Esports and Experiential AV | AV for Access
Ah fall, the leaves are turning colors (slowly,) the smell of burning logs is in the air, and the students are turning their UHauls into cabriolets on low hanging bridges (aka getting Storrowed.) Ok that last one might just be a Boston thing. But what else does fall bring us? A return to classes and college sports. We, as AV professionals have a role in both and both can be used to make education more equitable and accessible, not just for individuals with disabilities but for people of varying financial means as well.
In a previous job, we sent live camera operators to film classes in place of a lecture capture system. One of the classes I did that for, an art class, included a colleague of the professor’s sending photos from a recent trip to Italy which the instructor put together into a narrative walkthrough of various art galleries, palaces, and plazas. The instructor then used these to teach her classes as though they were gallery tours rather than just discussing the art. By doing that, she could highlight the setting in which the art was found in addition to giving a broader context. While this may not be experiential AV in the strictest sense, it certainly gives a hint at what can be done in to enhance education.
So what would a truly experiential classroom look like, and how would it allow for greater accessibility. I’d like to propose two options. First, and perhaps most obviously, would be a room designed with projection mapping to all walls, like the travelling Downton Abby exhibition a few years ago or the Mori digital art museum in Japan. Students would be able to “visit” distant locations to further enrich their study. This, naturally, benefits students with limited financial means since travel is costly and rarely covered by financial aid. It also allows for greater access to materials and locations which may not be accessible to students with disabilities.
In the pandemic / post-pandemic world, traditional classrooms need to be rethought and personalized learning is something we should look deeper at. Therefore a second option would be to take the idea of a student recording space and expand it to an immersive space for one or two students to use. This could be either with small bezel video walls on all four walls or with projection mapping depending on the space and cost. That could be used either for immersive learning experiences or for students to develop and curate their own immersive projects.
So now, then, to e-sports. Look, I grew up in Boston and went to Boston University. They haven’t had a football program since 1997 and their biggest athletic draw is Hockey. So how can I see e-sports as a way to improve access when my experience with college athletics has been sitting in the stands at a game and watching people skate around? Let me explain!
One of the things that continues to lag in educational accessibility is cost. Sure,the top tier schools can offer full ride scholarships to students based on their ability to get in, but what about others? And of course, lets not forget, that there is a very small number of people who can qualify for an athletics scholarship, naturally. So perhaps e-sports fills a double void then.
To my way of thinking, not only are schools able to increase the amount of scholarships they can offer, but they can expand the pool of students who qualify. See, athletic scholarships o to traditional athletes, generally people who fit the Charlie Agganis/Mike Eruzione mold, young and non-disabled. If expanded acceptance of e-sports in higher ed, and with them scholarships, we could see a wider variety of people who qualify for athletic scholarships. And to those who say its not really sports, I would point to NASCAR running virtual races last year and the penchant of the Red Sox clubhouse for Fortnite. It’s about shaping perception, as is all accessibility, to make our schools a more accepting place.