FUTURE-MAKING SERIOUS GAMES

Serious Games To Boost Safety On Oil Rigs - Update

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:26:00 +0000

Serious Games Hit Oil & Gas Industry

Following my previous post Serious Games Hit Oil & Gas Industry and a couple of recent consultations on Service Rig Training availability, I have now realized that all cross-references on my post have become obsolete.

As of February 1, 2008 Terris-Hill Productions Ltd. has renamed the company Coole Immersive, Inc. and its flagship product, Simulynx, now to be called Coole Immersive Service Rig Training.

Their vision with this change is to develop a leading edge, memorable brand that reflects the innovative immersive learning programs they provide.

Coole Immersive Service Rig Training

Coole Immersive specializes in customized, interactive, training programs for industry that immerse workers in real-to-life situations using video game technology. This innovative training enables workers to learn in a safe environment at an accelerated pace, increasing retention, confidence and competence.

Coole Immersive’s Service Rig Training is its flagship immersive training product and has proven to be an essential tool for clients in the oil and gas industry focused on superior team performance.

It provides front line workers for the service rig sector of the oil & gas industry with training using a first person perspective 3D environment in which to learn. The roles currently developed and utilized by clients in this sector are Jr. Floorhand, Sr. Floorhand, Derrickhand and Operator.

Features

8 Categories and 57 work methods for the 4 roles (Jr. Floorhand, Sr. Floorhand, Derrickhand and Operator)
Multiple interactive training operations for each role
Glossary of over 700 terms with visual reinforcement
Task specific video and instructional voice over

Have a taste of it ...

Building Serious Games Development Capability At Large

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:25:00 +0000

Skills Shortage could slow Serious Games market expansion

Sources: The Evil Number 27’s occasional bivouac - Serious (Games) Skills Shortages
Educational Games Research - Survey: Students Want Educational Games

In his Blog, Kevin Corti has recently made a reference to a good article on the BBC site about the UK game industries skills needs.

One issue it covers is around the apparent overabundance of game degree courses and the disparity between the course programmes (and focus areas) and the actual day to day needs of employers in the game industry.

I found this particularly challenging as I have early considered that the most probable bottleneck for Serious Games large scale adoption would be the institutional barriers, inherent to B2B oriented markets. Unlike B2C, organizations are slower moving when adopting new paradigms.

The article has made me reconsider that skills shortage could eventually become a binding constraint, also slowing the pace of the Serious Games market expansion.

Disparity Between Course Programs and the Actual Day to Day Needs In The Game Industry

Skills Shortage Hits Games Firms (BBC Article Excerpts)

The games industry says British universities are failing to equip graduates with the skills it needs.

The warning comes from the industry campaign group "Games Up?", which says games developers in Britain are facing a serious skills shortage. The lobby group says there are now 81 video games degree courses at British universities. But only four are accredited by Skillset, the government body which monitors such courses.

David Braben, chairman of Frontier Developments and a spokesman for "Games Up?" said: "95% of video gaming degrees are simply not fit for purpose.”

The warning came as executives from across Europe's games industry gathered for the GameHorizon conference in Gateshead. The North East of England is one of the centers of a games industry whose activities are spread widely across the UK.

At Northumbria University, which offers a degree course in Computer Games Engineering, staff say that prospective students are often put off by the requirement for Maths A-Level.

Death of Maths

The games developers say that they are struggling to find in the UK the kind of high-powered mathematicians and computer scientists that they need to build increasingly sophisticated products.

"We are facing a serious decline in the quality of graduates looking to enter the industry," said David Braben. "The dearth of maths, physics and computer science graduates is hitting us hard."
Jamie Macdonald, of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, said there was a need for Centers of Excellence which would prepare graduates to compete for jobs in the industry.

"We want to work with government to help equip our graduates with the skills they need to thrive in one of the most dynamic and profitable industries in the world.

Britain has been one of the leading nations for games development but slipped from third to fourth position behind Canada in 2006. The games industry claims that Canadian government support has allowed it to flourish and thousands of jobs are moving from Britain to Canada.

