FNR Leverages AR To Bring Research To New Audiences

Luxembourg National Research Fund FNR is bringing local research out of the laboratory and into people’s phones, thanks to an augmented reality (AR) series highlighting funded projects.

The letzSCIENCE app, developed with Virtual Rangers and Studio Polenta, now features eight AR experiences of major research projects in the fields of health, tech and nature. And more experiences are planned.

“We want to show the people that science and research is accessible, interesting, surprising, inspiring, and fascinating,” FNR communications chief Didier Goossens told Silicon.

By downloading the free app, from their phones people can watch a lunar rover at work, mapping and gathering samples from the moon, they can see a simplified version of killer t-cells attacking cancer cells and they take a look inside some of the 86 billion neurons making up the human nervous system.

Each experience includes an interactive element accessible through the user’s phone/tablet camera, which is backed up with data and stories about related research going on in Luxembourg. 

“From the regular representative surveys we organise every two years, we know that 65% of the people are moderately to very interested in science and research,” Goossens said, adding: “But at the same time, we know that +/- 60% also feel  “not at all or just a little informed” about what is going on in research in Luxembourg. With letzSCIENCE we want to lower the inhibition threshold and reach people who are curious and interested in scientific topics.”

In the last 20 years, the FNR has committed €810m euros to 4,100 projects. There are currently 600 running FNR-funded projects. 

The FNR recently launched a new website allowing users to take a deeper look at the featured projects. letzSCIENCE is one tool FNR uses to reach out to the people in Luxembourg, alongside the Researchers’ Days, Mr Science, science.lu, Mäin Element podcast, fnr.lu, and its social media channels.

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