With the aim of expanding my XR network in Belgium and broaden my knowledge on local research groups, on 23rd May I went to the XR Meet Up event organised by BE.VR at the Institut de Recherche de l’Institut Supérieur Industriel de Bruxelles.
As the name may suggest, the main purpose of XR Meet Up is to bring together tech experts and creatives to come up with outstanding ideas and develop innovative products, or at least shake hands and exchange knowledge.
On this occasion, several talks covered topics as Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, where are we at locally, nationally and worldwide. Then, the lights turned on the work of Laras lab as the springboard for young tech researchers, Demute, an emerging collective focused on audio solutions for immersive and interactive media, Livescope VR experience centre and many more Brussels and Belgium based organisations.
Very relevant were the practical demonstrations of XR research projects which included an up to date 3D map of Brussels’ transports, an interactive sound/light mixing app for a PolyTouch, a double track virtual sound experience, some FabLab projects demonstrations, a rollercoaster VR simulator and a VR paragliding game – complete with suspended sit and fan for flight effect.
What really impressed me is not only the great passion and the determination of each of the young designers, but also their clarity about their product’s strengths and weaknesses, improvement points, next steps and ideal scenarios to aim for. They know what they are doing and where do they want their work to go. With the right technical and financial support the path for success should be smooth and straight, or at least that is what I wish for them!
Francesca Orlando 