Disconnect Between What Students Want From Their Own Education and What the Adults In Charge Think Is Best

Students Want Educational Games (Converge Magazine Article Excerpts)

Project Tomorrow's fifth annual Speak Up Survey -- which addresses the attitudes and opinions of K-12 students, teachers, parents and school administrators toward the use of technology in education -- reveals this year that online or electronic gaming is one of the technologies that students use most frequently, and that educational gaming is one of the emerging technologies that students would most like to see implemented in their schools. Yet, only one in 10 teachers has adopted gaming as an instructional tool.

Speak Up is a national initiative of Project Tomorrow (formerly known as NetDay), the nation’s leading education nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that today’s students are well prepared to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders and engaged citizens of the world.

Project Tomorrow collected the data through online surveys conducted last fall and verified the results through a series of focus groups and interviews with representative groups of students, educators and parents.

The survey was impressive in scope, eliciting responses from schools in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and American Dept. of Defense schools abroad. In all, about 319,000 students were surveyed; 25,000 teachers; 19,000 parents; and 3,000 school administrators, including directors of technology. The online survey closed in December, 2007.

During the past four years of the survey, the technology that students most wanted to see in their classrooms was a personal laptop for each student. For the first time this year, laptops for students also topped the list of teachers' and school leaders' most desired technologies.

However, this year's survey also reports that gaming is now listed by students as a classroom must-have.

In fact, 64 percent of students in grades K-12 say they play online or electronic-based games regularly. On average across all grade levels, students are playing electronic games about eight to 10 hours a week. More than 50 percent of students in grades three through 12 would like to see more educational gaming in their schools -- yet only 19 percent of parents and 15 percent of administrators favor the idea.

"What was really interesting to see in this year's survey is how the pervasiveness of gaming has really taken a stronghold," said Julie Evans, Project Tomorrow's chief executive. "Students are really articulating their interest in gaming, as well as the many benefits educational gaming can provide, such as helping them to learn difficult math concepts. Even the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recognizes the huge potential for gaming technologies in education."

Just over half of the students surveyed (51 percent) said they're interested in educational gaming because games make it easier to understand difficult concepts. Fifty percent said gaming would make them more engaged in the subject, 46 percent said they would learn more about the subject, and 44 percent said it would be more interesting to use gaming when practicing math and science problems.

Yet, while more than 50 percent of teachers said they would be interested in learning more about integrating gaming technologies into their teaching and 46 percent would be interested in professional development on this topic, only 11 percent said they are currently incorporating some gaming into their instruction.

What's more, there seems to be a disconnect between what students want from their own education and what the adults in charge think is best.

References:

Speak Up 2007 for students, teachers, parents & school leaders: Selected national findings. (2008, April 8). Project Tomorrow. [Online]. Available: http://www.tomorrow.org/docs/National Findings Speak Up 2007.pdf

Technorati Tags:serious games seriousgames future-making serious games education games

Pictures For Truth: Human Rights Serious Game

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:39:00 +0000

Serious Games challenging us to play a better future

You are a journalist and photographer. A few months before the Beijing Olympic Games your best friend, Jun Shen, a human rights defender and journalist, calls for help. This adventure will take you to China where you will be confronted with human right violations.

By investigating, taking pictures and writing your articles. you will work to solve the problems you encounter and eventually save your friend.

Pictures For Truth is the first free game developed for and with Amnesty International, according to the game team.

The project started in August 2007 and was completed in April 2008. Created by a group of professional game developers and volunteers from Quebec in collaboration with Amnesty International Canada, the aim of this project is to sensitize the player to human rights violation.

Download the Game

Technorati Tags:activism games serious games seriousgames future-making serious games

Environmentally Themed Serious Games via Xbox Live

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:54:00 +0000

Imagine Cup 08: Serious Games for a greener world

Via: Washington Post - Not the Usual Game Application

By Mike Musgrove

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Microsoft is encouraging use of XNA Game Studio with student developers via the Game Development track in its annual Imagine Cup technology competition, that is wrapping up in Paris next month.

The challenge, presented to student programmers and game designers around the world, is to develop a game that demonstrates the challenges and benefits of working toward a greener, more sustainable world.

The environment is one of those topics with an array of variables that play to the strengths of gaming software, which can be designed to show the consequences of a variety of actions. How do you balance the needs of a growing population against the need to preserve forests and wildlife? To what extent is it worth investing in more environmentally friendly, but more expensive, technology?

