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Our centre for innovation hits the small screen

In case you missed it, our incredible centre for innovation was featured on Australia ByDesign: Innovations.
Behind the scenes of Australia by Design - inside the centre for innovation with 'Hello' neon sign behind two men being filmed
  • Vision
  • Hearing
Australia ByDesign: Innovations | Season 6 - Episode 7 poster

In case you missed it, our incredible centre for innovation was featured in season 6, episode 7 of Australia ByDesign: Innovations.

The ByDesign crew checked out the incredible design features and met some of our amazing staff and clients.

They talked about the significance of the centre as a place to bring together the best minds and services to support people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or have low vision and their families.

Our Chief Executive Chris Rehn spoke about what makes the centre unique.

It's not just about us, it's about the work we do with other organisations and how we bring other organisations into this. So for us this is a world-leading hub that's being created to link in with the universities, with the manufacturers and technology providers, with the researchers, with the advocacy agencies.

— Chris Rehn, Chief Executive, NextSense
Axel, a young boy, playing with toys in classroom

For early intervention client and NextSense Preschooler Axel’s mother Julia, having all of Axel’s services and education needs met in one place has been incredible.

'We have everyone here—it's like a big family. The research they are doing here and the technology, it's just been phenomenal to give [Axel] the best chance moving forward in his future’, she said.

And for our client Alan, who has vision and hearing loss, the bringing together of experts in both is where the real innovation happens.

'If you get 10 people in the room that all know the same, you're not going to get innovation... If you get 10 people in the room that have a different view of the same problem, then you start creating or you have arguments but then you get something new coming out of it', he said.

Head and shoulders shot of Alan with hands outstretched

A lot of people know about the hearing side of things, a lot of people know about the vision side of things. But putting those together and having to come up with strategies that work for me is powerful.

— Alan, NextSense client

Australia by Design host Peter Colquhoun was blown away by the depth of innovation he experienced during his time with us. ‘It's not just architecture, it's not just therapy, it's not just one innovation. It's a whole ecosystem coming together for our hearing and our vision’, he said.