College gets a START on exploring spatial technology

By Lethbridge Herald on March 24, 2023.

START liaison Mike McCready shows the Infinadeck omnidirectional VR treadmill and the applications it will have when working with industry partners, Friday at Lethbridge College. Herald photo by Ry Clarke

Ry Clarke – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Lethbridge College officially launched its Spatial Technologies Applied Research and Training (START) Centre Friday on campus.

 Housed in the college’s Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CARIE), the centre will partner with Alberta-based organizations to apply virtual reality and augmented reality technologies to help solve challenges in key sectors like agriculture, energy, health care, cultural heritage, and emergency responses. 

“It is a research centre that is meant to explore and research spatial technology,” said Mike McCready, Liaison and research advisor at START.

“How do we help organizations adopt and accelerate the use of those technologies to improve their workflows, increase efficiencies, and improve employee safety?”

The space includes an Infinadeck omnidirectional VR treadmill, the only one in Canada, as well as a prototype research model VR driving simulator.

 “A lot of people when they think about Lethbridge College, they don’t think about the cutting-edge technology. Through the last few years, through grants and expertise in the hardware, we have been able to bring it to campus, putting the spotlight on southern Alberta and Lethbridge as a technology leader in the spatial technology space,” said McCready. 

The centre will help with industry with the campus, creating more potential for growth.

 “It’s not about the technology, but how we use it,” said McCready.

 “Not only are we getting this technology, but we are using it in a way that helps connect individuals. One of the things we are really well known for is developing virtual conferences, we have done it for a few years in Alberta. . .The application and the use of the technology is elevating the college’s reputation as a leader because they understand the technology and how it can be used.”

With the centre on campus, it will also create connections for students going into the industry. 

“The START program, while it is on the research side, we work closely with the academic side and programs that are in the spatial technology base, such as VR and augmented reality programs. I’m hoping this will promote applications for students to participate in those programs, because we hire them. We have one grad we hired on a full-time internship, and we have two student we have hired on a particular project,” said McCready.

Creating opportunities on campus, the new START Centre will help attract more growth to the college, while also showcasing what southern Alberta can do in the virtual field.

 “I do hope this will attract students, but also that it will attract potential clients and partners, supporters to the college,” said McCready.