New virtual tour of WMU uses game technology

Western Michigan University's mascot Buster has a new job. He's the virtual tour guide in Broncoland.

With the help of a talking motorized-cart named Goldie, who Buster admits is the smarter one, visitors can get a unique view of campus without ever setting foot on it. School officials think Broncoland is the first fully interactive campus tour created using video game technology.

The idea grew from discussions on ways the university could make it easier to swim for students who are thrown into the sometimes deep water of life as a college freshman, says Kevin Abbott, of the office of Information Technology and a member of the WMU Millennial Project Steering Committee.

"We were looking for something that could help not only prospective students but that could be used in orientation, too," Abbott says. That's a time when students can be overwhelmed with information. "So many times students show up on campus and are simply expected to survive. We wanted them to be better prepared."

The result is a tour of campus that shows buildings and landmarks in a three-dimensional view. The tour, built using gaming technology, gives visitors a virtual feel of the campus.

Visitors can either use a free exploration version or a directed version of the tour. The automated version of the tour focuses on WMU's main buildings and useful information is provided in the banter between Buster and Goldie as they drive through campus. More interactivity is built into the free exploration version, which allows visitors to navigate campus using keyboard controls.

As the talking cart and horse move from site to site, Goldie's reveals her favorite movie is The Matrix and Buster admits his is High School Musical. Abbot says they wanted the tour to be more than dry facts and to show a side of the university that people might not expect when they think of an institution of higher education.

Golden horse shoes that float and spin and golden cubes collected along the route add gaming characteristics to the tour.

Between seven and eight students worked with WMU staff on the project and 10 now are in the studio building in upgrades and a downloadable version of the tour. About $60,000 originally was budgeted for the project. Teaching students what that budget will and will not cover is part of the learning process.

Abbot says creating the tour has been good for students because a project "released into the wild' teaches them things about how people interact with a game that they can't learn simply by doing a class project and prospective employers are looking for people with real world experience.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Kevin Abbott, WMU