Morehouse College, Aetho to Launch 3D Interactive Campus Using Mobile Edge Computing with Verizon 5G and AWS Wavelength

ATLANTA—Morehouse College has teamed up with augmented reality technology company Aetho, the makers of Beame, to create a 3D, fully interactive, online version of its campus to create a more inclusive admissions experience for students interested in attending the highly-ranked, historically Black college. Using this new platform, financially challenged or geographically distributed prospective students can virtually tour the campus in personalized meetings with admissions counselors, one-on-one or with loved ones, creating an experience that feels like an in-person visit without incurring the expense of traveling. The College’s move to merge innovation and technology in its recruitment and admissions process positions Morehouse as a leader among historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in creating greater accessibility to the campus to a wide range of students from all backgrounds, while being an early adopter to a new strategy to attract and retain the best and brightest students.

Beame provides augmented reality and extended reality communication and collaboration to deliver meaningful engagements through photorealistic 3D avatars. 

“By using augmented reality and other extended reality platforms to extend our integration of education and cutting-edge technologies into the admissions process, Morehouse College continues to reimagine the student experience from prospect through graduation," said José Mallabo, vice president for marketing, communications, and admissions and chief revenue officer. "Building a widely-accessible interactive engagement on the 5G Edge spatial computing platform is an evolution of Morehouse's historic traditions as a trailblazer and innovator in higher education."

The experience uses Verizon 5G Edge, a real-time cloud computing platform, with AWS Wavelength which brings AWS compute and storage services to the edge of Verizon’s wireless network. The combination minimizes the latency and network hops required to connect from an application hosted on AWS to the end user’s device. WithVerizon 5G Edge and AWS Wavelength, Beame is enabling Morehouse College, an HBCU, to offer students and prospects a high-fidelity co-presence experience with super low latency. Using Beame’s application on their smartphone or AR headset, students and prospects can be teleported into an XR experience and interact with Morehouse ambassadors and admissions staff in near real-time.

“With 5G and MEC, we saw material performance improvements in retaining nearly instantaneous co-presence, which really helps bring the XR experience to life,” said Harrison Lee, chief executive officer of Aetho.

To view a first cut of the 3D Morehouse College campus, click here.