ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 19, 2020

VIRTUAL CAMPUS TOUR

(STUDENT PERCEPTION OF UNIVERSITY VIRTUAL
ENVIRONMENT)
Suwarno1, Nerru Pranuta Murnaka2
1
Department of Primary Teacher Education, Faculty of Humanities, Bina Nusantara University
2
Department of Mathematics Education, STKIP Surya, Tangerang, Indonesia.

Email: 1suwarno2@binus.edu, 2Nerru.pranuta@stkipsurya.ac.id

Received: May 2020 Revised and Accepted: August 2020

ABSTRACT: The primary purpose of this research is to empirically evaluate whether students show a positive
response to the virtual campus tour. This application is designed using a website and virtual reality. This virtual
tour allows users to navigate and listen to background sounds and narration. Besides, users can read brief
information about each department in the Faculty. Each panorama contains a hotspot that allows users to
explore further in the vicinity. All images are combined using 3DVista Virtual Tour software to produce 3600
effects. Usability tests are carried out to get the user's response to the virtual campus tour, to improve the
prototype, and to measure the level of user convenience and satisfaction. Measurement of student responses is
done using questionnaires and interviews. Student response questionnaire was given to 71 respondents. The
virtual campus tour received a positive response, and all respondents agreed that this virtual reality application
could attract users to promote the campus..

KEYWORDS: Virtual tour, Virtual reality, Campus tour, Student perception, Immersive Experience

I. INTRODUCTION
The term "Virtual World" is used to describe digital space that can be explored from within, where users can
navigate, interact with objects and interact with other users. The media states that 2016 is the year where virtual
reality can reach households through electronic devices such as smartphones. This condition will involve this
technology in the educational environment by supporting different learning styles and facilitating the teaching
and learning process [1]. Virtual reality is part of a larger family of technology-mediated experiences that
involve various levels of mixing reality with virtual components.

Some characteristics of virtual reality provide opportunities to increase student involvement. As a direct,
interactive and immersive experience. This characteristic provides a new way of learning for students, provides
compelling new experiences and they may never have encountered before [2]. Virtual reality is often used as a
general term for all kinds of immersive experiences, including many related terms such as augmented reality,
mixed reality, and extended reality. VR environments are usually closed to the physical world in the sense that
the environment they create is entirely new [3].
At present, the application of virtual reality has been widely used in various fields. One application is the use of
virtual reality to promote universities. Various ways have been promoted by the university to convey facilities,
services, and other information to users. Forms of promotion carried out, such as websites, brochures, and
school tours. However, the media shows more static images along with some videos so that it cannot provide an
immersive experience to the user. Also, not all users have free time to come to visit campus facilities.
Virtual tours are becoming a trend in increasing user involvement in products that are delivered and are widely
used in various fields such as medicine, engineering, computer science and others [4]. This virtual tour will
allow users to visualise and explore better about the campus environment. That can have a significant impact on
them in making the final decision about which campus to choose in pursuing their studies.
The main objective of this research is to determine the user's response to the implementation of virtual reality as
a medium to promote campus. Virtual reality, as another alternative, can use for users to access campus
anywhere. Because of time, location, transportation constraints that may arise on the user's side.

1.1. Related Research

Some research on the implementation of virtual reality to promote campus has been done. Rohizan et al. [5] in
an Enhanced Visitor Experience Through Campus Virtual Tour study said that by implementing virtual tours,

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this enhances the visitor's experience towards campus exploration. This virtual tour helps in providing
alternative ways for students and potential parents to easily walk around the campus without visiting the
university's physical buildings. This application also helps new students familiarised with the campus
environment because they can easily see and read information about the campus through software.
Agree with Rohizan, Osman et al. [6] concluded that it was found that virtual tours could be used as a tool to
promote tourism because it provided an attractive panoramic view compared to still images found in brochures
and websites. However, because the target users come from all walks of life and vary in age range, more
usability tests must be carried out so that the final product will meet the requirements of most users. Another
opinion was expressed by Tengku Wook [7]; in his research, it was concluded that the design of campus virtual
tours could enhance immersive experience for users.
In this study, researchers focus their research on students' perceptions of the virtual campus tour application that
researchers have designed as a means of campus promotion media.

