Educational institutions operate in an increasingly digital and global landscape, facing challenges in attracting geographically diverse students, adapting to remote learning models, and managing complex campus infrastructures. 3D digital twins provide a functional set of tools for addressing these challenges across recruitment, academics, and facilities management.
Application 1: Student Recruitment and Virtual Tours
A virtual campus tour created from a 3D digital twin is an interactive, dimensionally-accurate model that allows prospective students to explore an institution online. This provides several practical advantages:
- Geographical Reach: Makes the campus accessible to students who are unable to visit in person due to location or financial constraints.
- Informational Transparency: Offers a detailed and realistic view of facilities, from lecture halls to labs, which builds applicant confidence by providing comprehensive, verifiable information.
Application 2: Remote and Hybrid Learning
The utility of a digital twin extends into academic instruction, particularly for remote and hybrid courses:
- Virtual Lab and Studio Access: Gives online students 3D access to specialized spaces, allowing them to examine equipment and understand layouts they cannot physically access.
- Interactive Learning Aids: Allows educators to embed annotations ("Mattertags") within the 3D model to link to explanatory videos, diagrams, academic papers, or quizzes at specific points of interest.
Application 3: Campus Operations and Facilities Management
Beyond student-facing use cases, a digital twin is a valuable tool for internal campus and facilities management:
- Space Planning and Utilization: Provides accurate measurements and visualizations for optimizing classroom layouts, planning event setups, or assessing space allocation.
- Maintenance and Repairs: Enables remote inspection of infrastructure and allows teams to share precise visual context, reducing ambiguity and improving coordination with maintenance crews.
Digital twins enable educational institutions to improve workflows in recruitment, academic delivery, and operational efficiency.
Further Resources
For additional information on this topic, these external resources are recommended:
- Matterport for Education: Review official use cases on Matterport's website.
- EDUCAUSE on Virtual Tours: Read analysis from a leading higher education IT association. Read the article.