How We Got the Prime Minister to Load a Virtual Ore Ship

When the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese visited the Resources Technology Showcase here in Perth just over a month ago, he didn’t just cut a ribbon, he donned a headset and dove into our virtual mini mine site! For a few minutes, the leader of the nation was fully immersed in our Mini Mine VR game, an experience developed by us at Viewport XR for Hancock Iron Ore that transforms the complex mining cycle into an engaging and easy to follow adventure for all ages.

But the real magic wasn’t just what the PM saw inside the headset. Thanks to Project SASHIMI, Viewport XR’s flagship spatial collaboration platform, everyone in the audience was part of the action. They watched on a massive 6 meter wide by 2 meter tall screen as the Prime Minister played one of the 9 mini games in the experience, his every move broadcast in real-time.

This technology demolishes the “fourth wall” of VR, turning a solo experience into a shared, captivating spectacle perfect for expos, stakeholder briefings, and public engagement.

“It was so realistic. I didn’t just play the game, I felt like I was the miner”

Kate Flanagan, Executive General Manager of Information Management and Technology at Hancock Iron Ore

Kate Flanagan, Executive General Manager of Information Management and Technology at Hancock Iron Ore, explained: “Mining is an incubator for cutting edge tech and, with the guidance of our executive chairman (Gina) Rinehart, we’re excited to be leading from the front in bringing Mini Mine VR to the Resources Technology Showcase.

Mining is the key to extracting the minerals needed for future prosperity, and technology will play a key role in supporting that goal. A huge thank you to our Viewport XR partners for their creativity and expertise in bringing this vision to life. I also want to acknowledge the enormous amount of work that went on behind the scenes.”

The game’s effectiveness was further validated by authentic user reactions. Harper Chatfield, 12, said the experience was “awesome”.

“There is so much to see and do, you can be part of the whole mining process. I really liked planting the seeds at the end. It showed that mining isn’t just about digging, it’s about looking after the land too,”

“It was so realistic. I didn’t just play the game, I felt like I was the miner” she said.

The Technology Behind the Spectacle

Project SASHIMI

While the Mini Mine game itself is a powerful engagement tool, the ability to share the experience live with an audience is what created a truly iconic moment. This was made possible by Viewport XR’s Project SASHIMI (Spatial Augmented System for Hands-on Immersive Multi-user Interaction).

The custom built software seamlessly composites the user and the digital world into a single, realtime video feed, which is captured via iPad and from there can be displayed on any screen. This means:

For the User: An immersive, collaborative experience.
For the Spectators: They don’t just watch passively; they can follow the action, guide the user, and feel included in the journey. This turns a product demonstration into a powerful, shared narrative.

Beyond the “Wow” Factor: The Tangible Business ROI of Immersive Tech

Captivating a Prime Minister is one thing, but the true power of immersive technology lies in its ability to solve core business challenges and deliver a significant return on investment.

Supercharge Learning & Retention: Traditional training methods struggle with knowledge retention. Immersive VR training, however, leads to dramatically higher recall and engagement. A PwC study found that learners retained up to 80% more knowledge through VR training compared to traditional methods.
Explain Complex Concepts with Ease: Whether it’s a multi-billion-dollar mining process or a new operational procedure, immersive technology makes the intangible tangible. It allows stakeholders to see and experience complex ideas, leading to deeper understanding and faster buy-in.
De-Risk Safety and Operations: VR provides the ultimate safe environment to practice high-risk tasks and emergency procedures. Companies can train employees for hazardous scenarios, building critical muscle memory and decision-making skills without any real-world danger.

Ready to Create Your Own Headline-Worthy Moment?

The Mini Mine experience for Hancock Iron Ore demonstrates a fundamental shift in how industries can leverage immersive technology for education, training, and engagement. The results speak for themselves: engaged audiences, impressed stakeholders, and compelling ROI.

Imagine what we could create for your organisation:
A custom training simulation that accelerates competency while reducing costs.
An interactive demonstration that makes your complex operations intuitively understandable to clients and investors.
A shared spatial experience that brings your remote teams together for collaborative design reviews.

Get in Touch

Unlock the Potential for Your Business

We invite you to take the next step. Contact Viewport XR today to schedule a brief, no-obligation demo and discover how immersive technology can solve your specific business challenges.

Viewport XR is Australia’s leading provider of immersive VR and AR solutions, with a proven track record of delivering measurable results for clients including Hancock Iron Ore, Rio Tinto, BHP, ALCOA, Fortescue, Woodside and more.

Testimonials

Dedication, Flexibility and Partnership

Partnering with Viewport to develop the immersive virtual and augmented reality Mini Mine game for the Resource Technology Showcase (RTS) was a fantastic experience from start to finish.

We set out to create something that would engage and inspire the next generation-and the result exceeded all expectations.The Viewport team brought creativity, technical expertise and a genuine passion for making mining accessible and fun. The Mini Mine game was a huge hit at RTS, drawing in students, teachers, and even industry leaders. The interactive mini-games and clever design transformed the complexity and scale of our operations into something accessible, compelling, and truly inspiring for kids to engage with, while also showcasing the excitement of digital innovation in our industry.

We’ve had incredible feedback from everyone involved and the game has become a valuable tool for our ongoing outreach and education efforts.Thank you to the Viewport team for your dedication, flexibility and partnership. We’re proud of what we achieved together and look forward to building on this success in the future.

Kate Flanagan

Executive GM IM & Technology

Epic work, team!

This animation has helped to illustrate what we're working towards at BHP's South Flank - it's successfully supported our narrative and built excitement.

We've used it as a valuable tool in recruitment, global conferences, social media, & internally to tell our story. It's a quality product - thank you. 🏆

P. Wyatt

Principal Communications

Reliable and great to work with

We are stoked with the product visualiser content Viewport created. The VR and Hololens is a huge hit at expos, and the AR app on phones is brilliant.

It lets us send our gigantic engineering right into the palms of anyone’s hands around the world. The software they built is easy to use, the attention to detail is terrific, and the team is reliable and great to work with.

I highly recommend them to anyone looking for AR or VR tech.

Brad Higgins

Head of Business Development & Strategy

It is exactly what we wanted.

It was amazing to see the nursing homes come to life in this immersive virtual reality environment. We were so pleased with what we ended up with.

Dr Andrew Stafford

Dementia Training Australia

Incredible experience

It has been an incredible experience working with the team at Viewport XR!. The skill, passion, care, expertise and dedication that Viewport brought to this project were world-class.

Poppy Van Oorde-Grainger

Director

Just amazing to work with

Julius & the Viewport team were fantastic at understanding our priorities and were just amazing to work with. Flexible, accommodating & always offering full support/confidence to make our AR app come to life.

Software integration to our existing systems was also key to success and their understanding and problem solving around this was impressive. Our app My Pool Design is something we are very proud and we are getting great feedback from the users.

Great job team. We are now working together on the next project.

Lynley Papineau

General Manager

Highly collaborative

Viewport XR work in a highly collaborative manner and constantly strive to do better on each subsequent project. Their enthusiasm, rigour and ability to work proactively as part of a larger team is exemplary.

In CAAs experience, Viewport XR are also constantly trying to innovate and lift the bar. We are confident that our business partners and clients who have worked on these projects and have experienced Viewport XR’s services would also attest to their abilities.

Andrew Ainsworth

Director