In recent years, XJTLU has gained a lot of experience in switching between online and offline teaching in the context of the post-epidemic, and online education technology has been upgraded under the epidemic.
Recently, Learning Mall built a virtual exhibition on the "Matterport" platform (that enables anyone to turn a space into an accurate and immersive digital twin), which exhibits works from the Department of Architecture.
ARC 205: Architecture Exhibition 2021 - 2022
The exhibition, "Living space and landscape", showcases the students’ best works from the module ARC 205, showing their contemporary strategies for better living.
"I came up with the idea of setting up a virtual exhibition so that our students will not miss the chance to celebrate their success and inspire each other through their works," says Silvia Albano, Assistant Professor at the Department who curated the exhibition.
Kenneth on Learning Day
Kenneth Simmons is an Educational Technologist at Learning Mall and the builder of this exhibition.
"I came up with the idea of using 'Matterport' for the virtual exhibitions when I received the request from the Department of Architecture because it is a dynamic and effective platform for relaying spatial information," he said.
Kenneth said that his interest in XR (Extended Reality) predated the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. "With the onset of the worldwide lockdowns, I could see greater efficacy for the use of XR at times where travel and general human interactions have been curtailed."
Also, he believed that the flexibility that Learning Mall affords to the team being able to the exploration of tools and different aspects of technology has been a significant help, which led to the success of the virtual exhibition.
ARC 205: Architecture Exhibition 2021 - 2022
As seen from the exhibition interface, visitors can "walk" around the exhibition space easily with arrow keys and mouse on computers, or scroll and click on the screen of mobile devices. Each model and poster can be clicked for its digital version so people can have a clearer look.
A visitor said that this virtual exhibition reminds him of visiting the virtual exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and this exhibition can be easily and intuitively clicked to see each work piece.
ARC205 student Weiyu Nong's Work
In addition, Weiyu Nong, the student whose work is exhibited, said that many exhibitions on campus could not be held because of the epidemic, but the virtual exhibition allowed students to increase their participation in on-campus activities.
Also, she thought the exhibition is very much like a little meta-universe, and everyone is the creator and user of the meta-universe.
It is understood that the field of integration of architecture and virtual interaction has also become a popular research topic recently, such as how virtual technology affects the existing architectural space of human beings.
Learning Mall has completed another project with the Department of Architecture on a virtual tour of the Design Building. In the future, Learning Mall will be collaborating on a project with the Department of Chemistry about virtual labs.
Currently, the new Learning Mall XR Innovation Centre is under construction.
Visit the virtual exhibition HERE.
