ARCadia: family
Date: Saturday 17 September 2022 - Sunday 25 September 2022
Time: 12:00 - 15:00
Venue: The ARC
Category: Social events

The ARC-XR suite will host a range of virtual reality events throughout ARCadia. ARC-XR is a cutting-edge collection of resources and studio space which will host collaborations across the Unviersity and beyond. As one of the largest XR studios in the UK, it will provide a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of XR research.

ARC-XR events include . . .

Sat 17 September, 12:00-15:00 as part of Glasgow Doors Open Day weekend:

  • Virtual Reality Gallery of Health - Immerse yourself in a virtual world of 3D-data spanning the University's cutting edge medical and health research. Meet some of the researchers leading research and discover why visualising data in different ways can be so important. Brought to you by researchers in the University of Glasgow’s College of Veterinary, Life Sciences and Medicine. 
  • CardiARC Zone - A fun and interactive tour of the heart. Transport yourself though the different chambers and see if you can spot the 4 valves before making your way to the aorta. Created and presented by the SoftMECH Centre for Mathematics and Healthcare. 

Sun 18 September, 12:00-15:00 as part of Glasgow Doors Open Day weekend:

  • Bringing Education to Life with Virtual Reality  - An afternoon of experiences with the Edify virtual reality environment, bringing a variety of stunning experiences to educators and learners.  

Fri 23 September, 12:00-15:00:

  • Cell: The Genesis - A VR Escape Room bringing physiology to life! - Solve your way out of the lab of the famous Professor Flipnblend by figuring out the last thing he was working on. Succeed, and you might find yourself in the nucleus of a cell! An immersive and fun way to learn about physiology, supported by the University of Glasgow and Physiological Society. 

Note: this demonstration will be hosted as a drop-in on the main atrium zone of the ARC rather than in the ARC XR space itself. Part of The Big Weekend.


Fri 23 September, 19:00-21:00:

  • Burns Beyond Reality - Experience VR worlds created by the Centre for Robert Burns Studies (CRBS) in collaboration with Scottish artist and Royal Academician, David Mach – whose collage ‘The Flying Haggis’ has been curated in an immersive virtual environment. Brought to you by the CRBS, Edify and ARC-XR teams.  As well as having the 'The Flying Haggis' in situ for the first time there will also be the chance to experience live communal demonstrations of ‘The Art of the Burns Supper’ and ‘Tam o’ Shanter’ immersive environments. 

Note: this is part of a larger ticketed event and we are only able to offer a limited number of individual fully immersive experiences, which will be bookable on the evening on a first come, first served basis. Book tickets here.

Saturday 24 September, 12:00-15:00

  • Try out a new set of virtual worlds based on different forms of transport environments – from taking your own virtual tube journey to enjoying a brand new type of in-flight experience to finding yourself behind the wheel of a racing car!  Brought to you by University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science and Social AI Centre for Doctoral Training.

  • Travel through time to Roman Scotland with the Hunterian Antonine Wall immersive storytelling experiences. Drop in to the ARC or the Hunterian Museum anytime between 10.30 and 14.30 for a taste of our immersive virtual reality experiences and learn how digital cultural heritage research at the University of Glasgow can help bring museum collections to life. For the full museum experience, take the short walk to the Hunterian Museum, and explore the stories of the Roman Antonine Wall with the objects around you. The displays are brought to life through the imagined stories of characters living along the Wall. Can you help Centurion Ebutius make a difficult life-changing decision? Maybe you can work out what has happened to the missing Verecunda, a Caledonian girl enslaved by Romans. You can enjoy our new immersive digital storytelling experiences via your own mobile device and headphones, if you have them, or borrow the necessary kit from us if you don’t.

Part of The Big Weekend.

Wednesday 28 September, as part of COVID-19: A Community Conversation, 19:00-21:00

  • Visible Viruses - Our lives are profoundly impacted by viruses that are too small to see. This collaboration between the University of Glasgow (UoG) and The Glasgow School of Art will allow people to explore the invisible world of viruses both through an installation and through their mobile devices. The installation will be based in ARC’s extended reality (XR) suites. Visitors will use XR to interact with detailed models of important human viruses (including SARS-CoV-2, influenza viruses and the ‘cold sore virus’ herpes simplex virus 1) and to see how antibodies created by vaccination block infection.

Part of COVID-19: A Community Conversation, book tickets here.