April 22, 2008
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Small- and medium-sized businesses will soon be able to reduce production costs and enhance competitiveness through an investment in the expansion of the Virtual Reality Centre's services that will give users remote access to high-performance visualization technology.
Funding of $244,000 to TRLabs and the Virtual Reality Centre from the Province of Manitoba, and $168,000 to TRLAbs from the Government of Canada was announced today by the Honourable Jim Rondeau, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mines, and Rod Bruinooge, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South, on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Western Economic Diversification.
"One of the drivers of an economy is research and development and the Virtual Reality Centre enhances the attractiveness of Manitoba as a leader in that area," said Minister Rondeau. "TRLabs and the Centre play a big part in the provincial government's plan to increase innovation and commercialization opportunities for Manitoba industry."
"Our Government's investment will help to strengthen Manitoba's industry, educational institutions and research organizations," said MP Bruinooge. "The ability for engineers to design, test and simulate in an interactive 3D environment from their own office will help to lower costs and reduce times related to product development."
Virtual reality is a technology that allows users to interact with a computer-simulated environment. This sophisticated computer simulation technology can be used to design and test products electronically before actually building them. The technology may be applied to a broad range of research, product development, training, simulation, prototyping and marketing activities in industries, such as manufacturing, engineering, architecture, urban planning, aerospace and defence, design, and life sciences.
"A new generation of company growth and economic development will come from an ability to use networks as a productivity tool," said TRLabs President and CEO Dr. Roger Pederson. "The VRC changes the way we see the world, generating interactive and immersive visual experiences that enhance the ability to more efficiently interact, exchange, collaborate, and design using virtual and augmented information. This announcement creates a new ability to extend state-of-the-art visualization to virtually any community, and we look forward to working more closely with the VRC and our industry and academic partners to commercialize new technologies, products and services."
Funding will be used by TRLabs to purchase equipment and software that will generate 3-dimensional graphic images, which will be relayed by a high-speed link back to the off-site users. The remote-site capability will make the Virtual Reality Centre's services more accessible and cost-effective to Manitoba industry, educational and research organizations.
TRLabs is the largest not-for-profit applied information communications technology research and development consortium in Canada. Headquartered in Edmonton, it operates laboratories in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon. Partners include major multinational and national corporations from the information technologies and telecommunications field; the universities of Manitoba, Alberta, Calgary, Regina and Saskatchewan; the governments of Canada, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan; and 50 companies, most of which are small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The Virtual Reality Centre is a multi-disciplinary modelling, simulation and visualization centre managed by the Industrial Technology Centre. The Centre's state of-the-art facility houses some of the most advanced visualization hardware and software available in the world today.
For additional information, contact:
Lee Gregg
Communications Officer
Western Economic Diversification Canada
(204) 983-0701
1-888-338-WEST (9378)
www.wd.gc.ca
Joe Czech
Communications Coordinator
Communication Services Manitoba
Telephone: (204) 945-6778
www.gov.mb.ca
WD Toll-Free Number:1 888 338-WEST (9378)
Web Site: WD is online at www.wd-deo.gc.ca.
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