Community Members Preview UCM’s Mixed Reality Studio at Open House

 

Community members from throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area had the opportunity to learn about the new Mixed Reality Studio, located at the University of Central Missouri’s Lee’s Summit campus, at a June 17 event. During the Experience Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) Studio Open House, guests heard about the high-tech space and previewed the facility’s high-tech equipment.

 

The open house included brief presentations by DJ Good of Velocity, Jeff Danley of VMLY&R, Lauren Hays of UCM and Joe Mullins of UCM. 

 

The Mixed Reality Studio, a part of UCM’s Gigabit Lab, offers membership and consultative services to companies, including access to startups, projects and corporate programs, providing them with a state-of-the-art location to prototype new solutions and launch new ventures. Through access to the studio’s leading-edge devices, innovators can create, develop and deploy both augmented and virtual reality experiences.

 

“The Mixed Reality Studio is a working lab for innovation unlike any other in the region, offering a significant advantage for individuals and organizations seeking to create unique and meaningful AR and VR experiences,” said Joe Mullins, UCM workforce and professional education consultant.

 

Both AR and VR are evolving at a rapid pace with a growing number of applications in the areas of entertainment, movies, gaming, education, healthcare and retail. UCM is currently working with several teams to develop applications related to virtual training with UCM experts available to work with businesses and organizations interested in using this new technology. 

 

The June 17 open house was co-sponsored by Velocity Lee’s Summit, a partner in the Mixed Reality Studio. Other partners include KC Digital Drive, KC MetroLab Network and BridgeSpace coworking facility.  

 

For more information about the Gigabit Lab and Mixed Reality Studio, contact Joe Mullins of UCM at jmullins@ucmo.edu or (816) 441-2861 or Dr. Laurel Hogue of UCM at lhogue@ucmo.edu. For information about partnering with Velocity Lee’s Summit to access the Mixed Reality Studio, email info@velocity.org.

 

The Mixed Reality Studio was launched by UCM in the fall of 2020 at the Missouri Innovation Campus. MoExcels, which was implemented by the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, provided almost $675,000 toward the Information Technology Expansion Project that included the Mixed Reality Studio and related UCM initiatives.