innovation award

Here is what Brent’s nominator said about him:

“To protect our current residents’ security and privacy and because demand for on-campus housing means we have no vacant inventory during the academic year, University Housing made the strategic shift to a virtual tour experience in spring 2024.

University Housing’s web developer principal, Brent Betz, spearheaded the creation of the virtual tour, which modernizes our approach to showcasing our residence halls—replacing traditional in-person tours with a convenient and immersive digital experience.

This initiative aims to enhance customer service by providing detailed and immersive insights for prospective residents and their supporters. The virtual tour also serves as a valuable reference for staff, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information is readily available. Its ability to create a sense of place and alignment with current technology trends makes it a strategic move in fostering a positive impression of University Housing. Because Brent created it from scratch using the department’s 360-degree camera and drone, updates to content are easy, fast and—best of all—free.

To begin the project, Brent met with and collected input from stakeholders within University Housing and across campus. He also analyzed virtual tour content from peer institutions to determine best practices and tools to make the tour efficient and effective for users.

Brent’s next step was purchasing the technology needed to complete the tour. The department already owned a 360-degree camera but, when Brent determined hiring a photographer to capture a drone image would cost more than a drone itself, University Housing became the owners of a drone. We now have the option to use this drone for other PR projects and to conduct visual inspections of building roofs and eaves that were previously unreachable by our facilities team. This is a great example of how Brent’s innovation and consideration of university resources benefitted the department.

Comparable virtual tours used by peer institutions created by outside vendors were tens of thousands of dollars, but Brent researched and customized already available open-source code for the project. He collaborated with the housing PR team to determine points of interest and spaces to capture with the 360-degree camera and adapted the code to fit the department’s needs.

Brent’s efforts meant months of planning virtual paths through each building and capturing building exteriors, student rooms, lobbies, bathrooms, hallways, study lounges and more with the 360-degree camera to give viewers the best sense of the spaces. Brent worked early mornings to ensure he could photograph spaces without students and was planful in taking exterior photos over the spring and summer to ensure campus looked its best. He also used AI to remove flyers, trash or other blemishes on the images so each stop on the tour shows University Housing in its best light.

The biggest benefit of Brent’s innovative approach to the virtual tour is our ability to easily update images as we update spaces. Since the tour’s launch in late April 2024, he has already captured new images of several spaces to reflect renovations, refreshed paint, new furniture and flooring. If we had used an outside vendor for the project, we would have to pay each time we requested an updated photo.

This is the second project Brent has custom built—the first were our digital signs. His commitment to innovation and consideration of the department’s resources are a huge benefit to University Housing and its residents. With nearly 39,000 views since its launch, the virtual tour has become one of the department’s most valuable tools.”