Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) and High Tech Campus Eindhoven have kicked off a collaboration through 3EALITY. DAE’s Trans Realities Lab and 3EALITY will work together on the Hybrid Lab research project, which is led by DAE and initiated to investigate the application of networked XR environments for distributed collaborative design. The Creative Europe Programme of the European Union supports the project.
The Hybrid Lab research project will deploy a networked XR (eXtended Reality) environment in which a series of design-build challenges will be executed. The environment will be used not only as a digital twin (for virtual scouting and in-situ testing of models) but also as a real-time platform for distanced collaboration between the researchers, designers and clients. As part of the collaboration, a digital twin of a part of the High Tech Campus is being developed, and a physical outdoor object will be virtually designed and prototyped. This object is scheduled to be built and installed in 2025, just outside HTC 37, the home of the 3EALITY hub.
Industry and design collaboration
Dr. Ian Biscoe, Professor of Transdisciplinary Design Networks: “In the Trans Realities Lab at DAE, we are investigating future applications of the ‘metaverse’ and spatial web technologies. We have a shared vision of the potential for networked applications of XR in industry and design collaboration, so I am excited that we have put this into practice by engaging the High Tech Campus and the 3EALITY hub in our Hybrid Lab research program. I’m confident that the initiative will create new opportunities in design and technology, creative academia working with industry, to exploit the real potential of XR in our region.”
Philipp Werle, Innovation Manager Emerging Tech at High Tech Campus Eindhoven: “We anticipate a shift in the required skillsets of employees in the future. To support that shift, one of the goals of the 3EALITY hub is to connect with academic institutions that apply digital twinning and immersive technology solutions with students in their research projects. We are very happy to join Dr. Ian Biscoe’s research project. Additionally, we aim to bridge the creative and tech worlds through this collaboration.”
Hybrid digital environment
The Trans Realities Lab (TRL), imagined and developed by Dr. Biscoe and his research team, is a hybrid digital environment for research, and a space for students to engage with research facilities, and approaches informed by the exploration of new technologies. A transdisciplinary approach is key to all lab activities. It examines how XR and Al can foster new methodologies to support collaborative practice across disciplines and geographies. Increasing complexities in digitally mediated and hybridized realities present challenges and opportunities to traditional user interaction and navigation modes. The lab supports practical and theoretical approaches to testing new roles for the designer.
The 3EALITY hub, focused on Spatial Computing, Immersive Technologies and digital twinning, recently opened its doors. It fosters a community of innovators who work on applications and business models. The hub supports partners and residents in showcasing business solutions and educates the market by organizing events.
