Deakin University to open first interactive digital centre hub in Asia

EON Reality Inc, the world leader in scalable Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality-based knowledge transfer solutions for industry, education, and edutainment has entered into a partnership with Deakin University to set-up the first Interactive Digital Centre (IDC) Hub in the Asian region.

The IDC Hub includes co-investments and contributions from EON Reality in excess of US$10 million and the facility will be the most comprehensive of its kind within the region when it opens during the first half of 2016.

Deakin’s Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Trevor Day said the partnership with EON was a perfect match as the university was leading the charge towards the jobs of the future, specifically through redevelopments to its IT and engineering curriculum to ensure students were prepared for new and emerging real-world problems.

“This new hub perfectly complements the focus of Deakin University and we already have some of the nation’s leading researchers working in Virtual Reality, including inside our newly-opened Centre for Design and Engineering Training (CADET), a world-leading facility that includes our own state-of-the-art Virtual Reality cave,” Professor Day said.

“Deakin University’s commitment to innovation will take another leap forward thanks to this exciting new partnership with EON Reality Inc and perfectly matches the Federal Government’s new Innovation Strategy.”

The IDC Hub will be located in Melbourne’s CBD and based on EON Reality’s globally accepted Interactive Digital Centre model, offering students, staff and industrial partners access to the latest technologies and know-how in the field of scalable Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality solutions.

The IDC Hub will also host an Entrepreneur School that will offer comprehensive education programs with three different courses on offer related to Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, including a Virtual Reality Major within the Bachelor of IT, a Graduate Diploma in Virtual Reality and a Virtual Reality specialisation in the Master of IT.

In addition, there will be Work Integrated Learning programs based on EON Reality’s successful models from the US, UK and France, with students exposed to industry projects provided by EON from their global customers.

The IDC Hub will also include the EON Idome, the first of its kind in Asia-Pacific. The EON Idome is a patented multi-user immersive and high-resolution interactive 3D dome that will be used for outreach programmes.

“We are very excited about this partnership with one of Australia’s leading universities.” co-founder and Chairman of EON Reality Dan Lejerskar said.

“During the engagement leading up to this we have been very impressed with Deakin University’s diligent approach to this project and we look forward to build a long-lasting partnership.”

Vice President Asia of EON Reality Pontus Appelqvist said: “This establishment marks a milestone for EON Reality’s expansion in Asia.”

“By offering students and staff access to the latest technologies in scalable Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality solutions – together with EON Reality’s globally used Entrepreneur School curriculum – we are building a strong foundation in the region together with Deakin University in this rapidly growing field,” Mr Appelqvist said.

During the engagement, the subsidiary EON Reality Australia Pty Ltd has also been established by Melbourne investment banker and businessman Francis Galbally, who is a director of EON Reality Inc and Chairman and interim Managing Director of EON Reality Australia Pty Ltd.

Mr Galbally has been instrumental in bringing EON Reality to Australia and negotiating this partnership with Deakin University.

“The partnership with Deakin University will help ensure that there will be sufficiently trained VR and AR developers to meet the rapidly expanding market need, and EON Reality Australia will be employing many of those newly skilled graduates,” Mr Galbally said.

“EON Reality has already developed training programs for leading Australian mining companies and we see a massive opportunity in both education and industrial applications due to the cost savings in training, the faster learning and the greater knowledge retention that VR/AR can provide.

The IDC Hub facility will open in Melbourne during the first half of 2016 and the first courses will be offered from July 2016 onwards at Deakin University’ Burwood campus.

About Deakin University, Australia
Deakin University has a longstanding record for its use of cutting-edge information technology while providing highly personalised experiences, whether in the cloud on Deakin's media-rich campuses or through a combination of cloud and campus learning. Deakin has over 52,000 students, with a quarter choosing to study wholly in the cloud (online) and has campuses in Geelong, Warrnambool and Burwood, Melbourne and learning centres in Dandenong, Craigieburn and Werribee, in Victoria.

Deakin is in the top 50 of the QS ranking of the world's universities under 50 years and ranks 45 in the 2015 Times Higher Education ranking of the top100 universities under 50 years. The 2015 Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) placed Deakin University among the top 400 universities in the world.  Deakin was also awarded a 5-star rating by the prestigious university ranking organisation Quacquarelli Symonds (QS); the rating indicates Deakin is world-class in a broad range of areas, has cutting-edge facilities and is internationally renowned for its research and teaching. For further information, visit http://www.deakin.edu.au/ .

About EON Reality

EON Reality is the world leader in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) based knowledge transfer for industry, education, and edutainment. EON Reality’s success is tied to its belief that knowledge is a human right and should be available, accessible, and affordable for every human on the planet. To carry this out, EON Reality, since 1999, has developed the de-facto standard for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality based knowledge transfer software that supports devices from mobile phones to large immersive domes. EON Reality’s global app development network, with twenty-two locations worldwide, has created the world’s leading AR/VR library for knowledge transfer with over 7,000 applications. Over 36 million people worldwide have downloaded these applications. For further information, visit www.eonreality.com .