BOSTON, MA - May 26, 2011 - During his opening statements at iED 2011 earlier this month, Aaron E. Walsh, Director of the Immersive Education Initiative, announced the creation of a new European Chapter and Board of Governors. The Immersive Education Initiative is a non-profit 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. Chapters, such as iED Europe, constitute the geographically distributed structure of the Initiative through which regional and local members are supported and enriched. Chapters organize officially sanctioned iED Summits, workshops, collaborations, seminars, lectures, forums, meetings, technical groups, technical work items, research, and related activities.
The European Chapter of the Immersive Education Initiative ("iED Europe") is a regional chapter of the Immersive Education Initiative. iED Europe's Board of Governors liaise directly with the international Immersive Education Initiative and the Initiative's governing bodies to support the growth of Immersive Education around the world. Membership to iED Europe is free and open to the entire European academic community.
The new European Chapter will support the creation of a European-focused community of researchers, practitioners and users actively involved in the use of immersive and virtual reality technologies for education. This will include a dedicated European extension to The Education Grid (TEG), a network of immersive learning and teaching resources and virtual worlds, and a forum for iED Europe Summits, events and discussions. Dr. Michael Gardner, chair of iED Europe, noted that "the European Chapter provides a natural home for Immersive Education activities throughout Europe."
The official European Chapter website is located at http://europe.ImmersiveEducation.org. There are currently plans for an iED Europe Summit, with more information to follow on the chapter's website.
iED Europe Board of Governors
The European Chapter of Immersive Education, led by Dr. Michael Gardner (Director of the Digital Lifestyles Centre, University of Essex, UK), is governed by a board of international experts in the field of immersive education that includes:
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Prof. Francois Garnier - Head of ENER Research Programme, Ecole National Superior des Arts Decoratifs de Paris .:: details ::.
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Prof. Christian Gütl - Head of AEMT Group and Assistant Professor, Institute of Information Systems and Computer Media, Graz University of Technology, Austria .:: details ::.
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Pasi Mattila - Programme Manager, Centre for Internet Excellence, Oulu, Finland .:: details ::.
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Dr. Daniel Livingstone - Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, University of West of Scotland, UK .:: details ::.
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Dr. Beatrice Hasler - Research Fellow, Advanced Virtuality Lab, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel .:: details ::.
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Prof. Carlos Delgado Kloos - Director of Nokia Chair and GAST research group, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid .:: details ::.
A detailed overview of the iED Europe Board of Governors is available through the chapter's website at http://europe.ImmersiveEducation.org
Thousands of Members Worldwide
The Immersive Education Initiative is a non-profit 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. Thousands of faculty, teachers, researchers, staff, administrators and students are members of the Immersive Education Initiative.
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About Immersive Education
Immersive Education (ImmersiveEducation.org) combines interactive 3D graphics, commercial game and simulation technology, virtual reality, voice chat (Voice over IP/VoIP), Web cameras (webcams) and rich digital media with collaborative online course environments and classrooms. Immersive Education gives participants a sense of "being there" even when attending a class or training session in person isn't possible, practical, or desirable, which in turn provides educators and students with the ability to connect and communicate in a way that greatly enhances the learning experience. Unlike traditional computer-based learning systems, 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 supports self-directed learning as well as collaborative group-based learning environments that can be delivered over the Internet or using fixed-media such as CD-ROM and DVD. Shorter mini-games and interactive lessons can be injected into larger bodies of course material to further heighten and enrich the Immersive Education experience.
About the Media Grid
The Media Grid is a public utility for digital media. Based on new and emerging distributed computational grid technologies, the Media Grid builds upon existing Internet and Web standards to create a unique network optimized for digital media delivery, storage, and processing. As an on-demand public computing utility, a range of software programs and Web sites can use the Media Grid for delivery and storage of rich media content, media processing, and computing power. The Media Grid is an open and extensible platform that enables a wide range of applications not possible with the traditional Internet alone, including: Massive Media on Demand (MMoD); Interactive digital cinema on demand; Immersive Education and distance learning; Truly immersive multiplayer games and Virtual Reality (VR); Hollywood movie and film rendering, special effects, and composition; Real-time rendering of high resolution graphics; Real-time visualization of complex weather patterns; Real-time protein modeling and drug design; Telepresence, telemedicine, and telesurgery; Vehicle and aircraft design and simulation; Visualization of scientific and medical data.
The Grid Institute leads the design and development of the global Media Grid through the MediaGrid.org open standards organization in collaboration with industry, academia, and governments from around the world.
To learn more about the Media Grid, Immersive Education or the Education Grid visit:
MediaGrid.org, ImmersiveEducation.org and TheEducationGrid.org
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