1 February, 2021

Billy Blue Use Augmented Reality To Help School Leavers Start Their Adventure Into Design

Edited by B&T Magazine

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 & AR specialists Unbnd to reimagine how prospective students engage with them when considering where to study. Together they conceptualized 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,” says Tom Dabner, Creative Director at SomeOne.

To date, more than 8,000 people have participated in the experience, which visualizes 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. We’ve also developed out of home and TikTok campaigns to bring the experience to as many people as possible across Australia. The TikTok ad & influencer engagement has already generated close to 1m views and over 8k interactions with the experience.

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. The campaign is also supported online by a TikTok ad & influencer engagement campaign which has already generated close to 1m views.

“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.” Says Beth Duddy, VCCP’s CXDirector

AR technology details

The 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.

To experience the Start Your Adventure Augmented Reality experience, go to: https://start-your-adventure.torrens.billyblue.edu.au/

For more information on Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University Australia, go to: https://www.billyblue.edu.au/

Media contacts:

Tom Dabner (SomeOne)

Tel: 0401 864 784

Email: tom@someoneinsydney.com

David Loughnan (Unbnd)

Tel: 0468 455 646

Email: david@unbnd.com.au

Project team:
Concept, user experience and design: SomeOne & VCCP
Beth Duddy: CX Director, VCCP
Tom Dabner: Creative Director & Partner, SomeOne
Rosie Brennan: Managing Partner, SomeOne
Romelle Menezes: Lead Designer, SomeOne
Julien Bertouille: Senior Designer, SomeOne

AR design and build: Unbnd

David Loughnan: Managing Partner

Dominique Cama: Lead Immersive Producer

Erik Bernacchi: UX & 3D Lead

Josh Cole: 3D Artist

Jimmie Friberg: Technical Lead

Ben Carr: WebGL and Zappar Integration

Zan Savic: WebGL and Front-end

Josh Parisi: Creative

Billy Blue College of Design

Jake Troncone, Marketing Executive — Design & Creative Technology

Christine Thomson, Senior Marketing Manager, Design & Creative Technology
Rion Shelley, Head of Brand, Segment & International

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Augmented reality Billy Blue