New Uni prospectus jumps out at you

Published by

Nicky Godding

An Evesham business has helped the University of Gloucestershire create an innovative, interactive prospectus where students can discover hidden digital content by looking at the publication’s pages through their smart-phones.

Evesham-based Areca Design, developed the mobile augmented reality app to allow students to take a virtual tour of the university's campus buildings. Past students spring to life from the printed-pages, appearing as animated avatars to enthuse about their time at the Uni, along with video-footage of the campus and classrooms. A 3D carousel of works of art, hovering over the Prospectus, illustrates the creativity of the University’s students.

Richard Leatherdale, from the Marketing and Student Recruitment Department at the University of Gloucestershire, said: “We approached Mick and the team at Areca Design about developing an app to help prospective students access our content in an engaging, relevant way. Working with this technology was a new venture for us. We needed somebody that we could trust to make sure the product was delivered as we needed it to be. We are all delighted with the end app and are all looking forward to finding ways to continue its development with Areca Design.”

Mick Hurst, Managing Director of Areca Design added: “Augmented reality apps have become the perfect way to drive customers from print, adverts, exhibitions or packages, into your world of digital – be it on-line or in-app.”

Areca also works with global engineering organisations, local government, tourist destinations, sporting arenas and business networks.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.