NYU Tandon Vision VR

Name: NYU Tandon Vision VR
Author: New York University

New York University

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App Summary

NYU Tandon Vision VR lets users pilot a student-designed robot on a virtual mission across the surface of Mars. Faculty and students at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering developed the app as a recruiting tool to showcase their robotics program and engage accepted applicants. As one of the first universities to use VR for admissions, NYU mailed over 2,000 cardboard viewers to prospective students to promote enrollment.

App Screenshots

Detailed Description

Functionality & Mechanism

This virtual reality experience, developed by the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, transports users on a simulated mission to Mars. The application utilizes a smartphone and a cardboard-style VR viewer to create an immersive environment, beginning in a virtual classroom before journeying to the Martian surface. Leveraging head and body movements for control, users pilot a student-designed robot across the Gale Crater, navigating the terrain to collect simulated Martian soil in a gamified mission.

Development & Context

Developed by faculty and a student, the app was designed as an innovative admissions tool to engage prospective engineering students.
It aimed to showcase the school's strengths in robotics and digital media, thereby encouraging accepted applicants to enroll.
In 2016, the university mailed over 2,000 cardboard VR viewers to its admitted undergraduate class in the United States.
The app's photorealistic Martian environment was created by referencing images and mockups from NASA's official library.

Intended Use & Scope

This application is intended primarily for prospective and admitted undergraduate students as a recruitment and engagement tool. Its scope, as detailed in news coverage, is to provide a promotional experience that showcases student projects and the school's technical programs. It is not designed as a formal scientific research or educational training resource.

In the Media

NYU takes admitted engineering students on a virtual tour of Mars

NYU Tandon School of Engineering developed NYU Tandon Vision VR to engage admitted students in their decision-making process, using a virtual Mars tour experience with VR cardboard devices sent to all 2,000 admitted students. "It's really important for us to engage with both students and their parents when they are trying to make a decision," said Elizabeth Ensweiler, Tandon's director of enrollment management. The virtual tour was developed by professor Mark Skwarek and student Matthew Conto, featuring a mining robot named "Lunabot" that guides users across Martian terrain using NASA-sourced visuals.

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NYU Tandon Creates Virtual Reality Trip to Mars to Sway the Undecided

NYU Tandon School of Engineering developed Tandon Vision VR to encourage accepted students to enroll, using virtual reality as one of the first VR admissions tools. The school mailed more than 2,000 cardboard 3D viewers to accepted students, with the app taking users on a virtual Mars trip featuring a robot built by the school's Lunabotics student club. The free Android and Apple app made its public debut on April 16, 2016, at NYU Weekend on the Square.

NyuRead article

Your Vision/Your Future

NYU Tandon School of Engineering developed the Tandon Vision VR app to engage newly admitted students by showcasing innovative campus work, using virtual reality technology that allows users to take a virtual trip to Mars with a robot. The app was created by the school's Mobile Augmented Reality Lab in collaboration with senior Matthew Conto, allowing users to "control a mining robot and attempt to gather as much regolith as possible" just like participants in NASA's annual robotics challenge. Each member of the incoming Class of 2020 received a VR device and app instructions by mail as a welcome gift.

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