With four geographically separate campuses, the University of Minnesota sought to establish a sense of community among its students, teaching staff and administration.

The strategy was to set up Axis network cameras aimed at central locations on each of the campuses. A special display showing the four different live campus views was then installed at the Gateway Center at the Minneapolis campus, enabling students to catch a glimpse of the day-to-day life of their fellow students.

The use of the Axis network cameras achieved its desired result - i.e. to increase the awareness of and identification with the University system as a whole. The display consistently attracted a large audience of interested students, personnel and guests. As staff at the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) became involved in the project, they began to think of additional applications for the network cameras.