Immersive Lab Collaboration Spaces | Engineering and Computing Education Core | College of Engineering

Welcome and Objectives

Welcome to the College of Engineering Microsoft and Steelcase Immersive Lab spaces! You will be introduced to the Immersive Labs and how to take full advantage of these spaces to support your teaching and learning.

The Immersive Labs are new to the College of Engineering and we hope you enjoy using them. These rooms are designed to be flexible collaboration spaces capable of suiting a team's specific needs. As we walk through how to use the furniture provided by Steelcase and the Microsoft technology offered in these rooms, the most important takeaway for you is that you are in charge of how they should be used! We will show you the basics of the flexible spaces, but will also rely on your feedback to provide insight into how you like to use these rooms best (See the Tips and Tricks from Fellow Immersive Lab Users!).

Objective

After completing this introduction, you will be able to use the Immersive Lab spaces, including the Steelcase furniture, technology provided by Microsoft, and support resources offered through the College of Engineering.

To-Do

Explore each step of this page as we walk through how to use the Immersive Lab spaces, including reading and watching the included text and videos.

Feedback

Provide your feedback on using the Immersive Lab space here.

Step 1: Get Introduced to the Immersive Lab

The Immersive Labs are new to the College of Engineering and are a collaborative effort between Microsoft and Steelcase. Watch the short 1-minute video to see a brief overview of how this collaboration has been used by others and how they can be used in the Immersive Labs.

Step 2: Explore the Immersive Lab Design Possibilities

One of the most creative aspects of the Immersive Labs is how flexible the rooms are. These spaces support various learning and teaching activities and team collaborations. Watch the 2-minute video for some insights into the functionality of the furniture and technology in the Immersive labs.

Next, let's take a look at what's included in the Immersive labs. Below you can see two possibilities for how they can be set up based on your needs and group activities. We strongly encourage you to set up and re-design the Immersive Labs in whatever way works best for you! As you look at the schematics of these designs think about the types of activities you will use the Immersive Labs for, including working on group design projects, practicing for presentations, and brainstorming ideas. Think about how you might use the flexible furniture and technology in these spaces to collaborate with your teammates. Next, read through the descriptions of each design to familiarize yourself with all the room offers.

Collaborative space — **Design 1 description**: The collaborative space on the left is centered around the wall-mounted Surface Hub with a camera. The large tall tables are standing/tall-stool height to encourage interaction and sharing on the Surface Hub. This room is designed into 2-3 flexible zones which encourage virtual in-person and collaboration. The space on the right shows a high perching bench with stools and an integrated table with power for easy laptop charging near writable boards on the walls. The Surface Hub on Roam cart is mobile and can move throughout the room for students and faculty to interact. They can synchronously share and develop ideas in real-time whether together in the room or connecting remotely on the Roam cart. Writable and tackable boards on the walls also encourage ideation. A wall-mounted document camera captures and shares whiteboard and tackboard content with remote students. The assortment of carts and stands hold supplies, equipment and the writable boards/tack boards which can be easily moved to create openness or division if 2 separate groups are meeting. The Surface Studio 2 is in each room on a height-adjustable table which can be rotated into a studio mode. The black Flex Mobile Power (cheese grater-like objects) provides charging power to users wherever they sit. They have a proprietary charging base to discourage theft.

Immersive lab alternate — **Design 2 description**: The wall-mounted Surface Hub with a camera on the left wall can become the stage for the entire room. Most of the furniture in the room is on wheels and mobile so everything can be rolled and turned to face the left Surface Hub for presentations or share-fairs. The room easily converts from 2-3 zones into a tiered seating arrangement and hosts virtual or in-person presentations or collaboration no matter how the presenter is making themselves present. The Surface Hub on Roam cart is mobile and can move throughout the room for students and faculty to interact. They can synchronously share and develop ideas in real-time whether together in the room or connecting remotely on the Roam cart. The assortment of carts and stands hold supplies, equipment and the writable boards/tack boards become wallpaper for information persistence as a reminder of where the build-up of thinking left off. The Surface Studio 2 is on a height-adjustable table which can be rotated into a studio mode. Content can be shared on all connected devices for live demos. The black Flex Mobile Power (cheese grater-like objects) provides charging power to users wherever they sit. They have a proprietary charging base to discourage theft.

Step 3: Review the Immersive Lab User Guidelines

This page includes some guidance on using the Immersive Labs. Please read through these guidelines carefully, and reach out to the College of Engineering support resources if you have questions.

All equipment, technology, and furniture must remain in the room at all times (including Surface Hub styluses, portable whiteboards, etc.)
The Immersive Labs are open 24hrs a day, but are reserved during certain blocks of time. You can view the reservation calendar and make a reservation by filling out an online reservation form, or you can access the link through the Check Immersive Lab Availability. Note, if there is no one in the room you are free to use them on a first-come first-served basis
While you are free to redesign/setup the space in a way that best suites you and your groups needs please keep the room neat and tidy and refrain from eating or drinking in the Immersive Lab spaces
For IT assistance, please contact: Christopher Steffen chris.steffen@unl.edu
For guidance on how the Microsoft technology can be used to support your team's collaboration, please contact: Yaoling Wang yaoling.wang@unl.edu or Nathan Pindell npindell2@unl.edu
For all other questions, please contact: Amie Sommers, asommers2@unl.edu