Fingal County Council wins three awards for usage of virtual reality

An innovative approach to integrating virtual reality (VR) as part of key council services has seen Fingal County Council win three awards at this year’s Ireland eGovernment Awards, including the council being named as Overall Winner.

This year, the council picked up awards in both the Smart Cities Category for their VR3D Planning Consultations, as well as the Education Category for its VR for Libraries initiative. It won the overall gong for the VR 3D Planning Consultations project, taking the award up against all other Ireland eGovernment Awards finalists.

The VR 3D planning consultations project aims to change the narrative around civic engagement in the public planning sphere. The creation of 3D models for public planning projects has had a positive effect on how the public view projects. It is often difficult for them to translate the architects’ images; the 3D models remove the ambiguity and allows the public to truly see the changes to their environment.

Mary Egan, Fingal’s Director of Digital Services, said: “Our use of virtual reality and 3D modelling highlights our progressive approach to community engagement and service delivery. By adopting advanced technology like this, we want to improve accessibility and give our citizens user-focused and interactive public services.”

Speaking about the Overall Winner Award, Maeve Kneafsey, Founder & Director, Ireland eGovernment Awards, said: “Fingal County Council has transformed urban planning by developing Ireland’s first virtual reality public consultation platform, allowing citizens to experience proposed public projects—like the Balbriggan Harbour improvements—in stunning 3D through VR headsets.”

The council’s VR for Libraries initiative sees Fingal providing access to emerging technology across the county to enhance learning experiences, improve educational outcomes, and address the needs of diverse learners. There are currently 11 Oculus Quests 2 and one Oculus Quest Pro VR headsets available in five of Fingal’s libraries. Alongside that, each library has a VR champion to help, encourage and support members of the public to join in and enjoy this technology.