FRI Virtual Lab – a place where technology becomes an experience
The FRI Virtual Lab is a new, state-of-the-art laboratory focused on the development and research of digital interactive technologies. Here, students will work with the professional OptiTrack motion capture system, virtual reality, augmented reality, and spatial 3D audio. The lab thus creates a unique environment that combines human movement with the ability to capture and display it in real time, as well as create animations.
The FRI Virtual Lab will be used for teaching, experimentation, and project development in fields such as computer graphics, game development, animation, virtual training environments, biomedical and technical visualization, and interactive multimedia applications. Students can try out technologies used in the film industry, game studios, research, industry, robotics, and modern education.
The uniqueness of the FRI Virtual Lab lies in the integration of multiple cutting-edge technologies into a single functional unit. It is not just about standalone virtual reality or motion capture, but a comprehensive laboratory where human movement can be recorded, transferred to the digital world, enhanced with augmented reality, and used to create a realistic spatial audio experience. This integration makes the FRI Virtual Lab a unique facility, one of a kind in Slovakia.
For students, the FRI Virtual Lab is a space where they can not only see the future of digital technologies but also shape it themselves. It is a laboratory for creative ideas, technical solutions, team projects, and research that bridges the real and virtual worlds.
We will officially open the FRI Virtual Lab in September at the start of the 2026/2027 academic year, where we will also present other highlights and ways to utilize the lab within the Applied Informatics engineering program, specializing in Graphic Data Processing, as well as in other study programs at FRI UNIZA.
At the same time, we would like to thank our colleague Ing. Michal Leký, PhD. – head of the FRI Virtual Lab from the Department of Mathematical Methods and Operational Analysis – and his team, Ing. Marek Klim and Ing. Ivan Pastierik from the Department of Computer Science, for building the lab, and we wish them every success in developing the field of computer graphics and virtual reality at our faculty.
