Purdue Global offering virtual reality commencement

INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — A first-of-its-kind pilot program will allow some Purdue University Global graduates to participate virtually in commencement ceremonies. Over 400 students will be involved in graduation ceremonies in Los Angeles on February 27, but 75 others will don Purdue Global branded headsets and participate virtually with the help of an Insta360 Pro 2 camera and YouTube 360.

“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. “When the ceremony begins, they will feel like they are in the procession line marching with the on-site graduates. 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.”

The ceremony will be streamed live and the virtual experience will be launched from the university’s created conference center, PG Connect. The university worked with George Takahashi, who is the lead visualization scientist for ITaP’s Research Computing Envision Center on the West Lafayette campus. 

“This journey started almost two years ago, and we have enjoyed the learning process and benefited from our collaboration with colleagues at the Envision Center,” Pelletier said. “Like our graduates, we persisted toward our goal and discovered other benefits our Purdue Global community can build on for the future.”

Graduates from Concord Law School and the schools of Business, Technology and Health Sciences will walk during a 6 p.m. EST ceremony, followed by graduates of the schools of Education, Nursing and Social and Behavioral Sciences at 9 p.m. EST.