Emerging from a joint effort and strategic alliance among the EAN University, the expert virtual reality company Virtual4, and the Basque cluster GAIA, the lab was formally inaugurated in Bogota on 03 October 2021. The XR Lab digital infrastructure and installation comprises VIROO®'s state-of-the-art platform in their 100-square-meter immersive VIROO® room to foster the digital transformation of sustainable academic and industrial advances.

For Brigitte Baptiste, Cancellor of EAN University, the lab aims to provide an outstanding advanced education model and tools to serve new generations of students and entrepreneurs looking to reduce their carbon footprint through the infinite possibilities to explore, question, and experiment with ideas, concepts, and processes in virtual environments.

Baptiste explained, "This lab means a qualitative and quantitative leap in terms of the university's intentions to build Colombia's sustainability agenda. We believe it is an essential tool to change the logic behind how we address the footprint we make in the world."

As part of the inaugural event, the University hosted a demonstration of the VIROO® platform to several attendees, who experienced what it feels like to be transported into a virtual world, yet maintaining a real sense of presence while walking, collaborating, and communicating with other users’ avatars. Designed to support both single and multi-user sessions in remote and in-person hybrid configurations, the versatility of VIROO® displays its full potential in its immersive rooms, such as the XR Lab, thanks to its absolute tracking system enabling the precise geolocation of users for optimal XR experiences.

"This infrastructure allows us to create an ecosystem to share knowledge and provide new services to benefit both the education and industry sectors," says Tomás Iriondo, GAIA's director.

Virtualware, creator of the VIROO® XR platform and its partner Virtual4 celebrates this significant milestone, which reinforces the shared purpose of accelerating the adoption of immersive technologies and creating a network of leading organizations supporting sustainable social, economic, and environmental advancement in Colombia, Latin America, and the world.

"EAN University is a key partner in our strategy to generate positive changes in society via emerging technologies such as virtual reality, reflecting our commitment to support and accelerate the generation of innovative VR-based projects and sustainable entrepreneurship. We are overly excited about this collaboration", exclaimed Luis Alberto Viñas, Vice President of Virtual4.