Swinburne to hold Science in Virtual Reality App showcase
KUCHING: Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus will hold a Science in Virtual Reality (SciVR) App showcase on Aug 12 in collaboration with Tegas Digital Innovation Hub from 11.15am to 1pm at Swinburne.
Organised in conjunction with National Science Week Australia, visitors will get to experience and explore the extraordinary immersive cyberspace beyond physical reach first- hand and learn about VR technology.
It is free to the public with registration through Eventbrite by keying in SciVR or going to http:// bit. ly/scivr to reserve a seat on a first come, first served basis.
The SciVR app is packed with features such as flying through the solar system and learning about planets, discovering what happens when two black holes merge into one, and finding out how gravitational waves are detected.
Developed by Swinburne and OzGrav (the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery), SciVR allows the audience to experience a world of colliding black holes and microscopic wonders with audio explanations via live streaming by Swinburne Australia computational astrophysicist Prof Alan Duffy.
Swinburne Sarawak science communications associate Tanu Patodia said even though many are aware of VR technology, many have never experienced it firsthand.
“This is an opportunity for everyone who are interested about VR technology and want to experience it especially students to come in and get a taste of VR. It is also as part of Swinburne's STEAM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) outreach efforts,” she said.
“More importantly, the audience will be able to interact with Professor Duffy via live streaming from Australia and ask questions pre- or post- event. They will be posted via social media and answered through the live stream.”
The event will be broadcast from Melbourne and live streamed across 10 different locations in Australia.
Attendees must download the SciVR app on their smartphone to experience the virtual reality app.
A free VR card headset will be distributed at the venue on the day itself for the audience, which they can take home to get familiar with VR technology.
For details go to www. scivr. com.au, call 082-260793, or email tpatodia@ swinburne.edu.my.