Welcome to
BVRL 2.0 is a virtual evolution of Bristol VR Lab, a coworking space for companies and individuals working in the fields of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality technology.
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The virtual space is run by a team of experts placed to offer advice and arrange engaging industry talks and events on a number of subjects related to XR.
The creation of BVRL 2.0 was funded by Innovate UK, while the physical space was created with support from the West of England Combined Authority, University of the West of England, University of Bristol, Rocketmakers, and Bath Spa University.
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Proud to be working with
UWE Bristol is one of the UK’s largest city universities, with over 27,000 students and 3,000 staff contributing to an ecology of teaching, practice and research activity.
Since 1992, UWE Bristol has provided high quality teaching and innovative research with real world impact to shape higher education and research policy.
UWE engages in research into Virtual and Augmented Reality, with current projects spanning immersive documentary to near future, speculative experiences.
The University of Bristol is one of the most successful universities in the UK, carrying out cutting edge research and aiming to equip its students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a competitive global market.
As a founding partner in BVRL, the University looks to build collaborations around VR and its applications, for projects in research, teaching and outreach, working closely with the technology and creative sectors.
Watershed develops cultural engagement, imagination and talent, in the belief that the route to better futures is open, disruptive and co-produced.
With audiences and participation at the heart of their organisation they produce and present original ideas and content and curate a diverse programme of talent development, cinema exhibition, events and festivals.
Opposable have developed award winning games and VR for companies such as Cartoon Network, Channel 4, IBM, AT&T and Vodafone.
They host the industry renowned VR World Congress, and were previously founding members of the Bristol Games Hub.
Opposable are currently working on projects that utilise large space VR, including their Salvaged game, and are interested in how Neural Network based programming can be used in VR and games.
UWE Bristol is one of the UK’s largest city universities, with over 27,000 students and 3,000 staff contributing to an ecology of teaching, practice and research activity.
Since 1992, UWE Bristol has provided high quality teaching and innovative research with real world impact to shape higher education and research policy.
UWE engages in research into Virtual and Augmented Reality, with current projects spanning immersive documentary to near future, speculative experiences.
The University of Bristol is one of the most successful universities in the UK, carrying out cutting edge research and aiming to equip its students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a competitive global market.
As a founding partner in BVRL, the University looks to build collaborations around VR and its applications, for projects in research, teaching and outreach, working closely with the technology and creative sectors.
Watershed develops cultural engagement, imagination and talent, in the belief that the route to better futures is open, disruptive and co-produced.
With audiences and participation at the heart of their organisation they produce and present original ideas and content and curate a diverse programme of talent development, cinema exhibition, events and festivals.
Opposable have developed award winning games and VR for companies such as Cartoon Network, Channel 4, IBM, AT&T and Vodafone.
They host the industry renowned VR World Congress, and were previously founding members of the Bristol Games Hub.
Opposable are currently working on projects that utilise large space VR, including their Salvaged game, and are interested in how Neural Network based programming can be used in VR and games.
With Support From
Our People.
BVRL is managed by a team of experts in VR, AR, MR, creative and technology business incubation, computer vision and artificial intelligence
Drawn from the four founding partners, the team have many years experience running shared workspaces including the Pervasive Media Studio and the Bristol Games Hub.
Our people
Dan Page
Bristol VR Lab
Dan is Creative Director at VR World Congress, organiser of the SouthWest VR meetup and has looked after Opposable’s marketing for the past four years. You’ll sometimes catch Dan helping assess or consult on VR work at University of Bristol and University of the West of England, or as a judge at The SPARKies.
@DansOnRoad
Ben Trewhella
Bristol VR Lab
Ben Trewhella is the founder of Opposable Games, a co-founder of Bristol Games Hub, and serves on the boards of TechSpark, Bristol Media and previously the Next Gen Skills Academy. Ben is primarily a programmer, and has experience developing applications and creating businesses in mobile, games and VR.
@bentrewhella
Verity McIntosh
University of the West of England
Verity is a Senior Lecturer in Virtual and Extended Reality at UWE Bristol, and Programme Lead for a brand new MA in Virtual Reality taught here at Bristol VR Lab. Launched in January 2019, this industry-led, practice-based masters offers students the opportunity to spend a year developing their craft as pioneering storytellers, adding VR/AR/XR to their creative toolkit, and critically engaging with the politics, business and culture of this emerging field.
@veritymcintosh
Andrew Calway
University of Bristol
Dr Andrew Calway is a Reader in Computer Vision at the University of Bristol. He specialises in visual tracking and 3D reconstruction, the technology that underpins Augmented Reality. He also works in Robotics, designing autonomous systems that use vision to navigate. He is the University of Bristol Academic Lead for BVRL.
Lynn Barlow
University of the West of England
Journalist, broadcaster, voting BAFTA member, Royal television Society, Wildscreen and Encounters Trustee, Lynn’s career spans newspapers, radio and television. She was a BBC social affairs correspondent and went on to direct and produce award-winning documentary series. She divides her time as Assistant Vice-Chancellor and Creative and Cultural Industries Engagement for UWE, and as a freelance executive producer.
@Barlowlynn
Book a tour
The Bristol VR Lab is currently closed for tours.