For ultra-modern laboratory

Mozarteum University receives 2.5 million euros

(Bild: APA/Barbara Gindl)

With the approval of research funding amounting to 2.5 million euros by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the basis for the development of a state-of-the-art "X-Reality-Lab" is being created at the Mozarteum University.

A groundbreaking milestone in terms of extended reality at art universities was set with the approval of an application by the Mozarteum University for funding for artistic research infrastructure with a focus on XR. "The fact that we, as an arts university, were able to compete with scientific research infrastructure projects such as specialized electron scanning microscopes or biochemical analysis laboratories is very unusual. This is the first time that such a large sum has been approved for an artistic research infrastructure. We applied for an infrastructure that is explicitly about artistic research," says Christopher Lindinger, Professor of Art and Digitality at the Mozarteum University and project manager of the X-Reality-Lab. 

Third-party funding record for the Mozarteum University
This is the largest volume of funding ever awarded by the FFG to an Austrian university of the arts in a peer review process. This infrastructure has a profile-building effect and represents a logical extension of the university's existing repertoire in the performative arts into the digital world.

The first and most important investment will be the development of open source software; a crucial door opener for the presentation and display of immersive content. "We first want to develop software so that users can operate these infrastructures in the first place, create content and then also show it outside the university. The problem with infrastructures that involve stereoscopy, 3D scenes or spatial acoustics is that the software packages are expensive and often out of proportion for artists. That is why one of our most pressing concerns is to make this 'framework' available free of charge and open source, so that the technology can be 'carried out' and used worldwide. We want to make a contribution to the dissemination of immersive art and are also planning a new study program in which the space will be a nucleus," explains Lindinger. 

 In addition to the open source software and stereoscopic projectors, an innovative tracking system will be installed that records the position of people and objects in the room. This makes it possible to determine the exact position of dancers, musical instruments or robots, thereby opening up a new sphere of artistic work. Work is also underway on the technical equipment for the lab. The combination of art and technology will not only enrich research and teaching, but also provide new impetus for artistic practice.

Opening at the end of 2025, long delivery times expected
The opening of the X-Reality Lab is planned for the end of 2025 as part of the opening of the new Mozarteum University site at the Kurgarten. A particular challenge in the planning and implementation of the lab is that many of the required components have to be individually adapted and developed. "What we are planning is so innovative that it has never been realized in this form before. We can therefore not simply buy equipment off the shelf, but of course develop many things from scratch and adapt them precisely to our needs," explains Lindinger. The delivery time for certain components such as graphics cards and chips also plays a role here, which can sometimes take up to a year due to the current AI hype.

Already a reality in gaming, still in its infancy in music and art
X-Reality stands for extended reality (also XR) and refers to technologies that combine the physical and digital worlds, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). In areas such as the gaming industry, XR has long been a reality - in classical music and art, however, it is still in its infancy. Funding from the FFG is co-financed by the European Union's Regional Development Fund (ERDF).