Biography
Dr Kaja Antlej is Senior Lecturer in Industrial Design and CADET Virtual Reality Lab Researcher - Museums/Heritage at the School of Engineering, Deakin University. Interested in the intersection of design, museums/heritage, extended reality (XR), 3D printing, futures thinking, space and entrepreneurship.
Dr Antlej has an MSc in Industrial Design (2008, 3D printing and scanning in in design) and a PhD in Museum and Heritage Studies (2013, VR/AR, serious games and 3D printing for museum exhibitions), both from the University of Ljubljana. Between 2013 and 2014 she was an EVS volunteer in Rabat/Casablanca, Morocco, and completed a 4-month entrepreneurship training at RRA LUR in Slovenia. In 2015, Kaja completed her Endeavour Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research, University of Canberra. She has been involved in several EU-funded and US projects including NMC Horizon Reports (Museum Edition 2015, 2016), eCultValue (EC FP7), and ViMM - Virtual Multimodal Museum TA2.2 (EC Horizon 2020).
At Deakin University, Dr Antlej is one of the initiators and leading researchers of the #TheLittleLProject, and #GeelongInventions, both aligned with Geelong's recent designation as a UNESCO City of Design.
Kaja is a member of ICOM – International Council of Museums, AMaGA – Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA EVRNN – Evaluation and Visitor Research National Network), Interpret Europe – European Association for Heritage Interpretation, AAM – American Alliance of Museums, and MuseWeb.
She is an alumna of the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program 2021 (SHSSP21) at the International Space University and the University of South Australia.
Dr Kaja Antlej is also Co-founder and President of the Slovenian Australian Academic Association SAAA, a member of the Association of Slovenes Educated Abroad VTIS and one of the mentors in the American Slovenian Education Foundation ASEF Fellowship Program.
Read more on Kaja's profileResearch interests
Human-centered design, museums/heritage, extended reality (XR) – virtual/augmented/mixed reality and 3D printing, futures thinking, space (space heritage, human exploration, newspace) and entrepreneurship (start-ups)
Units taught
SED304 - Product Development
SEM721 - Product Development
Publications
M Ogrizek, M Mortimer, K Antlej, T Callari, H Stefan, B Horan
(2024), Vol. 28, Virtual Reality, C1
Understanding the Social Value of Geelong's Design and Manufacturing Heritage for Extended Reality
Kaja Antlej, Steven Cooke, Meghan Kelly, Russell Kennedy, Lauren Pikó, Ben Horan
(2023), Vol. 6, pp. 3043-3062, Heritage, Basel, Switzerland, C1
Saif Alatrash, Sylvester Arnab, Kaja Antlej
(2023), Vol. 3, pp. 1-13, Computers and Education: X Reality, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Kaja Antlej, Annahita Nezami, Bahareh Nakisa, Kaori Becerril, Tyson Yunkaporta, Gabrielle Fletcher, John Davis
(2023), AIAA SCITECH 2023 Forum, E1
Digital Heritage Interpretation of Modernist Modular Architecture: The K67 Kiosk
Kaja Antlej
(2022), pp. 523-552, Digital Modernism Heritage Lexicon, Cham, Switzerland, B1
T Gunning, X Conlan, P Collins, A Bellgrove, K Antlej, A Cardilini, C Fraser
(2022), Vol. 19, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, C1
Kaja Antlej
(2022), IAA 2022 : Proceedings of the International Academy of Astronautics Symposium on Space and Society 2022, Paris, France, E1
Space assets and technology for bushfire management
Robert Aillon, Kaja Antlej, Michael Burnside, Oliwia Derda, Miguel Diaz Montiel, Zandria Farrell, Adele Gammarano, Cristian González Guerrero, Helen Haile, Isabella Hatty, Nicola Higgins, Travis Holland, Sylvester Kaczmarek, Rebecca Kuster, Julie Lespagnol, Nyssa Lonsdale, Stefano Marinaci, Andy McGarry, Lorenzo Nardi, Samantha Page, Jamaica Palce, Toby Rady, Samantha Raines, Siddharth Rajput, Ryan Roberts, Caolan Rohleder, Yara Safwan Najjar, Nipuni Silva, Zoë Silverstone, Dharshun Sridharan, Zoe Townsend, Emily White
(2021), Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France, A6-1
The potential of implementing interactive storytelling experience for museums
S Alatrash, S Arnab, K Antlej
(2021), Vol. 12642, pp. 713-721, EuroMed 2020 : Proceedings of the 8th International Euro-Mediterranean Conference, Online, E1
Interactive storytelling experience for museums in the era of COVID-19
S Alatrash, S Arnab, K Antlej
(2021), pp. 795-802, ECGBL 2021 : Proceedings of the 15th European Conference on Game Based Learning, Brighton, Eng., E1
Space assets and technologies for bushfire management
Zoë Silverstone, Dharshun Sridharan, Samantha Page, Nipuni Silva, Travis Holland, Toby Rady, Kaja Antlej
