Purdue University Global will hold its commencement ceremonies on Thursday, and more than 400 students are expected to join in-person. But some 75 students who cannot make it to the venue will be taking part in a first-of-its-kind pilot program to allow them to participate virtually.

Purdue announced today that it will be the first university to offer this service using the cutting-edge technology of a VR camera on-premises to allow remote students to join in their graduation as if they were actually there, even if they are thousands of miles away.

Purdue Global is an accredited online university launched by Purdue University designed to assist working adults as a public-benefit corporation. Content is delivered mostly online with a program focus on career-oriented fields of study.

“The graduates will see and hear everything as if they were sitting in the Skirball Cultural Center,” said Patti Pelletier, director of the learning and leadership community for Purdue Global.

VR uses a headset to encompass users’ vision using binocular lenses to deliver immersive 3D images to both eyes and 3D sound that adjusts with the motion of the head. As a result, users can see everything as if they’re amidst the crowd, walking down the aisle between the rows of seats, up the stairs to the platform and to an officiant to receive a diploma.

The effect of VR is immersive and compelling in a way that a 2D screen cannot convey and that sensation is what the team behind this pilot hopes to deliver to remote graduates. It is an experience as close as possible to being there in-person through the use of 360-degree 3D visualization technology.

“When the ceremony begins, they will feel like they are in the procession line marching with the on-site graduates,” said Pelletier. “They will sit with their fellow graduates and watch everything that is happening around them during the ceremony. The virtual graduates will walk onto the stage, hear their name announced and see their picture displayed before returning to their seat.”

Students who choose to participate virtually will receive a Purdue Global-branded VR headset to use during the ceremony. The device is a foldable cardboard box with a pair of lenses designed to work with a VR-capable smartphone. The students will also get their commencement program tassel and honor cord, if applicable.

A camera operator in the Los Angeles graduation venue will operate a 360-degree VR camera, the Insta360 Pro 2, which will then stream live to YouTube 360. Students participating virtually will access it through Purdue Global’s internally developed digital conference center PG Connect. Everyone else will be able to watch the ceremony via a Facebook Live video feed in 2D.

The program and potential technologies for remote participation were researched and designed by a team of Purdue students to help create this pilot program for Purdue Global. The research was overseen by George Takahashi, lead visualization scientist for the Research Computing Envision Center on Purdue University West Lafayette campus.

“Our undergraduate and graduate students at the Envision Center are deeply involved in exploring new technologies and the development of interactive visualization and simulation tools for research and learning,” Takahashi said. “Through our time working with [Pelletier], five of our students explored consumer virtual reality platforms and enterprise 360 video recording and streaming technologies with the objective of providing an accessible immersive graduation experience to those who would otherwise be unable to attend.”

Photo: Chad Skelton/Kaplan Higher Education