Forum Discussion
Creating a virtual whare experience using 360 camera and Articulate Storyline
A virtual whare or marae is a Māori word meaning a building that serves as the spiritual and social heart of a community. The need to share this experience represented an exciting opportunity to extend the values, stories, and cultural richness of a marae into a digital environment using Articulate Storyline and a 360 camera.
This made it more accessible to learners, staff, and communities regardless of location. It showed how we could use technology respectfully to support cultural connection, learning, engagement, and whakawhanaungatanga, while ensuring that tikanga, authenticity, and community ownership remain at the heart of the experience.
We'd love to hear your feedback on how you think we did! View the live link here:
https://www.careerforce.org.nz/virtual-whare/
3 Replies
Thanks for sharing. My exposure to NZ is contained to Moana and BENEE so this was a treat to explore.
The main interface is sensible and easy to use. The course is a bit small on the careerforce page (I have no option to maximize the course) so the UI buttons seem a little small to me.
And perhaps ironically, once I get through the controls guide and to the first 360 image, the info buttons seem very large. Their pulsing white rings take up a large amount of space. I know for now I'm only looking at a gate by a parking lot, but I want to see as much of these pictures as possible.
I do think there may be an opportunity for some trivia. Maybe there's a dedicated "optional info" marker that appears on some images, providing cool facts about the place? For some learners, that can encourage deeper exploration of the 360 images. Currently, the markers are all a bit clustered together on most slides, which may inadvertently discourage looking around.
I get the impression the images were subtly enhanced with post-processing. They all look really good. Kudos to the photographers and editors. I really like the map, and the menu looks really good. Very cool project.
Now to find some NZ artists who want their music featured...
I love it CathyGillespie-. Thank you so much for sharing this! I added an image to your post here. Feel free to adjust that.
I agree with Andrew's comments about the buttons seeming a little large, especially with the white rings. I also think there is an opportunity to space them out a little more to encourage more exploration.
I also wonder if there's a way for the quiz questions to flow a little more intuitively, or if the beginning info session could explain the quiz icon. It felt a little abrupt to stumble upon one while exploring in the current setup.
Overall, very immersive and engaging, and a really cool example!
What a fantastic project! The videos add so much value and really bring everything to life!
I lived in New Zealand for 10 months and took part in a few Haka workshops as part of a world record attempt. That’s how I got to learn a little bit about the Māori language. But your project offers so much more insight into the language and culture, even from But your project lets us discover so much more about the language and culture, even from halfway across the world!