1.2 Virtual Tour Design.

In creating a virtual campus tour, there are several methods can be used to create panoramic images.
Researchers used specialised hardware used to take pictures around the campus, namely the campus entrance,
campus grounds, lecturer rooms, department rooms, office space, and other facilities. The use of Samsung Gear
VR 360 camera speeds up the process because the device is equipped with a system that can capture panoramic
images. In making panoramic views, the method used is photo stitching. This method is the process of
combining several photographic images with overlapping fields [7]. Figure 1 shows the spherical image
produced by the Samsung Gear VR 360 camera.

Figure 1. Spherical image from Samsung gear VR 360

After the panoramic images are collected, the next process is to improve image quality. This process needs to be
done to eliminate unnecessary noise, blurring, adding contrast and more. 3DVista Virtual Tour is a windows
based software that can be used to develop 3D virtual tours. This software makes it easy to capture indoor
scenes and create virtual experiences that are truly alive. Panoramic images are uploaded into the software and
automatically connect scenes. Further modifications are made to determine the hotspot in the virtual tour.

Figure 2. The user interface of Virtual Campus Tour

II. RESEARCH METHOD

The research design used was survey research. Survey research involves collecting data to test hypotheses or to
answer questions about people's opinions about several problems or problems [8]. Survey data are collected by
asking a set of questions to members of the population, which can be given in questionnaires sent or sent by
email, or in interviews by telephone or in-person. The survey was conducted to analyse student responses about
the application of the virtual campus tour.

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2.1. Respondents.
The research instrument is a tool to measure the variables in the observed study [9]. The researcher uses a Likert
scale as a measurement tool. Likert scale requires someone to respond to a series of statements by showing
whether he strongly agrees (SA), agrees (A), undecided (U), disagrees (D), or strongly disagrees (SD) [8].

2.2. Validity And Reliability.

Two main criteria for evaluating quantitative research are validity and reliability. Validity refers to the extent to
which a measure measures what should be measured. Establishing the validity of the scores in a survey helps
researchers to identify whether an instrument might be a good one to use in survey research [10]. In this study,
statistical validity was used. Statistical validity refers to whether the statistical analysis chosen is appropriate
and whether the conclusions drawn are consistent with statistical analysis and statistical legal rules [11]. A total
of 71 respondents' data were used for data analysis. A summary of the statistical validity test is displayed in the
table below.

Table 1. Validity Test Summary

Questions

(2-tailed)
Sig.

Conclusion

Questions

(2-tailed)
Sig.

Conclusion
1 0.0 Valid 11 0.0 Valid
00 24
2 0.0 Valid 12 0.0 Valid
00 15
3 0.0 Valid 13 0.0 Valid
00 00
4 0.0 Valid 14 0.0 Valid
08 00
5 0.0 Valid 15 0.0 Valid
00 02
6 0.0 Valid 16 0.0 Valid
00 05
7 0.0 Valid 17 0.0 Valid
01 17
8 0.0 Valid
05
9 0.0 Valid
01
10 0.0 Valid
00

A survey instrument is declared to be reliable if the instrument produces consistent results. Questions related to
variables must produce a consistent response from a subject [11]. The reliability test that is commonly used to
check the internal consistency of a scale in survey research is to use the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In this
study, Cronbach's alpha was calculated for 17 questionnaire items, and a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.597 was
obtained. Based on this value, the questionnaire was declared reliable. Low alpha values can be caused by a low
number of questions, weak linkages between items or constructs that are heterogeneous [12].

III. MAIN RESULTS.

3.1. Demographic Data.

Demographic data of the respondents showed that 13 (18.3%) were male and 58 (81.7%) were female.
Respondents have various ages with the youngest age of 17 years and the oldest age of 30 years. Based on the
survey, as many as 64 (90.1%) respondents had known virtual reality applications, and 7 (9.9%) respondents
had never known virtual reality applications. As many as 39 (54.9%) respondents had used virtual reality
applications, and 32 (45.1%) respondents had never used virtual reality applications.