(2021), pp. 1-12, IAC 2021 : Proceedings of Astronautical 2021 Congress, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, E1-1
Kaja Antlej, Patricia Vickers-Rich, Marie Allaman, Thomas Rich, Ben Horan
(2020), pp. 349-377, Inclusive digital interactives: best practices + research, [Washington, D.C.], B1
Md Rashid, Kaja Antlej
(2020), Vol. 11, pp. 74-84, Virtual Archaeology Review, Valencia, Spain, C1
Digital Future: Photogrammetry, 3D scanning, macro photography and VR prototyping
Kaja Antlej, Ben Horan, Damien Elderfield
(2020), Arts Centre Melbourne, J1
Identifying lead users for user-centered design (UCD) in sports product development
Robert Leen, Clara Usma, Kaja Antlej, Paul Collins
(2018), Vol. Volume 2, pp. 1-6, ISEA 2018 : Proceedings : The 12th Conference of the International Sports Engineering Association, Brisbane, Queensland, E1
Mixed reality for museum experiences: A co-creative tactile-immersive virtual coloring serious game
K Antlej, B Horan, M Mortimer, R Leen, M Allaman, P Vickers-Rich, T Rich
(2018), pp. 1-7, DigitalHERITAGE & VSMM 2018 : Proceedings of the 2018 3rd Digital Heritage International Congress (DigitalHERITAGE) held jointly with 2018 24th International Conference on Virtual Systems & Multimedia (VSMM 2018), San Francisco, California, E1
Real-world data for virtual reality experiences: interpreting excavations
K Antlej, M Bykersma, M Mortimer, P Vickers-Rich, T Rich, B Horan
(2018), pp. 1-8, DigitalHERITAGE & VSMM 2018 : Proceedings of the 2018 3rd Digital Heritage International Congress (DigitalHERITAGE) held jointly with 2018 24th International Conference on Virtual Systems & Multimedia (VSMM 2018), San Francisco, California, E1
R Leen, K Antlej, C Usma Alvarez, P Collins
(2017), pp. 73-83, DesTech 2016: Proceedings of the International Conference on Design and Technology, Geelong, Vic., E1
3D food printing in museum makerspaces: creative reinterpretation of heritage
K Antlej, R Leen, A Russo
(2017), pp. 1-7, DesTech 2016 : Proceedings of the International Conference on Design and Technology, Geelong, Victoria, E1
Use of 3D technologies in new product development
K Antlej, B Rebersek, D Cugelj, J Jelenc
(2010), pp. 268-273, MIPRO 2010 : Proceedings of the 33rd International Convention on Information and Communication Technology, Electronics and Microelectronics, Opatija, Croatia, E1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Other Public Sector Funding
Virtual Reality Confined Space Entry (CSE) Training Systems.
Prof Ben Horan, Dr Kaja Antlej
Melbourne Water Corporation
- 2019: $199,528
- 2018: $66,509
Virtual Reality Heavy Vehicle Awareness Platform
Prof Ben Horan, Dr Kaja Antlej
City of Greater Bendigo
- 2020: $160,791
- 2019: $87,828
Virtual Reality Awareness Tool for Residential Flooding Scenarios.
Prof Ben Horan, Dr Kaja Antlej, Dr Michael Mortimer
MWC Grant - Research - Melbourne Water Corporation
- 2020: $34,000
TruckWise Stage 2
Prof Ben Horan, Dr Michael Mortimer, Dr Kaja Antlej
Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative
- 2024: $70,000
- 2023: $140,000
- 2022: $105,000
- 2021: $5,000
Industry and Other Funding
Gale Pacific Design Investigation
A/Prof Paul Collins, Dr Kaja Antlej, Dr Clara Usma-Mansfield
Gale Pacific Limited
- 2017: $10,000
Geelong Orthotics Design Investigation
A/Prof Paul Collins, Dr Kaja Antlej, Dr Clara Usma-Mansfield, Dr Mazher Mohammed
Geelong Orthotics
- 2017: $10,000
3D digitisation of performing arts costumes.
Dr Kaja Antlej, Prof Ben Horan
Arts Centre Melbourne T/As Victorian Arts Centre Trust
- 2019: $14,000
Virtual Reality Embodiment for the Performing Arts.
Dr Kaja Antlej, Prof Ben Horan, Dr Michael Mortimer
Victorian Arts Centre Trust
- 2020: $18,000
Other Funding Sources
Investigating Virtual Reality (VR) Low Voltage (LV) Electrical Safety Rescue Simulation for Utilities and Manufacturing Sectors.
Prof Ben Horan, Dr Kaja Antlej, Dr Michael Mortimer
Innovative Manfacturing CRC Limited
- 2022: $205,742
- 2021: $194,257
Supervisions
Timothy Eric Everson
Thesis entitled: Hybrid Haptic Rendering and Augmented Reality for Simulated CPR Training
Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering), School of Engineering
Biba Tominc
Thesis entitled: A Decision-Making Framework for Immersive Reality Experience Design: A Museum Case Study
Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering), School of Engineering
Robert Leen
Thesis entitled: UTILISING LEAD USERS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS¿ (SME) PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES
Master of Engineering, School of Engineering