When reality extends from Hollywood to the Sunshine Coast

The University of the Sunshine Coast and extended reality company HavenXR are fast-tracking local students in the new technology that merges both the physical and virtual worlds.

HavenXR and the University of the Sunshine Coast have partnered to create the first MIT-style innovation lab on campus,

A new partnership between the University of the Sunshine Coast and extended reality company HavenXR will fast-track local students into the emerging $80bn industry.

UniSC’s new global virtual reality design studio – the first MIT FabLab in Queensland with advanced technologies – will help students build XR experiences in collaboration with HavenXR, such as swimming with migrating humpback whales along K’gari or walking with Kabi Kabi elders through the rainforests of the Sunshine Coast.

Extended reality or XR mixes augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality to create an immersive, cinematic experience that merges both the physical and virtual worlds.

UniSC design student Liam McMichael, who also works at HavenXR, is helping to deliver the studio’s first major project – an immersive experience for shoppers at malls across Asia, which will first be launched in Malaysia in September.

“When I first started studying design, I never thought this was what I would be doing in my third year, but I’m very comfortable now going straight into a career,” McMichael says.

He designs 3D-printed devices that helps sensors locate a user in the virtual environment. “It’s a very cutting-edge environment. I can work and problem-solve with the HavenXR team and then 3D print and see my work almost immediately, rather than just seeing it on a computer screen.”

HavenXR moved to Queensland from Hollywood in 2022, partly due to the installation of an international broadband submarine cable to the Sunshine Coast, and quickly launched a partnership with UniSC.

HavenXR chief executive Tracy Whitelaw said the partnership provided “the perfect environment to incubate design talent from here and overseas”.

“We want to hire from the local area, develop talent through UniSC, and relocate world-class experts to the Sunshine Coast, all the while keeping the central hub at the University,” she said.

“To encourage this, we are co-designing with UniSC and embedding industry experts to teach in the undergraduate programs.

“And to foster innovation, we are developing research to explore the design of ethical technologies and virtual experiences in healthcare, the future of entertainment, and the role of virtual reality in global conservation.”

UniSC pro vice-chancellor (Global and Engagement) Alex Elibank Murray said the partnership was an “exceptional opportunity for our students to have work-integrated learning opportunities scaffolded throughout their degree”.