By Molly Magennis
Victoria University (VU) students and visitors can now use augmented reality on their mobile phones to help them find their way around Footscray Park Campus.
The new VU Explore feature will mean users will be able to scan decals located on the ground around campus and watch videos that help them familiarise themselves with key services and points of interest.
At the same time, they also activate moving three-dimensional holograms of plants indigenous to the Maribyrnong region.
This new feature will allow users to learn more about native plants as they collect a full series of native flowers with charming names such as Bidgee Widgee, Gold Dust Wattle and Minnie Daisy.
Each of the flowers has been created as a 3-D digital model by VU digital designer Khuyen Phung and resident Indigenous digital artist Elijah Mcdonald.
During Orientation Week, VU will also be giving away hundreds of free flower seedlings for students who collect all the flowers on VU Explore. The seedlings are propagated at the Iramoo Grassland Centre and Nursery located at VU’s St Alban’s Campus.
Product manager of the VU Hive Lab (where the Explore feature was developed) Kati Elizabeth said the feature was an ideal example of cross collaboration at VU, where app developers worked with staff from IT, marketing, the plant nursery, and Moondani Balluk Indigenous Unit.
“We wanted this experience to be truly unique, fun, and informed through a decolonial lens rooted in place. Users experience the best kind of mixed reality when we blend the tactile and virtual environments in truly meaningful ways.”
The team expects to roll out the VU Explore feature across other VU campuses in future.
