The Mixed Reality Lab, at the National University of Singapore, is aiming to push the boundaries of research into interactive new media technologies through the combination of technology, art, and creativity. We have produced large scale technological deliverables for DSTA and the Singapore military in interactive human computer systems. We have spun off companies such as Brooklyn-Media, and MXR-Cubes. Brooklyn-media is commercializing systems for digital games and mobile entertainment using novel interactive technologies. MXR Cubes recently had more than $1.4 million dollars of private investor funding.

In the last few years, we have received many local and international awards as follows:

3rd Prize in Nokia Ubimedia MindTrek Awards 2008

Young Global Leader 2008 from World Ecomomic Forum

Creativity of Warm award from 8th International University Creative-in-Action Contest 2007

Honorary Mentions! at the Vido 8.0 art and artificial competition 2006

GENIUS MEDAL of Hungarian Republic 2008

Honorary Mentions! at the Vido 8.0 art and artificial competition 2006

Wired NextFest Worlds Top 100 Inventions (twice) 2005

"Young Researcher Award in games", Imagina 2005.

Telefonica International Art Award 2005

World Technology Network, Life Time Fellows Adrian Cheok and Zhou Zhi Ying 2005

First prize Murcia Joven 2004. Youth artist from Murcia, Spain.

Honorary Mention Best Artistic Projects Prize. Cyberart 04. Bilbao.   

National Young Scientist Award 2003 Winner, National Academy of Science

Young Professional of the Year 2004, Singapore Computer Society

Patron of the Arts Award 2004

Young Artist Award, Mucia Joven 2004

Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors' Award, 2004

2nd prize in the "Asian University Tour" category in this year's National University Student Contest of Creativity-in-Action 2004

2nd prize in the "International Idea 2 Product" competition, IT & Engineering category, Austin, USA, 2004

Life Time Fellow in "World Technology Award"

Hitachi Research Fellowship 2003

International Touring Artist, National Arts Council, 2003

We have also been invited and have exhibits in major media technology-art centers, such as a two year exhibit in Ars Electronica Museum of the Future in Austria. We have also been invited to have permanent exhibits in Singapore Arts Musem and Singapore Science Center. Apart from academic journals, the work has been featured in numerous international media including CNN and CNBC. Altogether we have been featured 200 times by international newspaper and magazines, 60 times by international TV media reports. In the near future we are doing a project together with a Vienna company for the 250th commemoration of Mozart, which is funded by Vienna city council as the first prize winner work to create a Mozart Magic Book project. Our work on Human Pacman was demonstrated at CHI Vienna, 2004. Our "MagicLand" and "Magic Cubes" was be demonstrated at CHI Portland, USA, 2005. Magic Land and Human Pacman was selected as two of the world’s top inventions of 2005 and exhibited in the NextFest Chicago.

Why?

By exploring commercially creative new media art works which will assist in development of blue sky explorations and cultural exuberance for Singapore and creating human technology which involves the development of new interfaces to make machines more natural, intuitive and easy to use, we aim to bring about this vision and bring the future of new media into reality. It is also an aim to make Singapore one of the main global cross-points and nuclei of new media and the exporter of new media in the Asia Pacific region. 

Thus, one of our main goals is to invent the future through the visualization and realization of new media ideas. This continues the tradition established at Xerox PARC, Disney Imagineering and the MIT Media Lab and by visionary individuals such as Douglas Englebart, Alan Kay, Brendan Laurel and Jaron Lanier.

The seminal work done by these pioneers were all achieved with small teams of “Imagineers” of multi-disciplinary teams of computer scientists, electrical engineers and product designers together with graphic designers, artists, and cognitive psychologists. The work can be termed “Imagineering”, or the imaginative application of engineering sciences. Imagineering involves three main strands of work:

1) Imaginative envisioning: the projections and viewpoints of artists and designers

2) Future-casting: extrapolation of recent and present technological developments, making
imaginative but credible (“do-able”) scenarios, and simulating the future.

3) Creative engineering: new product design, prototyping, and demonstration work of engineers, computer scientists, and designers.