Virtual Reality Project Concepts External stakeholders have provided the following list of virtual/augmented reality application concepts that they would like to see developed. Building aspects of these applications will demonstrate your skills in VR and AR and provide tangible evidence of your abilities in an area of immediate commercial interest. Group collaborations Face-to-face meetings are being replaced with online collaborations as project teams become increasingly dispersed. While this does offer benefits around flexible working practices it does lose much of the natural interactions that are possible when a group are meeting physically in a common space, sharing interactions within the environment and communicating via natural and established methods; both explicitly and through subtle body language cues. There is interest from the architecture and construction industry on using virtual reality to hold meetings with effective communication and the ability to work with shared spatial models. This environment also offers opportunities for enhanced interactions; ways of viewing and sharing information not possible without virtual or augmented reality. Augmented sandbox The augmented reality sandbox (http://idav.ucdavis.edu/~okreylos/ResDev/SARndbox/) demonstrates the potential of combining deformable physical structures with sensing and virtual reality overlays. There is an immediate need for this type of system for education around environmental concepts but these ideas could also be adapted to other novel applications. Laboratory simulations Virtual environments can be deployed in the context of simulations for demonstrating laboratory processes. This is particularly valuable where the process being demonstrated requires expensive equipment, or involves various forms of physical hazard, allowing students to practice first so they can undertake the actual experiment efficiently and safely. Environmental education using 360 degree photographs 360 Degree photographs provide an efficient way to capture and present settings in the physical world. These images can then be used as a backdrop for a virtual environment able to provide information about the region in the photograph and allow some limited exploration; either between different zones, or to examine some portions of the original image in more detail. There is an existing need for training resources supporting some of the specialist facilities (e.g. Telstra trading room), lecture theatres and laboratories on campus. Newer rooms in particular include sophisticated facilities controlled through clumsy and archaic interfaces and staff using these venues would benefit from support materials provided through a mobile virtual reality interface or augmented reality experience. Professional practices Professional interactions require understanding of communication conventions used by professionals, as well as sensitivity to social and cultural issues associated with interaction with clients, patients and professionals in other disciplines. Virtual realities populated with avatars representing these other roles offers an opportunity to increase awareness of these issues, and to practice complex interpersonal scenarios in a low risk environment where alternative approaches can be explored. One particular area of interest is in sports management where managers and trainers would need to interact with players, agents, facilities managers, sporting goods manufacturers, and financial and legal professionals. Therapeutic applications of Virtual Reality Applications of virtual reality have traditionally been used for therapeutic purposes ranging from providing distractions from pain, escape from hospital settings, reducing sensitivity to phobias, and providingactivities that promote physical and mental regeneration. Further to this, virtual environments can improve accessibility, offering opportunities through innovative interaction techniques to an equal experience regardless of any physical handicap. Wheelchair bound individuals can navigate freely through virtual spaces using controllers and teleportation techniques. Deaf players might be able to respond to sound cues represented through visual or haptic renditions. Multi-participant Authentic Practice Head mounted display based room-scale virtual environments offer the opportunity to immersive participants in representations of real working environments. Here the visual realism may be secondary to other aspects of realism, such as the affordances of the environment, the roles played by other participants and the spatial structure of the area. The goal of these virtual worlds is to capture the authentic properties of the experience within such as environment. A typical example of such as space would be a Law Moot Court. Student lawyers get the opportunity to practice court proceedings in a physical courtroom constructed to reproduce all the key elements of a court trial. Key roles such as prosecution and defense are played by students while other human actors provide the cues expected from judge, jury and audience. Virtual Sales Support 3D models are increasingly being used in online sites to represent the appearance and functionality of products being sold. Accurate representation of the product is key to provide potential buyers with the information they need to make an informed decision about the suitability of that product in the absence of the opportunity to engage physically with it. Real estate is a good example of this, where buyers may be located far from the building that is for sale, but need to make accurate judgements about the spatial dimensions and relationships, appearance, location, neighbourhood and many other factors involved in a real estate transaction. There are opportunities to explore novel ways in which modern VR technologies can be deployed in this context to extend on existing attempts at using elements of virtual reality. Medical training There is extensive interest from medical practitioners and teachers in the use of virtual reality for training purposes. The goal of understanding spatial relationships between different anatomical sub-systems has been explored in many existing applications, yet there is still scope for further innovation. Conducting a surgical procedure within a virtual world makes significant demands in terms of accurately identifying the key elements of the process that need to be replicated but, if successful, allow plentiful practice without concerns over the consequences of an error. Virtual Reality Experiences Virtual environments offer fresh opportunities to perceive and interact with reality, with complex data sets and with imaginative environments. They provide opportunities for artistic expression, for storytelling and for exploring innovative, creative and fun ideas. Close to home we have the intention of developing augmented reality experiences to enhance the newly renovated building T. In particular the walls of the server cabinet on the group floor, and other glass walls, look ideal for exploring potential directions around an aquarium theme.