Pickle Jar Communications

I’m a great believer that the printed university or college prospectus is not dead, nor will it be so for a while yet. However, I think universities and colleges are increasingly becoming aware of the need for their print materials and online presence to interact with each other to enhance the student experience. However, to date this is very much limited to including urls in print materials to direct students to further information online, some of which is beginning to be quite exciting and interactive, but some of which remains very static and web 1.0.

A few months back I posed the question on this blog about how augmented reality (AR) might be able to enhance campus tours. I think the potential for this is huge. Today, however, having just been playing with the General Electric Company’s Smart Grid Augmented Reality programme I’m beginning to think that the potential for AR to really bridge that divide between the print prospectus and the online experience could be huge. What if you wave a department’s page from the print prospectus at your webcam, and it launches a range of videos from students in that department, welcoming you and sharing their experiences and telling you about the course? Or you wave the page telling you about student accommodation at your webcam and suddenly you’re launched into a virtual tour of the different student halls, and watching 360 degree animations of student rooms? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and where you think this might go. Personally, I think it’s pretty exciting!