PACT – Parque do Alentejo de Ciência e Tecnologia now has immersive rooms, equipped with cutting-edge technology, which are available to the region’s community.
The inauguration took place on April 29th and was attended by Soumodip Sarkar, executive president of PACT, and António Ceia da Silva, president of the Alentejo Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR).
According to PACT, “the immersive rooms are equipped for gaming, virtual reality and other technologies and are available to PACT companies, as well as to the Alentejo community and students”, noting that “they are integrated into the Centro Infante Dom Henrique building, open to the public in September 2022.”
Speaking to journalists, Soumodip Sarkar explained how the idea came about. “This is a recent experience”, remembering that “we held an event last year on this topic and we had a room full of young people, some even came from Porto”.
In his opinion, “we cannot do something just for companies and people here in Alentejo, but also for young people, hence the idea of investing in this area”, also remembering that “PACT is part of a large project, the eGames Lab, which is financed by the PRR – Recovery and Resilience Plan, although our role is not so much to promote gaming”.
In addition, the executive president of PACT highlighted that “I spoke to some young people and they all liked the idea of having a space here around gaming, to which Artificial Intelligence (AI) is added, thus giving rise to the idea of immersive rooms with virtual experiences that are as real as possible.”
He admitted that “I know several parts of the world where they do similar things and I also want to do it here, especially because who would have thought that in Alentejo we could have something so advanced”, stressing that “I don’t know of more rooms like these in the country, although there may be more simple”.
According to Soumodip Sarkar, “this project is not yet fully operational because we still do not have all the equipment, which costs a lot of money”, pointing out that “only part of the project is financed, the rest is our will and we are looking for more support.”
In turn, João Assunção, director of operations at PACT, said that “the equipment currently in the two rooms costs around 130 thousand euros, with the support of community funds through POCTEP”.
He also specified that “we have two types of rooms”, noting that “the Collaborative Laboratory is more focused and prepared for gaming and AI, with high-performance graphics cards, and virtual or augmented reality can be useful for training”.
As for the other space, João Assunção revealed that “it is the Room of the Future, with dynamic panels and is prepared to use new technologies for remote presentations and conferences, and the capacity of high-performance dynamic panels can be used to promote these approaches to companies”.
In this regard, Soumodip Sarkar added that “the potential of the Room of the Future is enormous”, exemplifying that “a company can promote training here in the area of using machines without the need to have physical machines”.
He reiterated that “games can be created and with the support of 3D glasses it is possible to have an almost real virtual experience, as if it were in a room with the machines actually working”.
Text: DS Editorial / Marina Pardal
Photos: DS
Tags: Immersive rooms arrive Alentejo Science Technology Park
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