Billy Blue Uses AR to Help School Leavers Start Their Adventure into Design

School leavers are now able to consider their study options by venturing inside various worlds brought to life through augmented reality, with a new platform that has transformed the traditional college course guide.

Sydney’s renowned design college has partnered with creative agencies SomeOne, VCCP and AR specialists Unbnd to reimagine how prospective students engage with them when considering where to study. Together they conceptualised and built a radical new take on the traditional prospectus approach to promotion.

As students determine their study preferences, those wanting to learn more about courses in Branded Fashion, Interior Design, Graphic Design, Photography, Gaming, Artificial Intelligence and Programming are invited to Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University Australia’s Start Your Adventure web-based augmented reality (AR) experience.

“As far as we can see, this is the first of it’s kind in the world. A unique experience that showcases the increasing convergence of design and technology and allows users to explore the range of design and creative technology courses on offer at the College.” said Tom Dabner, creative director at SomeOne.

To-date, more than 7,000 people have participated in the experience, which visualises the available courses as 3D worlds explored through AR using either an iOS or Android device. Through AR, users can explore a Branded Fashion studio, see an Interior Design concept showroom come to life, and witness the skills honed in Communication and Graphic Design. Each zone features a selection of work from students past and present who have gone on to do needle shifting work across industries.

Users activate the experience from the (printed) Billy Blue course guide (scanning the front cover’s QR code), online, or from multiple advertising billboards across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

“Through insight and ideation workshops with more than 100 collaborators, including current students, staff and agencies, it became very clear that one of the best ways to engage with people was to show them what was possible if they study with us at Billy Blue,” said Paul Brafield, general manager, design and creative technology at Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University Australia.

“AR advertising is on the cusp of a boom (growing from $5.1Billion to $198 Billion USD by 2025!) and it's no wonder, it offers a much more immersive and emotive experience that really captures users’ attention in a memorable way... it's really exciting that we can play in the field, and potentially grow the experience in the future.” added Beth Duddy, VCCP’s CX director.

AR technology detailsThe Start Your Adventure AR experience is built on Zappar. Zappar’s webAR product is integrated in a webGL environment using a JavaScript library called ThreeJS built on WebGL. WebAR development involves creating real-time lightweight, low-poly 3D assets and animations to ensure the experience is lightweight enough to be delivered over mobile networks, ensuring the experience is not too processor intensive for the wide range of smartphone devices in-market.

WebAR is an innovative and immersive way to engage potential students that utilises the same technologies now available to study at Billy Blue within the experience itself.