QUT will bring esports and virtual sports activities to regional Queensland, with the launch of a high-tech van loaded with esports, virtual sport and broadcasting equipment that will travel to regional, remote and Indigenous Australian communities.
The QUT Sport Tech Van has been funded through the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP) to improve access to undergraduate courses for people from regional and remote Australia.
The Hon Stirling Hinchliffe, Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics and Paralympics Sport and Engagement, and QUT Vice-President (Administration) and QUT Registrar Ms Leanne Harvey attended the launch at the QUT Gardens Point this week.
QUT Sport Director Emily Rosemond said esports, virtual sport and the concept of sports-technology is a rapidly growing industry globally that is set to surpass $111 billion by 2032.
“We’re committed to expanding our campus sports-technology programs to ensure Queensland children in regional and remote locations have the opportunities to engage, learn and develop their knowledge and skills,” Ms Rosemond said.
“Whilst esport is gaming, other related digital offerings of sport, such as virtual cycling, golf and motorsports have physical components to them, which we’re bundling as part of our regional engagement program.”
On the road, the Mercedes Sprinter van will visit communities and provide opportunities to participate in rising sports infused with technology. Esports, virtual cycling, reaction training, simulated golf, smart-tech and wearables, broadcasting and performance analytics will be wrapped into the suite of activities delivered.
And QUT global partner, technology giant Cisco, has committed to fitting out the van with state-of-the-art technology to enable broadcasting capabilities and regional connectivity, to stream back to the QUT campus in real time using Starlink internet connection and build connections across the state.
“These newer technologies are more accessible and transportable, so anyone in the world can compete in events like Olympic Esports Week as long as they have the hardware and internet connectivity,” Ms Rosemond said.
“It’s also a way that Queensland’s pool of talent can be identified and expanded and we see that’s an opportunity that we need to provide to Indigenous, remote and regional communities that otherwise don’t have access to technology that we have in a city-based environment.”
The van also provides opportunities for QUT students to fulfil work-integrated placements aligned to courses such as education, sports science, data analytics, information technology, business and creative industries.
“Students will be able to take their classroom learning into communities and operate these engagement activities which we’re planning to broadcast back to our inner-city campus, an innovative way to bring community on campus,” Ms Rosemond said.
“Sport has the power to unite communities and we’re looking to take this one step further by uniting Queensland through sports-technology, whilst teaching our students skills that are translatable to a wide span of career paths.”
Rickie Dodd, QUT Indigenous Programs Sport Officer, said QUT Sport wanted to visit Indigenous Australian communities to show teenagers, parents and Indigenous Elders how technology could be used in positive ways, and used to provide career pathways that would enable young people to return to work in community after they graduated.
“When people talk about esports all they think about is gaming, but it’s anything to do with electronics. It’s about broadcasting, or testing performance and collecting data,” Mr Dodd said.
“Just about every kid plays computer games – you’re not going to make a living gaming, but every sport needs a broadcaster, a commentator, officiators, and tech people to set it all up.
“I’m really big on teaching people broadcasting skills because it helps with public speaking and it helps with knowledge of the game, and they can set that up in any school with one camera and a microphone.”
Mr Dodd said the van was also packed with data collection equipment that could be incorporated for PE or STEM lessons.
“We can track how fast people are, how high their vertical leap is, what their balance is, what their grip strength is, what their range of movement in shoulder or arm mobility is, what their quad or hamstring strength is.”
“We can test using different body movements and look at the difference and work out biomechanically what we need to do to improve performance, for example if you jump higher when you use your arms,” he said.
Mr Dodd said data collected by taking the van to remote communities or to sporting events could help identify promising athletes, and increased equity.
“It levels the playing field because not every child can get to the events where they find the next top athlete, and that’s we’ve been talking with Deadly Choices about how we can support them with tracking and data,” he said.
Mr Dodd also said that involving education or exercise nutrition science students in outreach projects amplified the impact of the van.
“We engage student casuals and work with students on placement to give them industry experience and so they can see first-hand the impacts that are limiting these communities, and how they can offer something beyond university.
“They learn what works and what doesn’t work, which communities need more and how we can connect them. If in nine years’ time, come the Olympics, we have 10 vans because there’s that much interest, we could set these 10 vans up and run the Olympics online because we have a TV built into the side of the van, and we could broadcast into community,” he said.
Media contact:
Sally Dillon and Debra Bela, QUT Media, 0412 417 552, debra.bela@qut.edu.au
After hours: media@qut.edu.au
