This week, UK-based immersive technology innovators eXtended Reality Peterborough (XRP) partnered with Igloo Vision and the wider ARU education group to open a £5.7 million XR training facility in the heart of education institutions across the east of England.
The “XR Lab” grand opening came with the aforementioned multi-million capital support from the Office for Students, which aims to support simulated learning opportunities at the new Peterborough site and beyond. The funding also supports further XR incorporation on-site at ARU campuses in the Cambridge and Chelmsford areas.
The XR Lab is debuting as part of the broader Peterborough Centre of Excellence and Innovation and Research Centre. This three-story space houses the new XR Lab and other learning opportunities.
The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority Business Board’s “Get Building Fund” is supporting the ongoing establishment of the Peterborough Centre of Excellence and Innovation and Research Centre with an additional £13.78 million.
Not all of the space solely supports XR, with broader education opportunities available at the facility. However, the recently opened XR Lab will debut officially this summer as part of ARU Peterbrough’s third development phase.
The ARU Peterborough group is a partnership between Anglia Ruskin University, Peterborough City Council, and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority; the group, in combination with the integration of Igloo Vision solutions, is aiming to bring immersive learning and training to institutions across the east of England.
Professor Ross Renton, Principal of ARU Peterborough, noted that it was an “honour to welcome Sandi Toksvig to ARU Peterborough and hear about her important new project.” Renton explained how the XR Lab opening aligns with the “inclusive values of the University.”
Famed writer and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig OBE opened the new XR Lab, with the famed personality getting hands-on with Igloo Vision’s solution at the Peterborough site during the opening.
Toksvig’s opening of the XR Lab in Peterborough follows her leading LGBTQ+ research programmes and a Mappa Mundi project at nearby Cambridge University.
Toksvig, who has experience in promoting new and valuable knowledge, most famously as part of her tenure hosting the TV show QI, said:
My new Mappa Mundi project will be a three-dimensional, interactive view of the globe from a female perspective, with the goal of changing the world by learning to see it differently. It will be story-led, data driven and allow women from all countries to present their stories, their hardships, and their triumphs. I’m delighted to see that ARU Peterborough is also doing things very differently, and the fabulous new technology on offer to students is quite breathtaking.
ARU Peterborough XR Lab to Build Skills of the Future
The XR Lab leverages Igloo Vision’s unique solutions, which, according to the XRP, gives students a space to practice skills-based training in safe, repeatable scenarios, with additional plans to leverage the help of local professionals to boost the immersive training with real-world knowledge.
XR Labs states the space is ready to teach working skills in high-demand sectors such as hospital wards, science labs, and engineering workshops.
Professor Ross Renton also added that the ARU Peterborough goals, combined with Igloo Vision’s provided technology, equip students with the skills needed for “ the workplaces of the future” through some of the country’s most “exciting, cutting-edge” facilities.
The immersive learning institution replaces “traditional chalk and talk” teaching techniques with new XR learning tools that give students the “opportunity to try new skills and techniques in a safe but realistic environment,” Renton remarked.
Renton explained:
The complexity of 21st century problems requires a diversity of thought that can only be addressed by diverse teams of people with a variety skills, experience and backgrounds. As a university we strive to attract a diverse range of people and therefore inclusivity and equality of opportunity is at the heart of everything we do.
Chair of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Business Board, Al Kingsley, also noted how the XR Labs’ accessibility for the local “wider business community to improve workforce skills,” the space showcases “another example of the wider impact and benefit this fantastic new university is having.”
Igloo Vision’s Innovative Solutions Continue to Wow Pundits
Igloo Vision is providing its leading XR immersive technology solutions to enable the goals of the XRP and related council groups.
The Igloo Core Engine solution lets users interact with rich XR data points through Christie projectors via added touch screens and floor projections. The solutions aim to augment work by immersing employees in a space that surrounds them with XR visualisations.
Councillor Mohammed Farooq, Peterborough City Council Leader, noted how Igloo Vison’s provided technology mixed with the on-site opportunities at the ARU Peterborough multi-story site is “another fantastic achievement of the university for residents and employers alike.”
Farooq explained:
The new facilities will provide students with real-world opportunities to experience and understand cutting-edge extended reality skills, invaluable as they graduate and move into the workforce. The field of virtual and augmented reality are rapidly growing and being applied into a wide range of sectors. Through continued partnership working, the university continues to deliver growth and opportunities for everyone.
Igloo Vision has worked hard to develop its solution. Across previous years, the firm showcased the Igloo Core Engine solution at this year’s and last year’s ISE events.
After its launch, Igloo Vision started offering the product to end users, including big names like Microsoft, Nike, and AtkinsRéalis. The company claims that end users from various fields, such as education, AEC, energy, and healthcare, can use the product to improve their workflows. Igloo Vision collaborates with AV industry partners to create immersive spaces, big format displays, power walls, LED screens, and screen clusters, making it a multi-purpose product.
