On the VirBELA Open Campus, you will be able to interact with any other user on the VirBELA platform. You will be provided with an access code so you can access a private team suite which is a bespoke area that only University of Sunderland students and staff can access.
Within our private team suites you will be able to meet other students and get guidance from staff, take part in events and quizzes, and even attend an online Freshers Fair.
Once registered you can explore the Virbela Open Campus to help familiarise yourself with the platform although once familiar and you have your access code, you should move over to the private team suites.
To access the Virtual Freshers Welcome Week area you will need to access a private suite.
Please note if you are a new student you will receive an email from 11th September giving you an access code to the Private Team Suite, allowing you access to the Freshers Welcome Week area.
There will be full access to VirBELA - including interaction with our new students, the Students Union and academics - from Monday 14 September.
Every time you log in to our Virtual Campus you will arrive in the same place. You can then navigate using your directional arrows to walk freely as well as by clicking your mouse in the place you want to walk to. You can also quickly access and jump in and out of rooms using the quick 'Go To' options where you can simply click the go to menu, click on the room and jump straight in.
When you hover your mouse over a place your avatar can walk to, an icon of a person will appear. When you left-click on the area and your avatar will walk to the icon. If you click somewhere else on the ground mid-walk, your avatar will change paths and walk to the new point.
By default, the camera is locked behind the avatar and follows their movement. By unlocking the camera, you can use the mouse to look around. Your avatar’s head will tilt in the direction you are looking. A white icon will appear in the bottom of the screen to indicate the camera is unlocked. You can toggle the camera lock by tapping your spacebar.
To access the freshers private team suite, click go to towards the top left of the screen and What do users do?
Please note that students will be provided with their Team Suite access code via email nearer the launch date.
You can develop your Avatar now before the University of Sunderland Freshers Welcome Week opens on the 14 September. You can also change your Avatar name and add any pronouns you may prefer by clicking your name in the top left blue menu then clicking Profile.
There will be full access to VirBELA - including interaction with our new students, the Students Union and academics - from Monday 14 September.