The Trans Realities Lab has partnered with HKU University of the Arts Utrecht to explore how extended reality can enable new forms of collaboration in design education.
In a recent session, students and researchers from both institutions met in a shared virtual environment, testing what it means to design together spatially – without being in the same physical location. Using XR headsets and real-time networked environments, participants could visualise ideas at an early stage, embody concepts together, and iterate in ways that traditional remote tools don’t allow.
“This is about trying to create digitally mediated environments for people to collaborate at a distance meaningfully and at greater frequency,” says Prof. Dr. Ian Biscoe.
For students, the experience opened up new possibilities. “You can think bigger, you can dream bigger with your project because you can now communicate with somebody across the nation,” one DAE student reflected. “You don’t have to be physically in the same space and that’s really freeing.”
The collaboration brings together HKU’s Professorship (Dis)connected Technology & Creativity with DAE’s Transdisciplinary Design Networks research group, supported by SURF.
More updates on this partnership coming soon.
Watch the video here: