From an Idea to an Experience: Creating UWA’s Interactive Digital Guest Book

THE BRIEF

Work alongside The University of Western Australia (UWA) to develop an interactive experience for students attending UWA Graduations, allowing them to capture a message for their future selves at one of the most significant milestones in their university journey.

UWA initially approached Vivid Media with the idea of creating an Audio Guest Book, where graduating students could pick up a telephone handset and record a personal message reflecting on their university experience, their achievements, and what they hoped the future might hold.

We loved the concept but saw an opportunity to extend it further.

Rather than capturing audio alone, we proposed creating an Interactive Digital Video Guest Book that would allow students to record both video and audio while still maintaining the familiar and nostalgic experience of speaking through a traditional telephone-style handset.

The objective was to create an experience that was:

• Personal and meaningful

• Easy for graduating students to use

• Visually aligned with UWA branding

• Capable of capturing both video and audio

• Able to provide students with their recording digitally

• Developed and delivered within a tight five-week timeframe

Most importantly, the activation needed to create something students could keep and potentially look back on many years after graduation.

THE SOLUTION

Vivid Media worked closely with the UWA Events and Brand teams, together with Gettin Hectic, to develop the concept, physical design, visual presentation and guest experience.

Building on UWA's original Audio Guest Book idea, we developed an Interactive Digital Video Guest Book that combined a wall-mounted digital interface with a retro-style telephone handset.

Graduating students could approach the activation, follow the on-screen instructions, pick up the handset and record a message to their future selves.

While they spoke into the handset, the system simultaneously captured a video of the student, creating a much more personal record of the moment.

This meant their message didn't just capture their voice. It captured:

• What they looked like on graduation day

• What they were wearing

• Their personality and emotions in the moment

• Their hopes and ambitions for the future

• A snapshot of who they were at the time they graduated

Once the recording was complete, students could send the video to themselves digitally, allowing them to download and save their message to revisit in the future.

One of the biggest considerations was the timeframe. The entire concept needed to move from an initial idea through development, testing, branding, fabrication and delivery in approximately five weeks.

Rather than attempting to develop completely new software from scratch, we looked at existing technologies and how they could be combined and adapted to create a new experience.

By bringing together existing hardware, software and event technology in a different way, we were able to develop a customised solution for UWA within the required timeframe.

The activation was developed around:

• Video and audio message recording

• Traditional telephone handset interaction

• Simple on-screen guest instructions

• Digital delivery of each student's recording

• Custom UWA-branded visuals

• Wall-mounted interactive units

• A user-friendly experience suitable for high-volume graduation events

• Integration of existing technologies into a completely new activation concept

THE OUTCOME

The finished Interactive Digital Guest Book transformed UWA's original Audio Guest Book idea into a more immersive and personal graduation experience.

Students were able to capture a message at a unique point in their lives – having completed their studies and preparing to take the next step into their careers and futures.

Unlike a traditional graduation photograph, the recordings captured more than what the day looked like. They captured what that moment felt like.

Students could speak about what they had achieved, where they hoped life might take them and what advice they wanted to leave for their future selves, before receiving a digital copy of their video to keep.

The collaboration between UWA, Vivid Media and Gettin Hectic demonstrated what can be achieved when a strong initial idea is combined with creative thinking, existing technology and collaborative development.

It was also a great example of our approach at Vivid Media. Innovation doesn't always mean developing completely new technology. Sometimes it means taking technology that already exists, looking at it differently, and finding a new way to bring an idea to life.

From the initial conversation to the completed activation, the entire project was developed in just five weeks, creating a unique graduation experience designed to live well beyond the event itself.

A message recorded today, waiting for their future self to press play.