HARRISBURG, PA — Thanks to novel technologies and the dedication of faculty and students, the classrooms and labs at Harrisburg University of Science & Technology (HU) are now accessible online in extraordinary detail. With the launch of HU’s new virtual campus 3D tours, prospective students, parents, and partners can now walk the halls of HU using a phone, laptop, or VR headset from anywhere in the world.
The project, led by HU alum and corporate faculty member Matthew Rissler, spans more than 90 interconnected spaces and continues to grow. Visitors don’t watch a video or click static photos; they move through the campus in a continuous, walkable environment that lives entirely in a web browser.
“In-person visits are powerful, but uncertainty often holds people back,” Rissler said. “When people can see what’s there ahead of time, they’re far more likely to show up.”
The Technology Behind the Tour
The tours were built on Arrival.Space, a platform that uses a technique called 3D Gaussian Splatting to translate real-world scans into navigable digital environments. The result is closer to a video game than a photograph: depth, scale, and spatial relationships are preserved, and visitors can stop, turn, and explore at their own pace.
For Rissler, the leap in quality from HU’s earlier 3D tour attempts has been dramatic. “The difference in quality and functionality between what we could do two or three years ago and what we have now in Arrival.Space is staggering,” he said.
Lisa Maria Egger, Co-Founder and COO of Arrival.Space, said HU’s deployment is one of the most ambitious uses of the platform to date. “Visitors don’t guess anymore,” Egger wrote on LinkedIn. “They understand the campus before ever setting foot on it.”
A Student-Built Project
The tour was an interdisciplinary effort that drew on HU students’ distinctive skillsets at every step. Jahlil Livingston (Advanced Manufacturing & Robotics ’27) and Erick Peña (Interactive Media ’26) handled 3D scanning across dozens of locations on campus. Greg Devoney (Game Design ’27) contributed builds that brought the spaces to life, including a minicar track set up in the university lobby, now permanently captured in the digital twin.
“How many people get to set up a minicar track in a university lobby?” asked Rissler. “That’s the kind of project students get to be part of here.”
Seeing Is Believing: Showcasing Cutting-Edge Programs
Static photos can show a classroom. But they can’t show what happens inside HU’s most active learning spaces. The virtual 3D tour gives prospective students a way to walk through the labs that anchor several of HU’s most hands-on programs.
In the Advanced Manufacturing & Robotics (ADMA) Metal Lab, visitors can examine the HAAS UMC750 Additive Hybrid with Meltio technology — a centerpiece machine in HU’s advanced manufacturing program — along with dozens of other industry-defining manufacturing assets.
The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program’s labs and classrooms are also part of the tour. Students in the Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science program engage with many of the same spaces, where coursework in anatomy, physiology, and human movement comes to life.
“If you notice the skeleton beside my avatar at the beginning, that’s not decoration,” Rissler said. “It’s part of the hands-on learning that happens here as students study anatomy, physiology, and movement.”
A Personal Return
For Professor Rissler, the project closes a loop. He first set foot on HU’s campus as a prospective student more than a decade ago, in the very auditorium now featured in the tour.
“This auditorium is where I decided to attend Harrisburg University for my BS in Nanobiotechnology,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Sitting right in that front-row seat in 2010, I changed my trajectory.”
Today, Rissler said, the aim is to make that moment available to anyone, anywhere.
“This is a place where students don’t just get an opportunity to change their trajectory,” he said. “They learn to lead.”
Experience the full Harrisburg University Virtual 3D Tour today.
Would you like to know more about the academic experiences powered by these spaces? Start a conversation with the Admissions Team.
Want to work with Harrisburg University faculty, staff, and students to create a virtual 3D tour experience for your own institution or organization? Contact Professor Matthew Rissler.
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ABOUT HARRISBURG UNIVERSITY
Harrisburg University of Science & Technology (HU) is an independent, nonprofit university offering degrees in advanced manufacturing, engineering, robotics, nursing, cybersecurity, and other critical fields. Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, HU serves a diverse student body through bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs that link learning and research with practical applications. For information about HU’s affordable STEM degrees and professional development programs, call 717.901.5146 or email Connect@HarrisburgU.edu. Stay in the know by following Harrisburg University on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
MEDIA CONTACT
Do you have questions about this story? Interested in lining up an interview? Please contact Dan Wilhelm, Director of Communications for Harrisburg University, at DWilhelm@HarrisburgU.edu or 717.901.5100×1724.
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