Campus in metaverse for open day ‘in cyberspace’

THE campus of a Glasgow college has been recreated on Minecraft as the educational establishment prepares to host the world’s first open day “in cyberspace”.

The entire Glasgow Clyde College Langside Campus, in the city’s Southside, has been reproduced in minute detail, creating an environment which gamers can interact with and explore.

The iconic main building, theatre, gym, five-a-side pitches and student hubs all feature in this huge map.

As experts predict that, by 2030, we’ll be spending more time in virtual worlds than the real world, the college is offering a glimpse into the future by launching the UK’s first ever interactive metaverse open day.

Pupils considering college will be able to “log on” to the virtual Langside Campus and attend the open day.

Here, they’ll hear from college staff and avatars, and they will be able to ask questions on courses, admissions and career pathways as well as advice on how to sign up or access funding.

John Rafferty, deputy principal at Glasgow Clyde College, said: “Thousands of school pupils will be finishing their final exams this week, considering those all-important next steps.

“Open days are a really key part of this decisionmaking process, a chance to get a glimpse of the places you might be studying in next.

“Many of these pupils already have one foot in the metaverse and we wanted to bring our world into theirs, showing off the best Glasgow Clyde College has to offer as a realm they can explore from their gaming console.

“In the next decade many young people expect to be working in jobs, spending money and regularly socialising with friends entirely online so we’re proud to be the first college in the UK to host a 3D open day in cyberspace.”

For those who don’t have access to Minecraft, the college will also live stream the event on its Twitch channel where questions can be put to staff in the live chat.

The open day goes live on June 1 at 4pm and is accessible via the Minecraft server [IP address: 51.195.205.148] and the Glasgow Clyde College Twitch channel.