Technovation Tales–Virtual Reality 5K Running and Photo Exhibits
Technology can bring innovation to our lives but its role in a large institution must be regimented for it to be fully utilized. Sometimes this comes at the expense of further, more serendipitous innovations that may otherwise arise. “Technovation” (technology + innovation) is a strategy to bring back some of those free-forming serendipitous connections. It’s a concept that challenges IT staff to identify a problem, and with pure creative brainstorming, find solutions that might be possible through cross-team collaboration and unconventional thinking.
Technovation takes place in a technology innovation incubator, or “technovator” for short. In the technovator, IT staff use both high-tech and low-tech tools to collaborate on problem solving. Though there was no physical technovator this past year, that certainly did not stop the IT staff from “technovating.” When COVID-19 forced the world to work remotely, the Technovation team saw an opportunity to solve their own space problem and discovered a virtual collaboration online environment called Frame VR. This tool let the team—made up of a dynamic volunteer group of IT staff—collaborate virtually on their first project.
Think of Frame VR as a combination of the collaboration voice and video functionality of Zoom, combined with the virtual presence available from online video games. Team members customized their 3D “avatar,” selected a virtual space to meet, and were able to use chat, video, virtual whiteboards, and photo uploading to interact with each other in this new digital world.
While Frame VR was a great help to the Technovation team, they saw its potential to help others in the university and applied those ideas to the effort. The team tried out many use-cases but with experimentation being what it is, the concepts didn’t always pan out. One was for a virtual help desk that proved unfeasible. But as all good scientists understand, success can be cloaked in failure.
“Technovation is failing forward. So, if something doesn’t work, it’s okay, because we’re learning from that experience and taking another step forward,” said Zack Ronald, who is also a core member of the Technovation team. The team is also made up of Lisa Link, Senior Web Designer/Developer, John Mazzarella, interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT Client Services, Jouliana Bosneva, Instructional Designer, and Matt McCubbin, IT Accessibility Coordinator. Also, on the team and heavily involved in the creative aspects of the Frame projects are student employees Donna Kimmel, Abhinav Bountra, and Ssam Samidinov.
Two Technovation projects that had great success were the Krystle Campbell Marathon Memorial, and the IT Student Photo Project.
Krystle Campbell Marathon Frame and the IT Virtual 5K
This past April 2021 the Technovation team created a Frame to help University Advancement promote the Krystle Campbell Scholarship fundraiser and the accompanying virtual 5K. John Mazzarella created a virtual roadway graphic in the space leading the viewer through a gallery of past fundraiser photos, and Donna Kimmel found a 360 photo of the Boston skyline for atmosphere. Abhinav Bountra thought a photo exhibit would enhance the project and made valuable technical contributions in implementing it. Heather TECHNOVATION Virtual Reality 5K Running and Photo Exhibits Technovation Tales Brigham, Director of College Engagement for University Advancement and Alumni Engagement, suggested the addition of photos of runners from previous Marathons and a tribute photo of Krystle Campbell, a UMass Boston alumnus who tragically lost her life in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
Zack Ronald had the idea for the Technovation team to participate in the 5K as a group, and John Mazzarella extended the challenge to the entire IT department. All told, 24 people associated with IT, including student employees, and friends and family of IT members, participated in the 5K and raised $400 for the cause.
When you bring everybody in a room together to collaborate, it’s not just breaking down silos, it’s making everybody feel like they’re part of a team.
Zack Ronald, Academic Technology Specialist
“It’s no coincidence that when we used the Frame to promote the 5K that it raised more funds than it had in the past,” said Brigham.
Due to the success of this year’s 5K, the university hosted a hybrid in-person and virtual 5K in October 2021.
Student Photo Art Gallery Project Frames
For the past seven years, the IT Student Photo Project has been a way for IT student employees to document the ways technology impacted their lives as UMass Boston students, with project photographs exhibited in the atrium and hallways outside the computer labs in the upper level of Healey Library.
When COVID-19 hit, the Technovation team worked over the summer to build a virtual art exhibit and held a gallery opening in Frame in September 2020. This unique event was attended by staff, students and alumni alike. Lisa Link, Donna Kimmel, Abhinav Bountra, and Ssam Samidinov created a virtual exhibit to showcase seven years of student photography, 3D models and innovative spaces, such as a Makerspace, and showing it within the Frame in true Technovation style. Then, along with student intern Eleanor Mouzafarov, the team worked to create a second gallery event in Spring 2021. Its theme was personal reflections on the remote learning experience during COVID-19, entitled “UMB Enclosed.” This not only garnered more traffic, but also positive responses from representatives of the company that makes Frame VR.
But even after this creative success, the Technovation team stayed inspired by the spirit of innovation. When it was discovered that Frame is not properly accessible to blind people, the team found a way to ensure that all users are included using a companion blog. On it, every aspect of every Frame is described and uploaded to the site, which can be presented in an accessible manner for participants who are blind or have limited vision.
With Frame, there are unlimited possibilities for what anyone involved in the university can do in their area of interest. Students and faculty teaching and learning in a hybrid modality are likely to find this meeting space refreshing after spending too much time in traditional tools like Zoom. The athletics department is already interested in using Frame, and another Frame has recently been created for the university’s Student Leadership Awards event.
“There are so many bright minds in IT,” said Ronald. “When you bring everybody in a room together to collaborate, it’s not just breaking down silos, it’s making everybody feel like they’re part of a team.”