Case Study: Stockton University’s 3D Virtual Housing Tour

We spoke with Dr. Steven Radwanski who gave us some insight related to the creation of a new 3D virtual tour option for Stockton University. Dr. Radwanski has been the Executive Director of Residence Life at Stockton University since 2016. Having worked within student housing and residence life for 14 years, Dr. Radwanski is a respected professional within the industry.

Stockton University was founded in 1969 and is a four-year masters level university in Southern New Jersey and enrolls more than 9,200 undergraduate and graduate students. Stockton also houses more than 3,500 students between the Galloway and Atlantic City campuses. Stockton has more than 2,900 beds on the Galloway campus composed of traditional residential hall floors for first-year students. Across from the university’s beloved Lake Fred, there are apartments with shared and single rooms for sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students. The university also owns a property called Chris Gaupp housing, which is located a mile from the Galloway campus. Chris Gaupp housing was most recently used to house healthcare workers working at the regional hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the university’s apartments have full kitchens including ranges, ovens, and full-size refrigerators.

Stockton’s student housing was originally located in the May Flower hotel in Atlantic City while the Galloway campus was being built in 1969. In 2018 the university, in collaboration with A.C. Devco., opened a 533-bed residence hall on the historical Atlantic City boardwalk, the John F. Scarpa Academic building, and a parking garage. A second 416 bed residence hall in Atlantic City is currently being constructed with an estimated completion during Summer 2023.

VIVID MEDIA: What was the tour process prior to Vivid? Was there an online viewing option or in-person only?

DR. RADWANSKI: Prior to using Vivid Media, residential life used a 3D floor planner modeling system and created each of the room layouts by scratch, which was a time intensive process anytime the floor plans changed.  The 3D floor planner was also a rendering of the room and did not provide a true depiction of where students would call their home. Another great feature, that is not used as much as it should be, is the measuring tool found within the program. Anyone viewing the tour can measure areas, accurately to get an idea of how much space is between beds, or how big desks and chairs are. This allows students and their families the ability to better plan for move-in.

VIVID MEDIA: What was the impetus behind deciding to have a 3D virtual tour?

DR. RADWANSKI: I have a passion and a love for new and emerging technologies, and I was introduced to Vivid Media by Tricia and George Kelly, our Associate Director at the time, and her husband who is a part of Keller Williams Reality in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Tricia and George had purchased the equipment and provided a demo of room on campus, and it was everything we had hoped for in a true 3D tour. George operated the technology and was able to complete the rendering of the room quickly. My initial thought was that I wanted to own and be able to produce our own content. However, after some research and realizing the limited time and ability we had, we worked with Vivid Media to schedule a time to visit campus.

VIVID MEDIA: Tell us about the filming process and some of the benefits of the tour you found helpful.

DR. RADWANSKI: The team filmed every residence hall we had in two to three days and then within a week all of our information was available to view on the website. I especially appreciate the ability to tag important things, such as the size of the beds and different quirks about different style rooms. Another added benefit is that Vivid Media hosts the content in the cloud with their services, which provides a very seamless experience for our end-users (i.e., students and their families).

VIVID MEDIA: What were some of the successful outcomes that occurred as a result of having the virtual tour?

DR. RADWANSKI: Our tour room page is our most visited page on our website by a lot! Vivid media also does a very good job of providing analytics on demand and will provide viewing information as a whole. This can also be broken down into what is being view individually. The cost of hosting and producing the 3D virtual tour is very reasonable and is one of the best investments I have made in my professional career. I value this because it not only benefits myself and the institution, but the students and families that will be coming to Stockton to get a better sense of the rooms and apartments. In the Summer of 2023 when our second residence hall is finished being built I have plans to utilize Vivid Media to shoot, scan, and create a virtual tour of the entire building so students can really get a feel for the building.

A special thank you to Stockton University and Dr. Steven Radwanski for allowing us to showcase their campus!

We encourage you to view Stockton University’s virtual tour by clicking HERE. 

Please contact us if you would like to explore more about creating a 3D virtual tour tour of your student housing facilities or enhancing the one that you currently have.

Vivid Media LLC is a multimedia company specializing in creating interactive virtual tours across multiple industries. Our mission is to deliver a high-quality product and service at a fair price. Our tours are of the highest quality, customizable, and include the most cutting-edge features.