Photo provided: A CNBC crew shoots video of CITL's Jamie Nelson (at laptop in center) using the video wall in CITL's Innovation Studio in April. The video was used as B-roll for a story about criminal activity in the metaverse.

When a CNBC crew needed some help creating a technology-related news story, they turned to the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning at the University of Illinois.

“They were doing a piece on scams in the metaverse, and they wanted to shoot some video of people using virtual reality and other emerging technology,” says Jamie Nelson, CITL’s Assistant Director of Emerging Educational Technology.

The video footage, taken in CITL’s Innovation Studio, was used as B-roll in the story, “Cybercriminals target metaverse investors with phishing scams,” which aired during a CNBC Tech segment on May 26, 2022. Watch the story here.

After exchanging several emails with Emmy-award winning producer Paige Tortorelli and being vetted by CNBC officials, Nelson invited Tortorelli and her crew to the Innovation Studio. They drove down from Chicago in April and spent about five hours shooting video.

They’d say, ‘Hey, let’s do a shot of Sandbox,' and I’d put it up on the video wall,” Nelson recalled.

He also recorded about two hours of footage on his computer and sent it to the crew.

The B-roll used in the story includes shots of Sandbox, Decentraland, and Superland playing on the video wall.

Nelson laughed when he saw a shot of his hand manipulating an image on the tabletop computer.  It’s featured in one of the article’s photos with the caption, “A screen grab of the metaverse, a set of interactive, virtual platforms in which users can buy and develop land.”

Nelson said the crew found CITL and the Innovation Studio when they were searching for a suitable VR lab online. After talking with him, they learned he had knowledge of the metaverse and experience with Decentraland and the other platforms while looking for applications in higher education.

“I’m thrilled that CITL came up in their search and that they determined we had the expertise in innovation and new and disruptive technologies to be of help them,” he said.

Drop by the Innovation Studio in Room 172 Armory Building or contact us to learn about virtual reality, 3-D printing, laser cutting, drones, and other emerging technologies and how you can apply them to your teaching, learning, and research.