Media Grid standards, technologies and initiatives (such as Immersive Education) are developed by an international collaboration of universities, colleges, research institutes, consortia and companies (see MEMBERS page for details). To join, or for more information, contact the Media Grid standards group director.

The Immersive Education Initiative 

The Immersive Education Initiative is an international collaboration of universities, colleges, research institutes, consortia and companies that are working together to define and develop open standards, best practices, platforms, and communities of support for virtual reality and game-based learning and training systems.

Immersive Education combines 3D and virtual reality (VR) technology with digital media to bring distance learning and self-directed learning to a new level. Unlike traditional distance learning, Immersive Education is designed to immerse and engage students in the same way that today's best video games grab and keep the attention of players. Immersive Education combines interactive virtual reality and sophisticated digital media (voice chat, game-based learning modules, audio/video, and so forth) with collaborative online course environments and classrooms. Immersive Education gives students a sense of "being there" even when attending class in person isn't possible, practical, or desirable, which in turn provides faculty and remote students with the ability to connect and communicate in a way that greatly enhances the learning experience.

Immersive Education and the Media Grid public compute utility on which it is built were recently recognized with a national award by Computerworld as "...innovative, promising technologies which hold the potential to significantly affect society in the near future."

Publications and News 

• Publications: See "News, Video, Papers and Presentations" at ImmersiveEducation.org
• News: See Immersive Education under the "NEWS" section of MediaGrid.org

Chartered activities 

1. Next-generation platform selection and development. In the context of Immersive Education the term platform refers to any virtual reality or 3D game-based environment that may be used for teaching or training purposes. The Immersive Education platform has evolved considerably over the past decade and work on the 3rd generation (“next generation”) platform is underway with the core infrastructure selection process scheduled to be complete in January 2008. Core infrastructure platforms under consideration for the next generation of Immersive Education include Second Life, Croquet, Quake, Wonderland, World of Warcraft, Multiverse, Panda3D, Flux, Crystal Space + CEL, and many more. Minimal baseline requirements for the next generation platform include support for the Windows and Macintosh operating systems; implementation available as open source code; vendor-neutral client and server architectures (no lock-in); stable and reliable runtime implementations; integrated text chat and voice chat; high resolution graphics; multi-user support for collaborative environments; highly customizable avatars that support high resolution graphics and body animation (gestures); support for user-created content.


2. Web3D Books. Web3D Books are Web-based digital books that support bidirectional interaction with Immersive Education learning experiences. Web3D Books are used to assemble and present any combination of text, imagery (such as images and videos), audio, Web content (HTML pages, Flash animation, etc.), and Web-based 3D content (such as Shockwave and X3D). A Web3D Book can be thought of as a Web-based presentation container that can seamlessly guide learners through three-dimensional (3D) immersive learning experiences. Web3D Books are read/viewed using a standard Web browser, through which they support bidirectional interaction with the stand-alone Immersive Education platform. For example, clicking on a hyperlink in a Web3D Book might teleport the reader into a specific location of an Immersive Education learning environment that is directly related to the subject matter they were reading in the book. Likewise, 3D objects in an Immersive Education environment can be linked to any section or page of a Web3D Book to enrich the virtual reality experience with supplemental learning materials.


3. Best practices related to pedagogy, learning assessment, and learning outcomes. How, for example, does one conduct classes or training sessions in a virtual learning environment? How do we assess how well our students and learners are doing? How do we determine that desired learning outcomes have been achieved?


4. Best practices for constructing Immersive Education learning environments (classes, training scenarios, and simulations), including student-faculty course content development ecosystems.


5. Open and platform-neutral 3D/VR file formats that enable interoperable learning environments to be seamlessly deployed across a wide variety of 3D/VR platforms.


6. Curricula. Immersive Education, the technologies it is based on, and the content authoring skills necessary to develop compelling content for the system merit a comprehensive academic curriculum. To this end the Immersive Education Initiative is developing a complete Immersive Education curriculum that will be distributed freely to the general public. Boston College and collaborating universities will offer undergraduate and graduate courses based on these materials, which will be organized into two distinct fields of study: 1) Computer Graphics: Creating Immersive Education content, virtual environments, and simulations, and 2) Computer Science: Designing and developing Immersive Education software, authoring tools, and services.


7. A.I. and game-based learning frameworks. Advanced forms of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and game-based learning mechanisms for self-directed education and training environments. The next-generation Immersive Education platform will support a flexible and extensible A.I. framework that enables intelligent learning objects, intelligent non-playable characters (NPCs), and intelligent environments. The framework is required to accommodate a variety of established and emerging A.I. techniques and technologies, ranging from simple state machines to more complex forms of intelligence.


8. Immersive illness (mental health). As Immersive Education and other forms of personal virtual reality become more realistic and compelling various forms of "immersive illness" (such as addiction, alienation, and mental schisms) will become more common and more difficult to deal with. This is a relatively minor issue today because of the limitations of today's computers and networks, but what about tomorrow? What impact will truly realistic, media-rich virtual reality have on society? The Immersive Education Initiative is preparing for the future by defining best practices and early-warning systems for identifying and addressing mental health issues related to immersive virtual reality.


9. Summits, conferences, meetings and training. Starting in 2008 Immersive Education will have a dedicated track at Boston’s annual Digital Media Summit. Faculty and staff will receive hands-on training and support during Summits and also at meetings and conferences convened throughout the year.


10. Communities of Support. The vast majority of organizations don't have the resources, staff expertise, or funding necessary to take full advantage of VR- and game-based learning technology today, which is why the Immersive Education Initiative is developing open standards and technologies that are easy to use, well documented and free. But that alone won't do it; best practices, student-faculty content creation ecosystems, and sustainable communities of support are equally as important. To support these objectives the Immersive Education Initiative is developing sustainable development models that include long term funding sources for our members.

Membership  

Immersive Education is a merit-based Initiative of the Media Grid open standards group. Membership is open to the public but restricted to organizations and individuals that have experience using VR- and/or game-based learning technology. To join, or for more information, contact the Media Grid standards group director.