The Imagine Cup competition is down to six finalists. In one of the finalists' games, players are charged with cleaning up a region of France hit with pollution. In another, players take control of a virtual globe to try to figure out where best to put farms, cities and power plants so they provide the most benefit and produce the least harm to the planet's air and water.

Microsoft plans to distribute some of the environmentally themed games as downloads on the Xbox Live service.

Chris Satchell, a manager in Microsoft's game division who is overseeing the project, said it had not been determined whether the titles would be available free or whether there would be a charge for the games. But "it would be very cool to use the profits [from game sales] to help the issues," he said.

Microsoft showed off the six finalists’ games earlier this month at the Expo Night at the Games for Change Festival in New York City. The winner will be chosen at an upcoming Finals event in Paris next month.

The Finalists

Via: Shacknews - Gaming for Social Change and the Environment

This year's contest, based around the environment and powered by Microsoft's XNA Game Studio technology, received over 160 entries from 10,000 college-age students.

Of those, six games were chosen by a panel of judges to compete in the finals, the prizes of which include cash and an internship at Microsoft. Ranging from simple 2D titles to complex 3D efforts, the finalists are presented below.

Because they were all developed within XNA Game Studio, these games can be distributed on Windows and through the Xbox 360 community games service later this year.

Video Game: City Rain by Mother Gaia Studios - Brazil

In this single player 3D "Sim City meets Tetris" learn about Urbanism, Ecology, and maintaining a Sustainable Environment. As buildings drop from the sky, strategically place them on the grid so the community can grow whil still being ecologically mindful. Encounter challenges throughout the campaign that will help your community thrive. Team Members: Rafael Costa, Guilherme Campos, Helena Van Kampen , Tulio Marques Soria.

Video Game: ECOThink by ECOThink - France

Single player 2D campaign of an over polluted universe that needs to be rebuilt. Rebuild the universe one city at a time by making smart choices for power that won't pollute your community. Tools throughout the game help you make the right eco friendly choices for power. Choose the wrong source and your community will not flourish. Succeed by rebuilding each community by increasing population and decreasing pollution. Team Members: Frederic Pedro, Nicolas Gryman, Anthony Chen, Maximilien Paitel.

Video Game: Future Flow by Drunk Puppy - Belgium

Single player 2D and 3D arcade puzzle game that teaches players about environmental sustainability and ecological issues. Transform existing (unsustainable) cities into sustainable ones by upgrading or creating buildings with environmentally friendly features. Use 3D views to build and upgrade your city. Use the 2D view to manage the connections between buildings that will help improve your city's environment. Team Members: Kenny Deriemaeker, Jeroen Van Raevels, Filip Van Bouwel, Timothy Vanherberghen.

Video Game: Clean Up by GomZ - Korea

Single player 3D campaign to create and maintain your own cube (living space) with the help of cleaners, nano machines that have the ability to turn pollutants into energy. Protect your cube by removing pollution and turning it into useful energy so your cube can sustain itself. 3 rd person view lets you control your character your cube Gather the appropriate cleaners from Earth, Air, Water and Energy to help you clean a particular pollutant. Team Members: Dong Hoon Kim, Ki Hwan Kim, Min My Park.

Video Game: Image Earth by BAMM Studios! - Germany

Single player earth simulation game. Your central goal is to build up a strong, growing population and healthy environment. To achieve this you can build cities, power on a 3D earth which is segmented into many fields. In the course of the game pollution will become a big problem. Some of your buildings pollute the surrounding ground, others pollute the air. Research opportunities come up along the way to help develop new technologies that reduce this pollution. Team Members: Florian Maetschke, Jens Jochen Isensee, Martin Wahnschaffe.

Video Game: Megalopolis by Siss - Germany

Single player game takes control of a robot who has control over the ecological and economical growth of an island. The player tries to get the highest score by managing an island for 10 virtual years. Build power plants and the most efficient living conditions for the human inhabitants. Keep a good balance between quick expansion, income and environmental sustainability. In the end the number of people living on his island and the carbon dioxide emission are the keys to beat the highscore. Team Members: Florian Leckebusch , Frank Goetz, Ingo Koster.