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Table 2. Demographic data of respondents

Description Frequency Percentage
Gender Male 13 18.30%
Female 58 81.70%
Age
17 1 1.40%
(years)
18 15 21.10%
19 20 28.20%
20 15 21.10%
21 13 18.30%
22 3 4.20%
23 1 1.40%
26 1 1.40%
28 1 1.40%
30 1 1.40%

3.2. Student Perception.

Usability tests are conducted to get student responses and to measure the use of prototype virtual campus tours
related to ease of use and user satisfaction. The usability test is carried out in the integrated laboratory majoring
in Primary Teacher Education at Bina Nusantara University. The researcher acts as the facilitator conducting the
session. Participants are introduced to the prototype and given a briefing about the purpose of this test.
In this study, there is data that contains an ordinal scale obtained through a questionnaire. The data needs to be
converted or transformed from ordinal to interval scale. The method to be used to convert ordinal data into
intervals is successive interval methods. After transforming the data, then the central tendency of the data is
measured. Mean and standard deviations are measured to determine the central tendency of the data. Table 3
shows a summary of survey analysis of virtual campus tour user responses.

Table 3. Survey results

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Based on the table above, all respondents were satisfied with the virtual campus tour application. This
application still needs improvement, especially regarding panorama image contrast. Need a lot of additional
facilities available on campuses such as computer labs, canteens, or houses of worship. Besides, to enhance the
immersive experience when exploring campus through the application, digital guidance is needed. In general,
respondents can quickly adapt to virtual campus tours and experience in-depth experiences when visiting
facilities and departments in the Faculty of Humanities virtually.

3.3. Interview results.

Interviews are also used to obtain data about feelings, experiences, and emotions. directly from respondents.
Researchers conducted interviews with five respondents to find out their responses directly. Table 4 shows the
results of the interview respondents.
Table 4. Interview results

Question Answer
How do you feel R1: I can see the real
after using the condition of the campus
virtual campus environment and can enter
tour application? every room. As if I felt I was
in the real place, even though
it was through virtual reality.
R2: Exciting sir. This
application provides
information on the rooms on
campus.
R3: If we want to know a
place and we have never been
to that place, with this VR
application we can feel
directly like the real place.
This application can be as
navigation. Interesting and
add experience.
R4: This VR is exciting and
this is the first time using it.
Very memorable experience
after using this VR.
R5: This application is
exciting because we do not
need to go somewhere, no
need to pay money, save time,
and be flexible.
In your opinion, R1: I strongly agree because
is this VR VR can clarify or simplify the
application concept of learning provided
interesting to be by the teacher. This VR can
implemented in be applied in the learning
learning? environment, for example
natural environment. We can
use VR without having to
invite students to leave the
classroom.
R2: This application is
exciting because it can pass
through space and time. For
example, students want to
learn about Borobudur
temple. Students do not need
to go there because it will cost
much money.

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Question Answer
R3: This VR can be
developed to explore
Indonesia. This application
can be used to promote tourist
destinations in Indonesia.
R4: VR can be implemented
in science learning. For
example, students are
introduced to the sea without
having to go to sea.
R5: VR can be applied in a
variety of learning, for
example, science learning. For
example, we want to study the
materials on Earth without
having to look at them
directly.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
The use of virtual reality provides another alternative as a campus promotion media by providing an in-depth
experience for users. This application provides an alternative for users to quickly get around famous without
having to visit the campus physical building. For the development of prototypes, other campus facilities need to
be added as well as adding brief information for each place. Besides, it is necessary to add a digital guide that
contains instructions on how to navigate through the application. In the next research, researchers suggest
taking a higher number of respondents so that the final product will meet the requirements of most users.

V. REFERENCES
[1] Getso, M. M. A., & Bakon, K. A. (2017). Virtual Reality in Education: the Future of Learning.
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[2] Hu Au, E., & Lee, J. J. (2017). Virtual reality in education: a tool for learning in the experience age.
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[3] Mealy, P. (2018). Virtual & Augmented Reality For Dummies. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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[8] Mills, G. E., & Gay, L. R. (2016). Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications
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