Barcelona chooses a former factory in Poblenou to launch itself into the audiovisual world.

BarcelonaAs of this Thursday, the north building of the Palo Alto factory complex in Poblenou is no longer home only to the largest bougainvillea in Spain. As part of its commitment to turning the northeast of Barcelona into the epicenter of audiovisuals, the city opened the Barcelona XRLAB this Thursday, which is expected to promote projects related to augmented reality. A 2,000 m² facility² in the Palo Alto factory complex, in Poblenou, which is added to the future project of hub audiovisual content factory of the Tres Xemeneies, or the next audiovisual content factory in Catalan agreed between ERC and the PSC and which is also intended to be installed in the 22@ area.

The new facility – promoted by the City Council through Barcelona Activa and the alliance formed by Lavinia, MagmaCultura and Artsmediatech – must become the reference space for augmented reality. How? By providing the initiatives, projects and companies it hosts with a workspace and technology that will help them grow their projects. In this sense, the building has a laboratory with an auditorium, a coworking, a multipurpose space and, above all, a laboratory with various immersive technologies.

Within this laboratory, there is a metaverse room prepared for multi-user virtual experiences, an immersive room with immersive sound and the possibility of projection onto four walls and the floor, and a photogrammetry room—a tool for taking precise measurements. This entire laboratory will be available both to companies and initiatives that set up shop at the factory and participate in incubation programs, as well as to companies related to the augmented reality sector that want to use it.

In addition, the facility must also serve as a training space, offering academic programs and courses, as well as internship programs for students in the audiovisual sector and the creative industries. It is also intended to collaborate with institutions such as La Salle, the Barcelona School of Audiovisual Media, and ESCAC, among others. Among the goals of the XRLAB is also to open itself to the general public and the neighborhood residents as a "cultural center where things happen."

Economic pulses of the city

During the inauguration of the event, the mayor of Barcelona, ​​​​Jaume Collboni, celebrated the premiere of a facility that - he said - should allow the city to take "a leap forward" and "continue to be a leader in the audiovisual sector." The mayor framed the new Barcelona XRLAB within the commitment of the leading city. Along these lines, he announced that other hubs should soon be inaugurated, such as the circular economy hub, which will be built in Sant Andreu. Architects - recovers the historic structure of the building with its old cast iron pillars, wooden ceilings, and walls. All this, integrating the building's green facade, with its impressive bougainvillea, as a bioclimatic filter. It was also noted that to put the facility into operation, it was necessary to invest another 380,000 euros, to which must be added the contribution of one million euros from Lavinia, MagmaCultura, and Artsmediatech

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