Technorati Tags:serious games seriousgames future-making serious games ecology games

Konstruction Zone: Serious Games For Future Engineers

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:20:00 +0000

Serious Games building better playtime

Via: Business & Games: The Blog - Innovative Virtual World For Future Engineers

Guest post by Heather Johnson

One of the most interesting startups that are slated to launch this year is Konstruction Zone, a "virtual playground" that is geared toward both children and their parents.

The Konstruction Zone is a brand new destination where parents and children will be able to build, play and share their creations together.

Designed to develop spatial and problem-solving skills for young people, Konstruction Zone is unlike any other youth-oriented virtual world. Case in point: one of the main goals of the site is to *gasp* encourage off-line, family playtime. Children are not known as "users" on the site, they are called "builders." In the Konstruction Zone world, builders will have access to online animated adventures, which present them with various challenges.

For example, a dump truck needs to cross a stream, but the stream is too deep. Builders are then encouraged to go offline and create a solution to each problem. They can use any kind of medium, be it construction toys (LEGOs, Lincoln Logs, etc.) or an original drawing. The builders can then upload a picture of their creation onto the site and share it with the community, creating somewhat of a social community for the children (albeit a safe one).

Konstruction Zone has all the makings of a successful youth-oriented site. There are games, animated episodes, customizable avatars and more. However, what makes it really stand out from the pack is the company's altruistic mission to bring back family playtime. This site isn't afraid to tell you to turn off your computer, go outside and get dirty.

Although Konstruction Zone has yet to launch its public beta phase, updates can be found in the site's monthly newsletter. The company will also be attending Virtual Worlds Conference 2008 in New York City. Hopefully, more news about this startup will follow.

Konstruction Zone president Robert Brackenridge, who has recently left his post with the Houston Technology Center to start Konstruction Zone, had some favorable press about his new venture.

In just a few short months, KZ shall bring exciting visual content and inspire you to solve challenges and build structures. Come back to see Konstruction Zone as they start Building Better Playtime™.

Technorati Tags:serious games seriousgames future-making serious games education games

Softkinetic: When Your Body Becomes A Serious Game

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:37:00 +0000

Serious Games building natural interfaces

Via: Softkinetic Press Room - Softkinetic Announces iisu Plug-in for Virtools

and WRAL Business - Like Wii? You Haven't Seen Anything In Game Technology

In 10 years, the gaming instruments we use today will look ridiculously old-fashioned.

The Nintendo Wii is big because it lets you move things on your screen with gestures of your hand, using a motion-sensitive paddle. But that’s nothing compared with what’s coming: controlling the screen with nothing in your hand at all. Very soon, you’ll be able to control an avatar or character on a screen with a mere gesture of your hands or body.

A range of companies are working on this dream.

Developer Softkinetic has recently announced that its body movement gesture recognition system iisu has officially been released, and is now available in Virtools' suite of 3D products.

Last February, at the Game Developers Conference, Virtools and Softkinetic announced a partnership to deliver tools to create immersive and intuitive user experiences in video games and Serious Games applications. Last week's announcement presents the first result of this partnership.

Teaser: you are the future of gaming

“The iisu plug-in is built with developers in mind,” said Eric Krzeslo, Chief Technical Officer, Softkinetic. “The addition of iisu to the Virtools suite of software solutions gives developers endless possibilities in creating new and innovative 3D applications.”

Softkinetic’s iisu is a gesture recognition system that has the ability to capture full body movements as well as isolate the intricate movements of a user’s body, such as arms or hands, to provide an unlimited number of interface options for developers to use in creating new gameplay applications. The iisu technology is compatible with most major 3D depth sensing cameras on the market. The product is meant to filter out furniture, walls, and other players when interacted with.

“We’re happy to see the rapid progress made by Softkinetic since GDC 2008, resulting in the availability of Softkinetic’s 3D gesture recognition middleware with our 3D game engine,” said Virgile Delporte, Vice President, Virtools. “This tool will give developers a new level of control and creation and we are excited about the future play experiences that will be created with it.”

The iisu plug-in product gives developers full access to Softkinetic’s API through the Virtools library. By combining Virtools’ 3D game engine with Softkinetic’s 3D gesture recognition it will provide endless possibilities for developers to create new 3D applications and will help leverage the assets provided by Virtools.

