The 360-degree virtual tour was developed to address a specific and significant challenge in international student recruitment: how to give prospective students, particularly those based overseas, a genuine sense of what it feels like to be at Otago before they commit to travelling here. A photograph of a building communicates architecture. A 360-degree tour communicates place. That distinction matters enormously for students making one of the largest decisions of their lives.

Uthakhamkong led the project over three months, managing all aspects of production in alignment with the University’s broader strategic marketing plan. The scope of the tour is comprehensive: the main Dunedin campus buildings and academic facilities, all residential colleges and halls of accommodation, and a selection of Dunedin city destinations that reflect the lifestyle and environment students would be entering, including Larnach Castle, St Clair Beach, Mt Cargill, Signal Hill, and Otago Harbour.

Production used professional-grade equipment throughout. Aerial coverage was captured using the DJI Mavic 3 Pro Cine Premium Combo, providing the cinematic image quality that the University’s brand standards require at altitude. Ground-level and interior 360-degree coverage was captured using Insta360 camera systems. Post-production included image refinement and privacy compliance work in Adobe Photoshop, ensuring that all images met the University’s privacy protocols before publication.

The finished tour is hosted on CloudPano, providing smooth, browser-based navigation with interactive elements including embedded location descriptions, wayfinding tools, and hotspot links throughout the map. The platform gives users the ability to navigate freely between locations, building a genuine spatial understanding of the campus and its surroundings in a way that a linear video cannot achieve.

Since its launch on 18 April 2025, the 360-degree campus tour has received over 193,432 views, establishing itself as a significant brand and recruitment asset for the University. It functions both as a practical information resource for students planning their transition to Otago and as a brand experience that communicates the quality and distinctiveness of the Otago environment. For a project with a production timeline of three months, the reach and engagement it has achieved reflects both the quality of the content and the genuine demand it addresses.