Participants ranged in age from 3 to 83, and took part in a range of activities from instant 3D scanning that rendered an amazing 360 degree family portrait within seconds, to an extremely realistic virtual reality rollercoaster that had many people screaming out loud and gripping their seats in excitement... or was that pure fear?!?!
The 3D Tiltbrush immersive experience allowed budding artists to create symphonies of colour, texture and special effects all around themselves, and games such as Minecraft and Space Pirates were also very popular.
Runaway Play's online game Flutter VR immersed players in a fantasy world of natural beauty, and was developed at their Dunedin studio. Dr Simon McCallum showcased some of the VR projects his Masters students from Norway have been working on, such as a virtual classroom that can be attended from anywhere in the world, and a medical clinic training application that had real-life nurses engrossed in it's complexity and realistic feel. SIGNAL also hosted a group of sixty high school students from all around NZ, in Dunedin to experience a range of science technologies on show throughout the SciFest.
Other inspiring NZ SciFest events that SIGNAL supported included:
-'Shoot for the Stars' with international space scientists Sian Cleaver (UK), Prof Karen Willcox, (NZ/USA) and Dr Oleg Abramov (NZ/USA) who shared their experiences in the space sector, from simulated Mars missions, to the recently launched Solar Orbiter, and the quest for the perfect aircraft of the future.
-SIGNAL also sponsored CODE LIKE A GIRL founder Ally Watson, who along with Dunedin tech founder and Managing Director of Igtimi Kylie Robinson, hosted a Dunedin event to inspire and connect future women into STEM and tech areas. Ally also spoke in Christchurch, see the article in this newsletter entitled Code Rebel.
A huge congratulations to the NZSciFest team in Dunedin, who curated an exciting, dynamic and multi-faceted programme of events to engage a huge number of people. We look forward to being part of the 2020 programme!