Other companies are GestureTek and Oblong, object of my prior posting GestureTek and Oblong: Serious Gaming With Gesture Recognition.

About Softkinetic

Softkinetic is a leading provider of natural interfaces that transform the way people interact with the digital world. Softkinetic enables a fully immersive, transparent, and intuitive user experience by providing 3D real-time gesture recognition middleware to Interactive Digital Entertainment, Consumer Electronics, and Serious Games companies.

Softkinetic, iisu, and Interface Is You are trademarks or registered trademarks of Softkinetic S.A. http://www.softkinetic.net.

About 3DVIA

3DVIA is Dassault Systèmes' brand for lifelike 3D product experiences. 3DVIA extends 3D to new users, businesses and consumers in order to create new communities with 3D as the common language. With its open web services-based architecture, it enables high-performance distribution of 3D content. 3DVIA also delivers authoring products that revolutionize 3D product publishing and the Virtools platform for developing interactive, real-time applications.

For more information about 3DVIA, go to: http://ww.3dvia.com and Serious Games & 3DVIA Democratizing The Use Of 3D

Technorati Tags: serious games seriousgames future-making serious games serious games market

Serious Games Predict The Physics Of Sports Moves In Space

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:31:00 +0000

Serious Games challenging us to play a better education

YESTERDAY PRESS RELEASE

CAN YOU PLAY SPORTS…IN SPACE?

Red Knight Partners with Challenger Center, Former NFL Pro Ken Harvey and Richard Garriott with New Interactive Game for Students

Alexandria, VA. and Richardson, TX - What happens when you block an opponent on Mars, leap for a reception on the Moon, or throw a tight spiral on the space station? Students will soon be able to test and predict the physics of these sports moves in space.

Red Knight Learning Systems, based in Dallas, Texas and the Challenger Center for Space Science Education are teaming up to provide a fun interactive learning game to support Richard Garriott’s upcoming trip to the International Space Station (ISS). Garriott will be America’s first second-generation astronaut; his father, Owen Garriott, is a former NASA astronaut who flew on the Skylab in the 1970s.

Richard is scheduled to fly to the ISS this October and during his 10-day trip he will conduct a number of educational activities, several of which will demonstrate sports moves in the zero-g environment of space.

The web-based educational game will challenge students to try out these three basic football actions in the 1G environment of Earth, the 1/3 gravity of Mars, and the 1/6 gravity of the Moon, then have them predict what will happen in zero-g.

Richard will videotape his results for posting on Challenger Center’s web site, along with a new version of the game that will include the zero-g moves. The game will feature Richard as the main player with former 4 time pro bowler and NFL linebacker Ken Harvey, as they demonstrate how football actions in space, such as throwing, jumping, and blocking occur.

To help students predict how these sports moves will work in space please visit www.challenger.org where you can view Ken Harvey demonstrating the physics of these actions on earth.

“We are enthusiastic supporters of space science education and games, so what better partners could we ask for than the Challenger Center and Richard Garriott?” stated John Purdy, president of Red Knight Learning Systems.

Red Knight is providing visual design, game design, physics and game programming, and is collaborating with the challenger Center on the learning design. Challenger Center will host the game and videos on the web for access by teachers and students by September 2008. Challenger Center will host the game and videos on the web for access by teachers and students by September 2008.

The Challenger Center for Space Science Education was founded in 1986 by the families of the astronauts of the space shuttle Challenger
51-L mission. 50 Challenger Learning Centers across the U.S. reach more than 25,000 teachers and engage 300,000 students each year. To learn more about Challenger Center for Space Science Education, visit: www.challenger.org

Red Knight creates innovative learning solutions. Their focus is on helping people learn through highly immersive and interactive games, simulations, and explorations. For more information about Serious Games, Immersive Learning Simulations, Virtual Learning Worlds, Digital Exhibits, and Video Learning, please visit www.redknightlearning.com

Shannon Rush, Development and Communications Associate Challenger Center for Space Science Education, Alexandria, Va. (703) 683-9740; srush@challenger.org

John A. Purdy, President
Red Knight Learning Systems
(972) 424-7557; info@redknightlearning.com

