Creating a Digital Escape Room: Entertainment and Training in a 360-Degree Reality

Traditional activities in the digital era are constantly redesigned to keep up with fast growing technology. The escape room is one such activity that has evolved as a popular, entertaining, and educational tool in both entertainment and training situations. Let's look at how to make a digital escape room using a 360 camera and Google Forms. 

What is the purpose of a digital escape room?

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Digital escape rooms provide an immersive experience that not only entertains but also helps to improve teamwork and problem-solving abilities. It enhances learning in a training situation by placing theoretical information into practical, real-world circumstances.

Equipment Required

You'll need the following items to create a digital escape room:

- A 360-degree camera: These cameras record panoramic pictures, delivering a realistic and immersive experience. Devices such as the GoPro Max or the Ricoh Theta V are potential options.

- Google Forms: This is a free tool for creating interactive surveys, which were used to lead players through the escape room.

- Virtual Tour Software: To stitch the 360-degree photos together into a tour. Kuula and CloudPano are also viable solutions.

Step 1: Create an Escape Room

Planning is the initial step in designing a digital escape room. Choose a subject, a tale, and puzzles that complement the story. The subject might be anything from a haunted home to a detective novel, or it could be a particular training situation in the workplace. Make sure the riddles are difficult yet doable, and that they contribute to the story's advancement. 

Step 2: Take 360-Degree Images

After you've sketched the story and structure of your escape room, it's time to set up your physical environment and photograph it with a 360-degree camera. Make certain that each section of your space is well-lit and that the main items are easily seen. 

Step 3: Make a Virtual Tour

Import the photographs into a virtual tour program once you've captured them. Here, you stitch the photographs together to create a 360-degree perspective of each space. You may also include hotspots, which are interactive places that, when clicked, reveal clues or riddles.

Step 4: Create Puzzles Using Google Forms

Google Forms is the interactive component of your virtual escape room. Create a distinct Google Form for each puzzle or activity, using either multiple-choice or short answer questions. When a player solves a problem, the Google Form may link them to the URL for the next area, allowing them to proceed in the game.

Step 5: Connect Google Forms to the Virtual Tour

Following that, connect the Google Forms to the locations in your virtual tour. When a participant clicks on a hotspot, the matching Google Form appears, posing a challenge or providing a hint.

Step 6: Test and Improve

Make care to test your digital escape room before deploying it. Examine the hotspots' operation, the clarity of the riddles, and the Google Forms redirections. Request that a few friends or coworkers go through the escape room to confirm that everything runs properly and that it is entertaining.

Having Fun with Digital Escape Rooms

Your digital escape room might include daring or intriguing themes for entertainment reasons. The riddles should be enjoyable and demanding, putting players' lateral thinking abilities to the test. A creative plot, thrilling music, and captivating images may all contribute to the game's enjoyment and excitement.

Training Using Digital Escape Rooms

When utilized for training, the digital escape room must have a setting that is relevant to the learning objectives. In a business context, for example, the escape room may imitate a crisis management scenario. The puzzles might represent difficulties that put participants' knowledge of the training content to the test. Align the tasks in the digital escape room with the learning goals of your training program to maximize efficacy. This may be beneficial.  Trainees have a more vivid understanding of theoretical ideas, which improves knowledge retention and application.

A digital escape room that combines a 360-degree camera with Google Forms offers a rich, engaging platform for both entertainment and teaching. While it provides unlimited entertainment for individuals looking for exciting encounters, it is also an effective instrument for immersive, interactive learning. A digital escape room's success is dependent on meticulous preparation, an engaging story, inventive riddles, and faultless technological execution.