A $300,000 grant from the Australian Government will help Wyndham City expand its national award-winning Smart City project WynLens.

The WynLens project was developed by Wyndham City and uses mixed reality technology to provide a three-dimensional view of Council’s plans for the upcoming $250 million redevelopment of the Werribee City Centre.

The project was a first for any government in Australia and saw Wyndham City win the 2017 National Award for Excellence in Local Government.

Wyndham City’s Smart City portfolio holder, Cr Aaron An, said a grant from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet would allow the project to be expanded.

“The WynLens project uses mixed reality headsets that allow the users to view computerised plans of future developments. You can walk through the plans and even view them in their future locations, helping to paint a much more realistic impression than traditional artist impressions,” Cr An said.

“By using mixed reality and giving people a view of what buildings will look like in real settings, we can drive investment into our municipality and help residents better understand development plans.”

“WynLens has proven to be a game changer, picking up the 2017 National Award for Excellence in Local Government. Wyndham City also recently presented this project at the 2017 Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, where it was very well received.”

“Now the Federal Government has also recognised the potential of WynLens, providing Wyndham City with a grant of $294,820 to expand the project.”

“Council will contribute a further $300,000 to see WynLens progress to the next stage. With this investment, WynLens will be further developed, allowing it to be used to view live data such as pedestrian and vehicle traffic, air quality, water usage and other sensor-derived information. It will also be possible to use it in other locations, making it a truly revolutionary tool in local government. For example, imagine being able to view a proposed development in Williams Landing together with the newly built Target Headquarters directly next to the train station.”

“We’ve received significant interest in WynLens from other Councils and we’re also confident that soon many of them will be utilising this technology that was developed in Wyndham.”

For more information on the WynLens project visit www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/services/smart-wyndham.