Projects
Hybrid Metaverse Framework for Interactive and Gamified Virtual Campus Tours
Comprehensive Summary
A VR application built in Unity for Meta Quest where prospective students can explore a virtual university campus and interact with AI-powered NPCs (via Convai) to learn about the institution. The system supports real-time multiplayer and task-based gamification to drive engagement. Research was conducted qualitatively using open-ended surveys, expert interviews, and structured VR user testing, with findings validated through NVivo thematic analysis.
Project Justification
Traditional campus tours and open days remain the most influential touchpoint in a prospective student’s decision-making journey, yet they are fundamentally limited by geography, scheduling, and accessibility — excluding a significant portion of interested students, particularly international applicants, from experiencing the institution firsthand. Existing virtual tour solutions fail to adequately address this gap, offering little beyond passive 360° walkthroughs that lack interactivity, human connection, and the sense of presence that makes a physical visit compelling.
This project was developed to reimagine that experience entirely. By combining immersive VR on the Meta Quest platform, AI-powered conversational NPCs via Convai, real-time multiplayer, and task-based gamification, prospective students can explore the campus naturally, get questions answered instantly, and share the experience with others — replicating the emotional and informational value of an in-person visit without the physical constraints. All design decisions were grounded in qualitative research through open-ended surveys, expert interviews, and structured VR user testing, with findings validated via NVivo thematic analysis, ensuring the solution was built around genuine user needs rather than assumption.
Objectives
1. To design and develop an immersive VR campus tour experience on the Meta Quest platform that enables prospective students to explore the university environment without physical or geographical constraints.
2. To integrate AI-powered NPC interactions via Convai and real-time multiplayer functionality to simulate the social and informational touchpoints of an authentic in-person campus visit.
3. To evaluate the effectiveness and user experience of the VR campus tour through qualitative research methods — including open-ended surveys, expert interviews, and structured user testing — and validate findings through NVivo thematic analysis.
Phases Of Work
Preliminary Research
Design and Development
User Testing
Evaluation Metrics
The effectiveness of the Hybrid Metaverse Campus Tour was measured across four key dimensions: presence and immersion, NPC interaction quality, user engagement, and system usability. Participants were evaluated on their ability to navigate the virtual campus independently, successfully complete gamified tasks, and meaningfully interact with AI-powered NPCs through natural conversation — with response accuracy and contextual relevance of the Convai-driven NPCs recorded as a core performance indicator. Multiplayer functionality was assessed through session stability and the quality of shared exploration experiences between concurrent users. Overall user experience was captured through structured open-ended surveys and expert interviews, with all qualitative findings processed and validated through NVivo thematic analysis — providing a rigorous, evidence-based measure of whether the platform successfully replicates the informational and emotional value of a real campus visit for prospective students.
Estimated Budget
Malaysian Ringgit
Project Timeline
PRELIMINARY RESEARCH & LITERATURE REVIEW
October 2023PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH METHODOLOGY DESIGN
February 2024CAMPUS 3D ENVIRONMENT MODELLING & ASSET CREATION
May 2024CORE VR APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT IN UNITY
August 2024AI NPC INTEGRATION & MULTIPLAYER SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
November 2024GAMIFICATION MECHANICS & TASK-BASED SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
February 2025USER TESTING, EXPERT INTERVIEWS & NVIVO THEMATIC ANALYSIS
June 2025FINAL BUILD, THESIS DOCUMENTATION & PROJECT SUBMISSION
February 2026Get Started
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