History DAF Technology Lab
The DAF Technology Lab at the Tilburg University campus offers a unique research, teaching and training space. The lab was founded by prof. dr. Max Louwerse who received a philanthropic donation from the PACCAR Foundation – parent company of DAF Trucks NV – and secured additional external funding through research projects. Tilburg University offered DAF the naming rights of the lab.
Founded in 2014
The original DAF Technology Lab was founded in 2014 and included one CAVE environment purchased from WorldViz, a Santa Barabara, California based company. Onto the four walls of the 5 x 5 CAVE room projection beamers presented a virtual scenario that adjusted itself to the users using a tracking system. One speaker provided the sound of the virtual reality simulations.
At the time it was already clear that a more permanent location of the DAF Technology Lab would be located in the CUBE building, a large educational building at the Tilburg University campus. This time, however, the DAF Technology Lab team configured the entire CAVE systems themselves using high-tech equipment. In addition, a donation from Genelec provided the lab with 44 speakers per CAVE, so that immersive visuals were accompanied by immersive audio.
The DAF Technology Lab has been participating in research projects totaling €20 million. The lab has been used for a variety of Tilburg University courses, ranging from psychology, data science and economic & management and professional education. The research in the lab has demonstrated the added value of a CAVE system over other forms of education and training.
Friends of the DAF technology lab
- DAF Trucks NV
- Genelec
- Kinly
- LevTec
- Stimulus
- Studio Marijn Cinjee
- OP Zuid
- European Union
- Ministry of Economic Affairs
- Municipality of Tilburg
- Municipality of Gilze Rijen
- SpaceBuzz
- NuFormer
- Reblika
- ETZ 3D Lab