Swinburne University concludes Listening Initiative Exhibition

Datu Dr. Adi Badiozaman Tuah (centre) trying on the cinematic VR.

KUCHING, 19 December 2025: Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak and Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn successfully concluded the one-day Listening Initiative Exhibition at the Borneo Cultures Museum in Kuching, bringing together 6 projects that explore Extended Reality (XR), cinematic VR, mobile storytelling and photography over the past 2 years.

Featuring PhD projects and research in the form of non-traditional research outputs (NTROs), the interdisciplinary research teams collaborated with the Dayak, Melanau and local communities to bring people and technology together, using storytelling as the interface. 

Led by Associate Professor Dr Max Schleser, the late Ts. Augustus Segar, Professor Dr Ida Badiozaman, Wilson Suai, and carried out by an interdisciplinary team comprising Sudang Johnny, Denby Weller, Michael Lee Wei Chen, and Brandy Lau, The Listening Initiative Exhibition is the inaugural showcase of Non-Traditional Research Outputs (NTROs) at Swinburne Sarawak, with all 6 projects demonstrating now NTROs function as research-led knowledge production – combining methodological innovation, creative artefacts, and community-embedded inquiry.

(From left to right) Sudang Johnny, Professor Dr Ida Badiozaman, Datu Dr. Adi Badiozaman Tuah, Dato Sri Hajah Fatimah Abdullah, Associate Professor Dr Max Schleser, Michael Lee Wei Chen and Wilson Suai posing for a group photo upon the conclusion of the Listening Initiative Exhibition earlier today.

“Each project demonstrates that rigorous research can take multiple forms—beyond journal articles—while generating meaningful cultural, educational, and social impact for Sarawak and the region,” shared Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Swinburne Sarawak, Professor Dr. Ida Badiozaman.

The exhibition today, which was attended by the researchers, also saw the presence of the Minister of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Dato Sri Hajah Fatimah Abdullah and husband, Datu Dr. Adi Badiozaman Tuah, who visited the exhibitions and even tried out the cinematic VR.