Campus 360 Launches Live Guided Campus Tours Service

A virtual tour provider has launched a new service that enables colleges, universities, boarding schools and high schools to host DIY, live, guided tours from within virtual campus tours. Campus 360 introduced the new functionality to enable its higher education customers to take students and their families on visits around campus in real time, but without the necessity of being there in person.

According to the company, the new service distinguishes itself by allowing institutions to use their own media and video crews, rather than having to hire third-party operators. Customers also maintain ownership of the photos and videos that comprise a tour. The tours are accessible via mobile browsers.

Campus 360 Virtual Tours

The company also enables schools to use an augmented reality component for visitors taking self-guided campus tours on campus, in person.

For the live virtual tours, guides can narrate and share presentations inside of the tour itself, rather than having to switch to the use of a separate video conference platform.

"Guided virtual visits allow universities to most closely mirror the experience of a guided campus tour, despite travel and health restrictions caused by the pandemic," said CEO Gavin Newton-Tanzer in a press release. "But more than that, we see tools like this as a way to democratize the campus tour experience for out-of-state and international students long into the future."

The company provides a basic, free version of its service that allows schools to share their media through the Campus 360 platform. Campus 360 is a division of Sunrise 360, a creative agency that works with schools and industries to create virtual reality experiences.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • University of Oklahoma Announces New Campus Master Plan

    The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., recently announced that it will soon launch a new, comprehensive Campus Master Plan to guide the campus’ physical development during the next decade, according to a news release.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.

  • A digital silhouette works at a computer, immersed in a glowing, interconnected world

    How Will AI Transform Learning Space Design?

    For years, higher education has designed learning spaces around technology as a tool for display, capture, collaboration, and connectivity. AI changes that equation.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.