Western Sydney University’s Launch Pad and technology partner Virbela have teamed up to host the second Venture Makers’ Innovation Challenge, to be held May 17-19.
The Challenge, which explored the theme of ‘Welcome to the Metaverse’, is part of the university’s new Venture Makers entrepreneurship training and development program.
It involved nine teams of international students and researchers from Vietnam, Japan, and Australia, who explored how the Metaverse can provide a people-centered approach to technology with clear benefits for society.
Don Wright, director of innovation and entrepreneurship at Western Sydney University, said all teams proposed various collaborative and resourceful solutions to the challenges we face in building a just and fair society in the Metaverse.
“By working in a variety of areas, such as increasing access to mental health support, solutions to manage amnesia in aging populations, and driving sustainability for water management, the participants created a range of unique and creative ideas that can take advantage of the immersive environment that is provided by the metaverse,” said Mr. Wright.
The teams worked to conceptualize metaverse solutions in areas such as mental health, dementia diagnostic tools, therapeutic approaches to the treatment of low back pain, retail innovation, marine conservation, immersion, social well-being, and fitness through people-machine integration and sustainability, with six teams – AquaMeta, Virtualization, NASA, LabVerse, The Good Team, and The Three Musketeers – advance to the finals.
Virbela is an international leader in the Metaverse space, bringing people together to work, learn, meet, and train in an immersive virtual world – from anywhere. Through the Challenge, Virbela provided guest speakers and facilitators who gave students opportunities to interact with industry leaders.
Virbela’s president and co-founder, Alex Howland, said the students could not only understand and answer some of the world’s most pressing problems but also do it from an entrepreneurial point of view.
“Virbela is building the next generation of products for the Metaverse and VR to give organizations and people more choice and control over how and where they go to work,” said Mr. Howland.
“We are excited to partner with the Venture Makers program to allow students to explore this technology first-hand and prepare them for the future.”
Venture Makers, founded by Launch Pad – the university’s business incubator – drives transformational change and builds entrepreneurial knowledge and skills with a focus on equipping students for future jobs.
Matthew Giannelis
Secondary editor and executive officer at Tech Business News. Matthew is passionate about sharing his knowledge of the technology industry. He is also an advocate for global cybersecurity issues. He has been working as an IT support engineer for 20 years.