A new Global Positioning System (GPS) self-touring device called the GPS Ranger has been introduced by the Cal Poly admissions department as a supplement to the Poly Reps tours. Cal Poly is the first college or university in the nation to use GPS Ranger technology to provide campus tours to the public.
Campus visitors who either miss the daily 11 a.m. tour or would prefer to look around campus on their own can rent the Ranger from the admissions office for no charge. The device senses where the visitor is walking on campus and provides a virtual host to inform the visitor about the location.
“We wanted to provide options for when we don’t have tour guides available to students,” said James Maraviglia, assistant vice president for admissions, recruitment and financial aid. “When we don’t have the people to provide tours, we just wanted another tool set. That’s what the GPS Ranger is, it’s another tool set that we have here that, if you think about it, could be available 24/7, 365 in the future.”
The new technology, which boasts a touch-screen menu to navigate a campus map, delivers short informative videos about various buildings throughout campus. BarZ Adventures Inc., creator of the GPS Ranger, usually provides this technology to national parks, zoos and historic cities.
The planning for the tour system began spring quarter of last year. Al Nunez Jr., associate director of communications, said the planning process took four to six months to prepare for the debut in fall of last year.
The project was very “student-centric,” he said. Students from the Admissions Media Development Team, a student-run program, decided everything from which buildings would be included in the tour to filming and editing of the video footage, Nunez Jr. said.
“In a lot of things we do, we want to make sure that the information going out to prospective students has a student perspective,” Nunez said of the student involvement in the project.
Even the host of the video tours was a Cal Poly student. Cal Poly alumni Michael Leaky was chosen to be the face of the GPS Ranger because of his active involvement in Poly Reps and campus promotional materials while a student at the university.
“He was a very natural choice,” Nunez said. “We just thought he created a lot of personality and represented the university well.”
Not every building is included in the tour. The team initially chose a number of buildings that would be easily recognizable to members of the outside public. In the future, they hope to expand the tour.
“We went through and chose major landmarks, buildings that are most recognizable,” said Nunez. We are going to be expanding the tour for different areas and we’ll be diversifying the tours so maybe one tour will be for a specific program of a college or a specific program area of the university.”
Nunez speculated that the specialized tours could be available within the next six months, but added that other recruitment initiatives could delay the appearance of the new tours.
Kristen Calderwood, Poly Rep and graphic communications senior, thinks the GPS Rangers are a good addition to the admission’s department.
“I think that the devices are a great idea,” she said. “It’s sometimes hard for people traveling to make it to the 11:10 a.m. tour, and we’re not like other campuses that give tours all day. So it’s a great innovation that takes the stress off of Poly Reps to give tours all day and lets people explore the campus on their own, even as an addition to a Poly Reps tour.”
So far, the public response to the GPS Rangers has also been positive.
“We’ve had some great responses from the public,” Nunez said. “People appreciate the fact that they’re still going to be led around even though there isn’t a live body there. There is still Mike on the video to convey the personality and the unique things about Cal Poly that only a student could tell you.”
Calderwood said that the GPS Ranger helps Poly Reps as well.
“You should try walking backward for 90 minutes on our campus. Doing that once or twice a day is all I can do!” she said.