CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
15 January 2007
Company News
Right Hemisphere Technology Incubator Takes Shape in Auckland, Appoints VR Expert Dr. Roy Davies to its Head
Right Hemisphere ® has appointed Kiwi virtual reality expert Dr. Roy Davies to manage a new technology development lab it is creating in Auckland called Nextspace. An extensively published and world-renowned expert on the subject of virtual reality, Dr. Davies returns home to New Zealand from Sweden where he established a research-focused virtual reality centre from the ground up at the University of Lund.
After completing his Master of Science degree with first class honours at the University of Auckland, Dr. Davies lectured in Computer Studies at the then Auckland Institute of Technology. In 1995, Dr. Davies left New Zealand and carried out significant research in virtual reality and associate technology at the University of Lund, Sweden, where he was also awarded his Doctorate.
Nextspace is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Right Hemisphere and not-for profit organisation slated to open for business later in the year. Nextspace will conduct research and development but will also have a more commercial dimension, bringing together technologies to create commercial applications and potential new 3D graphic communication products and solutions. The company will seek to establish close links with both New Zealand universities and other research organisations.
"Nextspace aims to make graphical communications technology a major industry and export for New Zealand," said Dr. Davies.
Nextspace has already established a relationship with the New Zealand Supercomputer Centre (NZSC) to access the supercomputing resources necessary to support its programme. Dr. Davies said Nextspace's collaboration with the NZSC would also allow Nextspace users to gain easy access to processing capabilities for important calculations, simulations or time-critical solutions.
Right Hemisphere established Nextspace as part of its commitment to the New Zealand government for a U.S. $8 million loan it received last September. Part of the government's loan agreement provided for Right Hemisphere to lead research and development initiatives associated with its technology to foster a New Zealand 'cluster' in imaging and 3D graphics technologies.
Nextspace will operate a visual communication centre to assist ventures develop and commercialise business opportunities utilising Right Hemisphere's Product Graphics Management platform. This will include an "Inspiration Shed" consisting of high-end, big-screen visualisation and interaction tools for use with commercial applications.
Dr. Davies said that, in addition to its collaboration with the NZSC, Nextspace would also work closely with KAREN - the Kiwi Advanced Research & Education Network - to connect to research and innovation partners throughout New Zealand and around the world. KAREN is maintained by REANNZ (the Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand Ltd), a Crown-owned company established to own and operate a high-speed telecommunications network for the research and education sectors.
"Nextspace is a great opportunity to push the boundaries of 3D visualisation technology and bring New Zealand to the forefront of the new wave of ICT applications," said Dr. Davies.
Right Hemisphere President and CTO Mark Thomas said Nextspace offered an exciting environment in which to collaborate on research and commercial applications.
"Graphics technologies are key to global communications as more and more companies operate and compete globally. Nextspace is designed to connect New Zealand innovation with a global customer base and provide a platform for development of any graphically oriented IT or business solution," said Mr. Thomas. "We expect collaborations with Nextspace to provide a direct path to Right Hemisphere's top automotive and aerospace customers or to simply provide a technology platform second to none for graphics software development."
About Nextspace
Nextspace is a not-for-profit company established by Right Hemisphere to operate a Virtual Reality Centre in Auckland that will enable research and development, and commercial collaboration between New Zealand technology researchers and firms, especially in the area of 3D visualization and imaging. Nextspace has been designed to connect New Zealand innovation with a global customer base to provide a platform for development of any graphically oriented IT or business solution. Nextspace aims to enable New Zealand organizations to concentrate on solving high level, graphically oriented, business problems rather than low-level graphics coding problems. These solutions will, where appropriate, utilise Right Hemisphere's Graphics Management System.
About REANNZ
REANNZ (Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand Ltd) is the Crown-owned company set up to establish, own and operate a high-speed telecommunications network for the research and education sectors. It supplies high-capacity, high-speed interconnections between research and education institutions (and organisations associated with them in New Zealand) and with overseas counterparts.
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