Design Academy’s Trans Realities Lab moves to High Tech Campus

Design Academy Eindhoven’s Trans Realities Lab (TRL) will relocate to High Tech Campus Eindhoven. From 2026 onwards, the TRL will establish a long-term presence at the Campus, featuring a lab equipped with XR, motion capture, virtual production, and immersive media technologies, alongside office space in building HTC 37. A design research lab on Campus creates opportunities for designers, engineers, and researchers to collaborate on emerging technologies, develop new applications, and exchange knowledge across disciplines. 

“The move of our Trans Realities Lab to the High Tech Campus will create strong new connections with key stakeholders. It marks a great leap forward for researchers, startups, and companies at HTC, and will strengthen the integration of our research and education within this vibrant ecosystem”, says Raf De Keninck, chairman of the executive board of DAE. 

The Trans Realities Lab is at the forefront of research into the collaborative use of networked XR ('eXtended Reality': an umbrella term covering Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality) environments and their role in design, research, and education within the ‘metaverse’ (or virtual worlds). The Lab combines technology and creative practice across design, systems engineering, immersive environments, and the visual arts. 

Convergence of technology and design

Led by Design Academy Eindhoven’s Professor Dr. Ian Biscoe, the team will join 3EALITY: the HTCE innovation hub for Spatial Computing, technologies that connect digital content with physical environments. “Locating the TRL on campus creates exceptional opportunities for new research collaborations and allows students involved in our research themes to engage directly with industry and end-users: an experience that will provide invaluable insight and experience for their future careers as designers”, Professor Dr. Ian Biscoe says. “Our collaboration with HTCE began two years ago when they joined our Hybrid Lab programme, and since then we’ve built a strong camaraderie with the teams at HTCE and 3EALITY. This foundation places the new initiative on remarkably firm ground.”

"Welcoming the Trans Realities Lab to HTCE marks the long-awaited convergence of technology and design in the Eindhoven ecosystem," said Otto van den Boogaard, CEO of HTCE. "By joining HTCE, DAE’s expertise in immersive technology and spatial computing naturally connects with the Campus’s deep tech ecosystem, creating new opportunities for user-centered innovation that blends hardware, software, and creative design." 

Underscoring Eindhoven’s strong technology and design character 

In line with DAE’s institutional plan, the relocation of the Trans Realities Lab to the High Tech Campus Eindhoven strengthens the Academy’s connection with the region’s high-tech ecosystem. It also highlights Eindhoven’s distinctive technology and design identity, and the growing opportunity for these disciplines to collaborate more closely.

Looking ahead, the Lab aims to collaborate with companies on Campus to drive the application of networked XR technologies in industry, from immersive prototyping and digital twins to new modes of remote collaboration.

XR technologies are already embedded in many aspects of industrial design and operations, but the opportunities and potential for immersive environments (as Virtual Worlds or distributed Digital Twins) are when they are networked and coupled with AI. “I see incredible potential for companies and institutions to collaborate in entirely new ways across geographic boundaries using such solutions. As a lab that couples design challenges with new technologies, integrating systems around human and business needs, and with a keen eye on integrated sustainability, we are open for collaboration with those at the campus and in the Brainport region”, says Biscoe.