{"id":39708,"date":"2023-10-20T15:04:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/new-zealand-set-to-get-a-national-virtual-reality-centre-to-pioneer-world-first-technologies-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:04:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:04:00","slug":"new-zealand-set-to-get-a-national-virtual-reality-centre-to-pioneer-world-first-technologies-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/new-zealand-set-to-get-a-national-virtual-reality-centre-to-pioneer-world-first-technologies-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand set to get a national virtual reality centre to pioneer world-first technologies – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jessica<\/div>\n

Wellington is set to be home to a national virtual reality centre developing a range of “world-first uses” for VR and augmented reality.<\/p>\n

New Zealand entrepreneur Jessica Manins will be spearheading a feasibility for the centre, dubbed ProjectR, with funding from local tech firms.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy big vision is that New Zealand is recognised as a hub of innovation that\u2019s producing some of the most interesting and innovative products within virtual and augmented reality,\u201d Manins tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

Manins, who formerly headed Wellington\u2019s tech hub BizDojo and worked on talent platform StarNow for more than a decade, has launched ProjectR as a feasibility project with funding from personal contacts in the space.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving spent the last 12 months working within a tech hub I became aware of how important both collaboration within the sector and awareness of opportunities globally in accelerating the growth of company and ideas here,\u201d she\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

With 100 VR and AR meetup groups\u00a0and its community involved in some of the world\u2019s “most secretive and talked about” developments with Magic Leap, Manins says she wants to build a space to incubate these ideas.<\/p>\n

She is working to get an initial site operational this month with the facility to be fully functioning from early 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pulling together a body of advisors,\u201d Manins\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not just looking for New Zealand\u2019s best but the world\u2019s best.\u201d<\/p>\n

When complete, ProjectR will feature demo theatres, a startup software suite including tools for app creation, a conference room and desks for up to 30 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a few companies approach me including some medical companies,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have some architecture projects on the cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manins says there is a great opportunity to apply New Zealand’s\u00a0burgeoning innovations across a wide range of industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting for people to be working in AR and VR and we have the opportunity in New Zealand to be at the forefront of it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

By bringing together the country\u2019s best minds in this space, Manins says\u00a0ProjectR will\u00a0be a breeding centre for innovative products in entertainment, business, medicine, education, architecture, government and more.<\/p>\n

She\u00a0says the centre will also work in collaboration with the tech sector, universities and government to capture digital and tech graduates and connect them with new opportunities, commercialise IP and produce world-class products in VR and AR.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll bring together different types of people, find projects and build our capability,\u201d Manins\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0SoundCloud<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wellington is set to be home to a national virtual reality centre developing a range of “world-first uses” for VR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}