In the past I’ve posted here regularly, however this past academic year has been a challenge to day the least. First and foremost, COVID, however I also purchased a home and moved in October, and then there’s all the difficult losses of this past year with the past 6 months being the hardest. Still, while my interest in technology remains constant my focus to write about it has been tough to gather. Here I am now, a few weeks from my second vaccine dose, spring is popping, and I’m feeling optimistic and ready to share.
When I was a kid many folks thought the future would bring the availability of wild new transportation options. Check this out! It’s a drone you can ride like a hoverboard!
While you may not be able to buy one yourself this looks like the future we were promised! Now, I don’t want to think of falling off of this device, which is maybe why in the first video the pilot is using it over a small pond. Still, it’s pretty cool and I would try it given the opportunity!
The Digital Commons computer lab in the BCC Library is ready for the semester! The library officially opened last week and ever since students have been trickling in to use our resources. It’s not the normal volume of students by any means, and there are many new safety measures in place to make sure everyone stays safe. Here are some of the changes and additions you will see in the Digital Commons.
Look at that bucket of wipes!
Everyone coming to campus must wear a mask and follow all COVID-19 policies — NO EXCEPTIONS!
Every other computer, or computers within 6 feet of another, are closed down to enable social distancing
Plexiglas barrier at the Lab Assistant desk
Tons of wipes and hand sanitizer, literally buckets!
Antibacterial/antiviral spray and paper towels
Stickers on the floor in high traffic areas to encourage social distancing.
A maximum of 15 people at any one time are allowed within the Digital Commons
Facilities will be through to clean and sanitize surfaces twice a day with a fogging machine used every evening after closing
And also very important — we ask that all students wipe down desks, keyboards, and mice after using them.
The Library was also fortunate enough to be able to purchase a Book Sanitizer machine which uses UV light and is capable of cleaning up to 6 books at a time. We also plan on using it to sanitize some electronic devices, such as headphones and laptops. Check out this video below using it to sterilize a used textbook from the Bookstore!
There will also be several ways for students to get technology help from the Digital Commons. There will be a staff of Lab Assistants working at the desk, but it will be fewer than usual and their shifts will not overlap as much. There will also be Remote Lab Assistants, available by Zoom on a set schedule to meet with you about your technology questions. Students looking to schedule a 15 minute remote help appointment with me can still do so by using this link here.
One of the very best parts of my job is getting to explore new ways to use technology. Recently BCC’s Marketing group and I teamed up with STEM to help create a Virtual Tour of campus that can be experienced in 360 video or VR. That project should be completed very soon and the final editing is underway.
For some time now there has been discussion of creating a web tour of the BCC Nature Trail. Now that we have some new equipment, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out using that equipment for a different project. Last week a small team of us got together and hit all 16 stops on the Nature Trail, put down the 360/VR camera and took some video — or at least that was our plan! It turns out that nature has it’s own plans (as always) and some of the stops we couldn’t locate because the maker posts were gone. Stage two of this project is to replace the missing and worn posts, but if we can afford it we would like to replace every post.
Here’s the first test made from the video we captured. It’s 4 of the stops just edited together to see how it looks. In the first part don’t mind us creeping around in the back. One of the challenges with VR is once you start the camera, where do you go if you don’t want to be in the frame? We found ourselves hiding behind trees and staying quiet, which I found to be rather therapeutic and meditative.
There is one thing I will be changing next time I do this, and that is to use a smaller tripod. This tripod is so large it seems to show up in most of the shots. There is also a spot near the end where the trees are too close to the camera, causing some less than perfect stitching. All things to improve for next time. One of our eventual ideas is to capture video of all four seasons in the same locations on the trail. The audio is also quite loud, so I will be adjusting that before the final editing.
BCC Orchard from 200 feet
After capturing all the VR video, the weather was gorgeous and it was time for some drone flying. First up was some video of the Nature Trail itself and the buildings on campus.
Next, I turned my attention once again to the newly planted BCC Orchard. Some overhead top down shots were requested for the donors so they could better see the organization. Here’s what one of those looks like, click the image to see a larger view.
I’m always excited to have an opportunity to fly on campus, especially when the weather is so good as it was this day. I shared the video files with our Marketing team so who knows, they might very well end up in another BCC commercial.
