From an in-person event of about 60 students to an online expo with more than 12,000 student logins

(AI assistant)

Answers use only the designated data, and every line cites a source

(Challenge)

Extensive information, and no easy way to show how many choices exist

The 289 exchange schools are spread across every continent, and the information is extensive and complex. An ordinary one-page site struggles to show that many schools at once, and the page rarely looks tidy.

The expo aims to convey the information simply and clearly and to draw students to apply for exchange. The core message challenges an assumption in one line: everyone has a chance to go on exchange.

(Approach)

A 3D world map shows every school, and a one-page site carries the details

Many online exhibitions now use VR, which suits a sense of space. Finishing a full VR exhibition takes many steps, though, visitors get lost easily, and the content is mostly images and video, which suits large amounts of text poorly.

The home page is therefore a 3D world map that shows how many schools there are at a glance. Complex information goes into a one-page site that is easier to read. A map also invites students to explore independently and makes the visit feel more like walking an expo floor.

On the front end, Three.js renders the 3D models in the browser, and parameters such as swipe speed, map size, boundaries and damping were tuned by hand so that controls behave as expected on every device. To protect performance, the scene uses no real-time lighting. Lighting is baked into textures, shadows under the map tiles are image files kept as small as possible, and the look carries a slight pixel-art feel.

Desktop

The whole world first, then step by step into each continent

The home page opens with clouds and paper planes. Pressing Start exploring flies the camera into the 3D world map, and a six-step tutorial covers the world map, finding schools, application requirements, senior students’ experiences, the AI assistant and favorites. After that, the scroll wheel zooms and dragging pans, flying from the full view into each continent, where schools stand as small houses on the map tiles. The menu gathers programs and live streams, events, announcements, the calendar, the school catalog and partner institutions.

(Key design)

Three key designs

School information

Points and raffle pages are tucked into a modal instead of sitting on the map page. This separates the student-only activity from the rest of the content, and visitors who are not students feel little gap. School information can be explored on the map or browsed as a list with filters, and school quizzes in the modal help students learn about each school.

(Back office)

During the event, the back office starts with what needs handling

After login, the first thing shown is what needs handling, followed by trends and upcoming sessions. Each metric opens to its full calculation, using the same definition as the data queries.

(Result)

Over four years, participating students grew from about 60 to more than 12,000

From 2022 to 2026, the expo moved from an in-person event of about 60 participating students to an online expo with more than 12,000 student logins. In one edition, 2,000 students logged in with student email accounts within 7 days of opening. Site views for all of the previous year totaled 100,000, and that edition passed the figure in just 10 days. Live broadcast views also set a new record.

More than 20% of logged-in students browsed the site for over 7 consecutive days, the longest single visit lasted 3 hours, and more than 10% of students stayed over 2 hours in a single visit.

School roofs and bodies are designed to suit the tone of each continent, and varied combinations keep the scenery from feeling repetitive. The opening pairs a soaring flyover sound with an original score, carrying visitors from the whole world to each region.

(Client note)