VIB needs little introduction in the scientific community. Based out of the Tech Lane Ghent Science Park, VIB’s university researchers work every day to unravel the mysteries of the building blocks of life in humans, plants and microorganisms.

Recently, the construction of VIB’s brand-new Center for Brain & Disease Research was completed. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization decided to scale down the festivities related to its opening. An alternative would have to be found for the planned formal on-site opening.

To celebrate the milestone, VIB’s called on our management team. Perhaps we knew a way to capture the new labs and introduce their teams to the world? Sure we did!

We sat down with the VIB team to decide on how we should approach their virtual tour. Our team came up with another idea: team vlogs, fully integrated in the tour. VIB had been very keen on finding a way to introduce the people whose groundbreaking research is often overshadowed by the institutions and the high-tech buildings they work in. Who are the people in the research teams really and what do they work on? Using spontaneous, unscripted videos, shot by the team members themselves, we’d be able to put a name to the faces behind the anonymous lab coats.

First things first: our photographers and developers made sure to build a high-resolution virtual tour of the new premises, including clear navigation that helps visitors to get an insight into the advanced machinery used at the institution.

In addition, we made sure to prominently feature a series of vlogs throughout the virtual tour. Each team is introduced by one of its members in an unrehearsed video. This worked out just as planned: unscripted selfie-style video works out much better than a classic corporate video with well-rehearsed lines.

• Custom virtual tours in two languages.
• Three virtual visitor paths, tailored to different visitor types.
• Integration of clickable team vlogs throughout the tour.
• Lightning-fast project completion: from intake meeting to website in 6 weeks.
• Average time spent on site of 3,5 minutes per visitor.

VIB received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback upon the launch of the virtual tour – both from academia and outside. The new building and its teams have now both been thrust into the limelight. We’re all set for a follow-up project of other university research institutions, which all deserve to step out of the shadows and introduce them to the wider world!