The Class of 2023: Hinds Community College, Workforce Division

Cindy Davis
·4 min read
The HCC Workforce Division agreed to use their space to showcase the rapidly evolving world of extended reality (XR) for education and training, with the goal of opening as soon as possible.
The HCC Workforce Division agreed to use their space to showcase the rapidly evolving world of extended reality (XR) for education and training, with the goal of opening as soon as possible.
“Our vision was to develop a space that would bring awareness to the use of AR/VR for employee training and put it in the hands of local business and industry, as well as to offer classes in XR content development,” said Hinds Community College Workforce systems administrator Corey Durham (pictured on right).
“Our vision was to develop a space that would bring awareness to the use of AR/VR for employee training and put it in the hands of local business and industry, as well as to offer classes in XR content development,” said Hinds Community College Workforce systems administrator Corey Durham (pictured on right).

AV/IT TEAM: Corey Durham, workforce systems administrator

GOALS: The Workforce Division of Hinds Community College (HCC) aligns community members with local jobs and fulfills training needs for local industry and business partners. In 2020, HCC joined an expansive development project that would transform a historic building in Vicksburg, Mississippi into a state-of-the-art accelerated technology transfer center. The Senator Thad Cochran Mississippi Center for Innovation and Technology (MCITy) was scheduled to be fully operational in Spring 2023. The HCC Workforce Division agreed to use their space to showcase the rapidly evolving world of extended reality (XR) for education and training, with the goal of opening as soon as possible.

Students learn how to develop augmented reality content in the Center’s lab spaces, using the 86-inch ViewBoard interactive displays to collaborate and create.
Students learn how to develop augmented reality content in the Center’s lab spaces, using the 86-inch ViewBoard interactive displays to collaborate and create.

CHALLENGES: “Our vision was to develop a space that would bring awareness to the use of AR/VR for employee training and put it in the hands of local business and industry, as well as to offer classes in XR content development,” said Workforce systems administrator Corey Durham. “Businesses are facing a constant revolving door of employees and they can’t keep up with the training needs. When companies use XR to help prepare workers, they conserve resources and reduce turnover.”

The scope of the plan encompassed four distinct areas: A central demo center would showcase the capabilities of XR for training, and would therefore require a large display to make visible the modules trainees would experience through their headsets; and then three labs would serve as facilities for teaching AR content development, providing specific employee training experiences. These labs needed interactive displays to facilitate engagement and collaborative learning. All of this hardware needed to be reliable, commercial-grade tech capable of meeting the Center’s anticipated high demand.

EQUIPMENT SNAPSHOT

ViewSonic 135-inch LD135-151 direct-view LED display, ViewSonic 86-inch ViewBoard IFP8662 high-performance 4K touchscreen displays, ViewSonic VB-STND-003 motorized trolley carts with 90-degree tilt

FINAL INSTALL/USER BENEFITS: Wilkins brought in large screens and interactive displays from several manufacturers for Durham to test out. According to Durham, the ViewSonic products clearly stood out from the rest. “One thing that sold me on the ViewSonic products was the versatility of the equipment—how much we could do with it and how integrated it could be,” he said. “We wanted modularity and integrated products from a sole provider, and ViewSonic was the only manufacturer we looked at that had everything we needed.”

The demonstration room called for a large and eye-catching display that could draw visitors in and quickly raise awareness on the impact of XR. A 135-inch ViewSonic LD135-151 direct-view LED display provided this critical focal point. Two 86-inch ViewSonic ViewBoard IFP8662 high-performance 4K touchscreen displays in the back of the room provided additional training and learning stations.

The classroom labs required interactivity and the versatility to use the displays vertically for presentations and training, and horizontally as a tabletop for collaborative design development. These rooms were outfitted with the 86-inch ViewBoard IFP8662 interactive displays mounted on ViewSonic VB-STND-003 motorized trolley carts with 90-degree tilt.

Students learn how to develop augmented reality content in the Center’s lab spaces, using the 86-inch ViewBoard interactive displays to collaborate and create. Integrated conferencing equipment enables companies to virtually teach extended reality courses, while the ability to cast content onto the screens lets students and instructors easily share content. Additionally, students, trainees, and visitors alike are treated to a continuous flow of vibrant, rolling content on the showcase display—from ads and publication outtakes to clips from HCC’s VR training content.

[ Check out more from The Class of 2023: The AV/IT Teams of Higher Ed ]