Our college students are gathered in front of the College of Society building’s lawn. Everybody is watching on their cell phones with smiling faces. Then, some of them change their sight, and some of them start to run away. 

On March 31st, Pusan National University (PNU) Dept. of Library, Archive & Information Studies (LAIS) had a welcome party for freshmen. The students participated in "Mission Archive," the AR (Augmented Reality) game around the buildings of the College of Society and libraries. After that, in the Sung-Hak Building, they continued introducing freshmen and professors, welcoming greetings, face-to-face meetings, and AR mission challenges.

The main part of the event was obviously, "Mission Archive." This AR game is to find hints around the College of Society buildings, the SaeByukBul Library, the Central Library, and some of the laboratories with teammates. The hints will appear when students get to a specific place by using the GPS system on their phones. The game consists of "How to Ride the School Bus," "How to Use the Libraries," and more things that can help first-year students. If students get them correct, the score will be saved automatically.

This event was planned by the LAIS student council, "Mun-Jung-Teuk-Geup." The welcome party for freshmen, which has not been held for the past three years due to COVID-19, is decorated this time with a special meaning of enjoying the fun of college life. The role of programming "Mission Archive" was taken by Professor Park Kyung-Min's research team, at the Institute of Mechanical Technology. Prof. Park said, "I hope that this event will allow students to become closer with technology, rather than think of it as an inaccessible area. Also, I hope that digital literacy capabilities will be strengthened, even a little."

The response from students who actually participated, the freshmen of this year, was warm. Kim Na-Young (22, Dept. of LAIS) said, "It was a meaningful and fun time with seniors and classmates." Lee Chae-Young (22, Dept. of LAIS) said, "I really enjoyed both playing games and getting useful information."

The person in charge of "Moon-Jung-Teuk-Geup" said, "Metaverse is a hot keyword these days. So, I decided that programming games mixing Metaverse and AR would be a great memory for students and also for student councils."

Reporter Im Ha-Eun

Translated by Yun Chae-Eun