UGA Experience
Bringing the campus tour to you.
Imagine being inside roaring Sanford Stadium during a football game, or walking around the iconic Arch for the first time without even setting foot on the University of Georgia campus. UGA Experience can give you an immersive preview into your life as a future Georgia Bulldawg.
Features of UGA Experience
On the UGA Experience website, any person interested in touring the campus from afar can choose between two types of videos to get a better sense of what education and student life are like at UGA.
The first video type is the “campus tour” video which follows a UGA tour guide, who explains some of the basics of campus to visiting students, such as where the dining halls are located, where the best study spots are and where resources like the library are located.
The second video type is the “campus experience” video which is a brief, vine-like video that captures the essence of a student tradition or special aspect of UGA’s culture. These videos focus on traditions such as football games, ringing the Chapel Bell, riding a UGA bus, jumping in Herty Fountain or visiting Snelling Dining Commons late at night to ‘snellebrate’.
To make the videos as life-like as possible, UGA Experience use a 360 degree camera to capture campus life in all directions. Any UGA Experience user can turn the point of view of the film in any direction and see a new detail of the experience.
Why UGA Experience?
Picture a senior in high school named Jacob. Jacob is really interested in applying to the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia and wants to visit campus before he decides to apply. But, Jacob has one problem…he lives in Orange County, California and his family doesn’t have enough money to afford a college visit across the country.
UGA Experience is the solution to this problem many students like Jacob face when applying to universities. Our goal is to allow any student, no matter the distance or the financial status, to experience what being a Bulldawg is all about.
How UGA Experience was created
UGA Experience is a Wordpress site that hosts 360 degree video tours of the University of Georgia’s campus. Our team used the 360Fly camera to film the video and used the camera’s proprietary editing software to create the finished video packages hosted on the website.
Our group decided to host these videos on a website because the 360Fly software has strict guidelines of where the video can be exported to, and a website was the most accessible and user-friendly host are group could think to use.
The videos will also be compatible with Google Cardboard, a portable virtual reality headset, that allows viewers with access to the headset to experience the videos in virtual reality. For those without access to Google Cardboard the videos will still be 360 degrees using YouTube360 and will be clickable in order to see the entire surrounding areas.
Meet the Team
UGA Experience is a tight-knit group of five members, each with their individual roles and responsibilities.
Megan Mowers
Role: Producer
Year: Senior
Major: Advertising
Hometown: Savannah
Megan works to keep the team on task and project oriented. Megan also works alongside Lindsey, working on the content for UGA Experience. Megan aspires to work for an advertising agency or event planning company in Atlanta, Ga after graduation. She hopes to continue to use the skills and techniques she has learn from the New Media Institute and Advertising to help with website development and social media accounts.
Jake Schaffer
Role: Visual Designer
Year: Senior
Major: Animation
Hometown: Marietta
Jake loves the skills he has learned in animation during his time at the University of Georgia. He enjoys the challenge of working with new graphic design software and thinking creatively to make something unique. He dreams of becoming a video game designer after college and is currently working with an independent company called Skelefactor on a game named Bugspeed Collider as an animator. He hopes the skills he has gained through the NMI will help him better broadcast his varied skillset to the global market.
Josh Smith
Role: Technical Designer
Year: Senior
Major: Entertainment and Media Studies
Hometown: Bainbridge
Josh works as a technical designer for the UGAexperience project. Josh has worked extensively on the UGAexperience website. Along with the technical work on the project, Josh also worked as a videographer, working the 360Fly camera. Josh expects to graduate in May 2016 and is hoping to find work that allows him to produce digital content for large audiences. Whether it be video or written work, Josh enjoys all creative endeavors and looks forward to seeing where his experience at UGA will lead him.
Thomas Smith
Role: Technical Designer
Year: Senior
Major: Mass Media Arts
Hometown: Lawrenceville
Thomas works as the co-technical designer for the UGA Experience group. Thomas works heavily on coding the group’s website and on editing and working through the technical aspects of the 360Fly camera and virtual reality headsets. As a Mass Media Arts major, Thomas works constantly on filming and editing. Thomas has filmed and edited extensively for different Grady College films and hopes to become a film editor or perhaps pursue a career in Media Law when he graduates. Thomas hopes the experience he has obtained with technology through the New Media will give him an advantage when it comes to his field.
Lindsey Conway
Role: Content Producer
Year: Sophomore
Major: Publication Management
Hometown: Alpharetta
Lindsey works as the content producer for the UGA Experience group. She is responsible for creating content such as written material for the website, blog posts, Twitter and Facebook posts and any written material for the presentation such as hand-outs or posters. Lindsey aspires to be a journalist, hopefully covering a health, environment or culture beat. Lindsey has enjoyed learning about new media in the NMI. She has learned skills, such as coding, that she never thought possible and hopes to apply these skills to her future career in journalism.
