs and smartphones.

From the results of the evaluation of the prototype version, it was inferred that this content allows users to experience the atmosphere of a university online, and that the supplementary information provided by the video images enables a more detailed understanding. It is also suggested that the information acquired in this way is useful for choosing a career path. In the prototype version, the information other than the all-sky images was limited to that of the Department of Information and Data Science, and there was no information on other facilities. Therefore, the expansion of information was cited as a major issue in the free descriptions of points to be improved.

The results of the evaluation of the Web-based public version showed that a significant number of positive responses were received to a four-point questionnaire regarding operability, and the free descriptions suggested that the site could be used without prior explanation, suggesting that the site can be used freely without problems even if it is made publicly available on the Web. The amount of information increased compared to the prototype version, but the content was easy to understand, suggesting that the user interface and the arrangement of information were easy to understand. Therefore, it was inferred that the user interface and the arrangement of information were the main reasons for the increase in the amount of information. In addition, the results of the four-question questionnaire, which was designed to be used by high school students, showed significantly more positive responses, suggesting that the contents may provide useful information for high school students in their career path selection. In addition, there were many positive responses from users other than high school students, suggesting that the contents may be useful for other purposes than high school students. On the other hand, it was suggested that there is a need to expand information other than faculty information. The need to improve the UI and operability of the site was also raised, and final adjustments are needed before the site is made available on the Web.

Future tasks are to verify the effectiveness of the contents based on the number of accesses to the website after its release. It is also necessary to examine the effect on the attitude and motivation of high school students toward learning by learning about what they will study at university.

Keywords:

Virtual Reality, Spherical Panorama Images, Open Campus.