Look in the Lab — Summer 2020
Students are back in town. The campus is open. Signs are up and around Chapel Hill to encourage the three W’s (wait, wear, wash) aka the new normal. Things will look and feel different for the UNC-CH campus this fall, and that applies to the Lab. As we learned earlier this year, new challenges lead to new discoveries and innovations — which is the perfect introduction to talk about what we’ve been working on all summer long!
The Latest
What have we been up to over the past 10 weeks of summer vacation? What’s in store for the fall semester? How are Luna and Jax?!
All of these questions and more are answered below.
Steven King and RIL’s Pilot Project on CBS News
How does UNC safely load 20,000 students into 369 classrooms in 63 buildings 8 times a day? How does UNC encourage its students, faculty, and staff to wear face masks and practice proper spacing when moving throughout campus? These two questions gave Steven King an idea.
The Lab has spent the past 10 weeks developing “Health Greeter” kiosks, thanks to support from Lenovo. These kiosks use artificial intelligence, specifically computer vision and machine learning, to encourage students, faculty, and staff to wear masks when entering buildings. We’re in the early stages of rolling out this pilot study on campus, so be sure to follow our social media to see how this technology is able to promote campus health and safety guidelines. In the meantime, watch Steven King’s interview with CBS News to learn more about the technology.
Washington Post Story: UNC’s return to in person instruction
We’re halfway through the first week of class. Things look and feel quite different, but spirits are thanks to the University Guidelines. So, you might be wondering what does a day look like for a UNC student who is on campus for the fall semester? Nick Anderson, a higher education reporter for the Washington Post, spent several days in Chapel Hill documenting UNC’s approach for the fall. He even made an appearance to one of Steven King’s in-person classes. Read this article to learn more about the University’s fall semester ahead.
New semester. New guidelines. New class times. New traffic patterns when walking through buildings. That’s a lot to keep in mind, especially for the busy college student. So, the Lab created a tool that will help students navigate their schedules. Students can view their class schedule, see when they need to enter the class building, and identify where the appropriate entrance is located. This was a large and fast-moving project for the Lab, so we want to give a special shoutout to our two designers Natalie Huggins and Halynna Snyder for their hard work all summer long.
ICYMI: Reese Teaches on YouTube
Prior to the kickoff of the summer project, our team has been creating tutorials to help build skills during quarantine. Check out our series called Reese Teaches to learn how to code your portfolio and design the iconic Old Well using Blender. Furthermore, VR developer Daniel Sanchez has been teaching Innovation Fellows his tips and tricks with the software, Unreal. The materials aren’t open sourced at the moment, but he’s working on creating starter files in the future!
A Day in the Life: RIL Works From Home
We wrapped up our WFH series with the start of the semester, but saved the takeovers in our Story highlights in case you’re curious — Check out our highlights to see what Natalie Huggins, Daniel Sanchez, and others were up to this summer!
Return to the Lab
And speaking of working locations…We’re officially back in the Lab! Well, we’re somewhat back. Our Lab opened late this summer to prepare for our project launch, but with new guidelines in place. While we love students and faculty stopping by, we are limiting these visits momentarily to adhere to the university’s guidelines on physical distancing. We have a limited number of staff present in the Lab and our working stations have been properly spaced. Those who are present in the Lab are encouraged to wear a face mask as well as wipe down their equipment and working stations after use. We hope to have visitors again soon!
