Griffith University has unveiled the first instalment of the On Track to GC2018 exhibition in the Red Zone at the Gold Coast campus.

The exhibition is an interactive virtual reality display developed by Griffith University to showcase activities and progress around its Official Partnership with the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018).

Entry to the On Track to GC2018 exhibition is free and is open to the public daily from 10am to 4pm.

The display includes a state-of-the-art virtual reality track cycling game developed by Griffith University Bachelor of Information Technology/Bachelor of Multimedia students Ben Bartley, Jack Lawrey and Aidan Whitehouse, who recently won an Opmantek ICT award for the project.

Originally developed in conjunction with SABEL Labs to be used as new training technology for elite and high performance athletes, the game is based on track cycling time trials and was developed as part of a larger sports research project.

Sports research project

Users enter the world of competitive track cycling and start with a practice round. The user then has two chances to beat their own time and take out the top spot on the leader board.

A state-of-the-art indoor training Watt bike, Dell computing hardware and Oculus Rift virtual reality headset work together to provide an immersive experience within the Anna Meares Velodrome.

The exhibition will also feature other displays including an interactive GC2018 venue map. It also includes a Queen’s Baton Relay international sector map showing the nations the baton will visit on its journey to Australia along with interesting GC2018 facts and figures.

As a cyclist Griffith University’s Academic Director of the GC2018 Partnership Professor Michael Powell was excited to launch the state-of-the-art virtual cycling game and the new exhibition this morning.

“The On Track to GC2018 exhibition is a great way for the community to find out more about the Games and Griffith and the GC2018 partnership. The cycling game is an exciting hands-on experience using the latest virtual reality technology. We are delighted to showcase the capabilities of our students in this way,“ Professor Powell said.

This is the first stage of the On Track to GC2018 exhibit at Griffith, with new instalments scheduled to be unveiled throughout 2017, including further virtual reality games and interactive displays.

Visit the Griffith University Red Zone website for more information.