Students Develop VR Campus Tour of Lehigh U

A group of students at Lehigh University (LU) have created a virtual reality (VR) app that allows potential students to tour the campus from their mobile devices.

Vertra offers a 360-degree view of LU’s buildings, laboratories, Greek houses as well as popular off-campus attractions.

“The app arose from a group project for an entrepreneurship class taught by professors Joshua Ehrig and James Peterson,” according to a report from The Brown and White, LU’s student newspaper. “The project was originally going to be on virtual reality concert streaming, but the creators wanted to make a product people would need instead.”

Vertra’s creators – students Asanté Asiedu, Nick Zambas and Alex Spiezio – are in talks with other universities to create similar products for their campuses.

To view the VR campus tour, visit the Vertra site.

About the Author

Sri Ravipati is Web producer for THE Journal and Campus Technology. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • abstract pattern with interconnected blue nodes and lines forming neural network shapes, overlaid with semi-transparent bars and circular data points

    Data, AI Lead Educause Top 10 List for 2025

    Educause recently released its annual Top 10 list of the most important technology issues facing colleges and universities in the coming year, with a familiar trio leading the bunch: data, analytics, and AI. But the report presents these critical technologies through a new lens: restoring trust in higher education.

  • person signing a bill at a desk with a faint glow around the document. A tablet and laptop are subtly visible in the background, with soft colors and minimal digital elements

    California Governor Signs AI Content Safeguards into Law

    California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially signed off on a series of landmark artificial intelligence bills, signaling the state’s latest efforts to regulate the burgeoning technology, particularly in response to the misuse of sexually explicit deepfakes. The legislation is aimed at mitigating the risks posed by AI-generated content, as concerns grow over the technology's potential to manipulate images, videos, and voices in ways that could cause significant harm.

  • Man wearing headset working on a computer

    Internet2: Network Routing Security and RPKI Adoption in Research and Education

    We ask James Deaton, vice president of network services, about Internet2's initiatives and leadership efforts to promote routing security and RPKI adoption in research and higher education networks.

  • a hobbyist in casual clothes holds a hammer and a toolbox, building a DIY structure that symbolizes an AI model

    Ditch the DIY Approach to AI on Campus

    Institutions that do not adopt AI will quickly fall behind. The question is, how can colleges and universities do this systematically, securely, cost-effectively, and efficiently?