The minister of economic development Simon Bridges as officially opened Wellington’s virtual and mixed reality centre, Projectr, announced last September.
The foundation partner is Wellington City Council. Founding tenants include AR/MR production studio Mixt, the New Zealand VR/AR Association, ShowHow VR training platform, Synty Studios, BeVR, Swibo, StaplesVR, Imersia and the New Zealand Game Developers Association.
Projectr said a key point of difference from any other shared workspaces was that co-working residents would have access to mentors, shared work space and the ability to work on collaborative R&D projects within the centre.
International mentors include the head of VR at HTC Vive, Vinay Narayan, partner program manager for education at Microsoft, Dan Ayoub and local experts from Weta Workshop and Victoria University. Other key partners include Ernst and Young, Ricoh, AWS and Crestline.
Councillor Simon Marsh, economic development portfolio lead at Wellington City Council, said the centre presented an opportunity to showcase Wellington’s creative ability on a global scale.
“Wellington is an intelligent city that brings innovative ideas to life and Projectr will drive innovation in the virtual and mixed reality space, adding to Wellington’s reputation as leader in digital enterprise.”
Victoria University of Wellington has also partnered with Projectr’s research and development lab to support R&D innovations. The first collaborative project is underway and focuses on innovations in the health sector.
The university’s vice-provost (research), professor Kate McGrath, said the university-business nexus was critically important for Victoria as a global-civic university.
“Through this partnership, our staff and students have the opportunity to work alongside people with different skill bases and perspectives, apply their knowledge and expertise, and gain access to an extensive array of the latest commercial technology advances,” she said.
“This partnership also helps in enhancing New Zealand’s capacity and capability to support social and economic growth and change, particularly important in this heightened period of technological advancement and disruption as virtual, augmented and mixed realities become pervasive technologies.”