Paper Moose Creates Immersive Experience to Help UTS Leap Pandemic Hurdles

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has launched a new 360 video tour of their innovative Sydney CBD campus, via Paper Moose, aimed at attracting both international and Australian students.

It's been a rough couple of years for Australian universities, forcing them to think outside the box to attract both local and international students to their campus. The UTS campus has recently been transformed through a $1 billion+ City Campus Master Plan, which has delivered new landmark buildings, refurbished facilities and created a sustainable, state-of-the-art learning, teaching and research space.

While universities often tailor their marketing to either domestic or international students, this platform was specifically designed to appeal to prospective students from anywhere looking to study at any level. Even the creative and non-binary tour guide avatar was specifically tailored to have the broadest cultural appeal and personify the UTS brand through their young and dynamic look-and-feel.

Says Paper Moose executive creative director, Nick Hunter: “We love playing in the VR/360 video space and we always get goosebumps when a job like this comes our way. The key here was to create the best UX experience possible to deliver a refreshingly simple tour experience that any user could immerse themselves in.”

Guided by the jade-haired and 3D-rendered Alex, the tour offers a slightly gamified experience through a choose-your-own-adventure narrative tailored to the user’s academic interests. Users are immersed in a completely 360-degree environment encompassing 17 scenes and nine faculties and schools, with interactive hotspots and free-roam mode included throughout.

Behind the scenes, the platform itself is largely custom-coded to deliver superior performance, seamless streaming and smooth scene transitions with minimal loading screens — even on slower connections anywhere in the world.

Being a hybrid agency with interactive capabilities, Paper Moose was able to concept, script and build the platform entirely in-house.

Says Christina Miebach, international marketing manager at UTS: “Our purpose-built facilities, future-focused approach to learning and inspiring community of students and staff is what attracts lifelong learners to UTS. We hope that this 360 experience showcases our unique value proposition and helps build connection in an increasingly digital and ever-changing world.”