Teaching with PILLAR

Classroom activities allow students to practice viewing landscapes from the perspective of a designer right from the start of their studies and from a variety of geographic planting regions. While work in the field is obviously invaluable, this extension of access to its benefits clearly presents an unparalleled opportunity for teaching rising professionals.

Further, exposure to both consumption and creation tools in the immersive content space provides a path to increased digital fluency – and opportunities for continuing use of related technologies within professional practice upon graduation.

Course Assignments

Viewing Assignment

Students are given Meta Quest 2 headsets (2022-2024).
Students were given Cardboard-compatible headsets (Destek V5s in 2020-2021).

Students are provided with the following instructions:

1. In the Meta Quest browser, visit thinglink.com/vr and enter the code for the Arboretum tour.
  1. On your phone, follow the link to the Arboretum tour on Thinglink.
2. Adjust your volume to a comfortable level with or without earbuds.
  2. On the top right, select the Cardboard (goggle) option.
  3. Ensure that your phone screen isn’t locked then rotate your phone and place it into the headset.
3. (4.) Put your headset on, look towards the play button and, using the headset toggle, select it.

Students observe the environment at their own pace after listening to audio narration content.

Tour Creation Assignment

[Download Full PDF Assignment]

The first step for creating a scene is to view an existing 360˚ image supplied by the instructor in the shared folder.
With your image displaying in the viewer, select Create in upper right hand of screen and then choose upload 360/tour.
Click on file icon and select your 360 photo. When loaded hit continue.
Click on the 360 picture in your files window.
At the top right hand of the screen are control icons. Toggle over each and view names. Use rename to name your tour.
Hit the pencil icon to edit.
Look around the picture and choose a design element to either discuss or create interactive question.
Choose a plant to highlight.
Click on settings > advanced > set initial direction to create opening view.
Click add tag > and add to your design element.
Click add tag, choose tour.
Click on destination, upload second 360 picture (your design element) and select.
Add a title in text (this only allows limited text, 18 letters).
Under conditional transition create a question about your principle or element, and correct answer. Hit Done when finished.
Add another tag on your plant highlight, choose add content from website.