We worked with KIOSC to install a 6-metre immersive cylinder, dubbed the Immersion Room, offering 360° projection, powered by an Immersive Media Player and Igloo Enterprise software.
Initially the cylinder was installed with wall projection only but was designed in such a way to easily allow for upgrades further down the line. In 2022, KIOSC obtained funding to add 3D floor-projection to the cylinder, making it the first full 360° Igloo cylinder to be equipped with this level of projection, and the first to have this feature added as an upgrade rather than from the installation
And, importantly, the immersive experience can be shared with the class and the teacher – there are no headsets creating barriers between either the teacher or between the students and their peers. This ensures that the learning experience in the immersive space is a social one, and therefore a more effective one.
Currently, the cylinder is used in two key programmes with the consortium’s students. Firstly, it’s used in a forensic science programme. Year 9 and 10 students are immersed in a crime investigation.
They are briefed on the case (with actual news footage), don a forensic suit and begin their investigation. KIOSC has created its own 360° footage recreating a crime scene that the students experience when they step into the Igloo. They explore the recreated crime scene photographs and footage, before moving on to investigating the evidence in the science lab. They then listen to recreated interviews with six suspects and must solve the case by the end of the day.
The Igloo has been extremely well received at KIOSC, with one staff member noting, “the teachers and students all find it great, everyone wants to be in there all the time. We also hear from other university departments who want to get in and use it! It’s amazing for the students, even if they’ve tried a headset, to get inside the Igloo and be surrounded by the content, whichever way they look.”
The Igloo has been a key factor in giving students a way to have experiences that they couldn't in real life (for example, it would clearly be very difficult to have secondary school students visit a crime scene).
Coming soon, the Igloo will also be used as part of a Mission to Mars programme. Again, KIOSC can access resources provided by organisations quickly and easily in the Igloo – in this case, panoramas of Mars created by NASA’s rover can be dragged and dropped into the Igloo.
“It’s really changed the way we’re teaching – students can go on excursions and field trips they could never do before.”
Michelle Nickels, teacher at Fairhills High School, leader of curriculum and pedagogy at the school
“The space brings the creativity out in the students, they’re creating the content, seeing their content and collaborating and teaching others with the content they’ve created in there – it's a holistic learning process from start to finish.”
Scott Doyle, AV Manager for Swinburne