If you are a member of the media and would like to request an interview with Ken Harvey, please contact Allen Herbert, JAKA Consulting Group
(703) 307-4709; allenherbert@verizon.net http://www.jakaconsulting.com

If you are a member of the media and would like to request an interview with Richard Garriott, please contact:
Stacey Tearne, Space Adventures
(703) 894 2192; stearne@spaceadventures.com

Technorati Tags:serious games seriousgames future-making serious games education games

Serious Games and Energy Costs Leverage Virtual World Events

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:35:00 +0000

3D Conferences and Events Provide Equivalent Experience

(Graphic: Forterra Systems Inc)
3D Virtual Conference in Forterra’s OLIVE Software

TODAY PRESS RELEASE

FORTERRA SYSTEMS AND CLEVER ZEBRA PARTNER FOR vBUSINESS EXPO AND VIRTUAL WORLDS EVENTS

SAN MATEO, Calif. and COPENHAGEN, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Forterra Systems, the market and technology leader in enterprise-grade virtual worlds, announced today a sponsorship of the July 2008 vBusiness Expo produced by Clever Zebra, and a partnership to deliver future enterprise virtual world events.

vBusiness Expo is the leading conference focused on enterprise use cases of Virtual worlds. The event is entirely hosted within a virtual world, and brings together thought leaders and innovators from across the physical globe to discuss how virtual world technologies are being used in business.

The partnership reflects the transformation affecting the conference industry due to large organizations searching for new ways to collaborate, share information, train, and develop relationships in the face of rising energy costs. The combination of highly realistic, immersive 3D software from Forterra combined with the expertise producing online events by Clever Zebra means organizations can now join virtual events without the cost and productivity loss of traveling. Attendees can join the vBusiness Expo using any mid-grade business PC and a DSL or cable modem network connection.

Clever Zebra has been producing events in virtual worlds since early 2007. The two keynote speakers for the July event include Steve Prentice, VP of Research, Gartner Group, and Dr. Tony O’Driscoll, Professor of the Practice in the Department of Management Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Mr. Prentice’s keynote will be, “Virtual Worlds in Business - Are We Virtually There Yet?” which will summarize the state of the virtual world business in mid 2008, and explore the opportunities and pitfalls of virtual worlds in business. Dr. O’Driscoll will discuss “Webvolution” and the iWeb Singularity” which will focus on how 3D internet technologies are redefining how re live, work and play. The conference will also highlight how virtual worlds are being used in the enterprise, featuring use cases and discussion points from a range of companies, promising to provide attendees with all of the tools necessary to make the right decisions on virtual worlds for their organizations.

Forterra System’s On-Line Interactive Environment (OLIVE™) software enables event presenters to share MS PowerPoint slides and streaming videos to a distributed audience just like in a real conference. All attendees can hear and talk within the virtual event with spatially accurate 3D audio. The 3D representations of humans, called avatars, can have name tags and photo-realistic heads to provide visual identity and relationships between attendees.

“We are thrilled to have Forterra Systems be a sponsor for the vBusiness Expo and are looking forward to working with them on enterprise virtual world events over the coming year” said Nick Wilson, CEO and Founder of Clever Zebra, the producers of vBusiness Expo. “Our own experiences with Forterra’s OLIVE software quickly demonstrated their leading position and deep understanding for enterprise-grade virtualworld applications. The Forterra lead sessions during the July Expo will contribute significantly towards providing enterprise attendees with guidance for planning, justifying, piloting, and deploying 3D applications that are IT ready.”

“The prior vBusiness Expos produced by Clever Zebra were flawlessly executed” noted Dave Rolston, CEO of Forterra Systems. “We believe Nick and his team are the leaders producing virtual worlds events focused on enterprise. Our partnership over the forthcoming months will enable frequent 3D seminars on a variety of industry or application specific topics with an experience equal to or better than today’s conference calls or webinars. We believe these events represent an inflection point in the industry for how people and organizations will come together to collaborate and share their expertise given the rising energy costs.”

Forterra will contribute to sessions in the July vBusiness Expo covering collaboration and training use cases; building the ROI and business case around 3D applications; how to plan, resource, and develop a 3D application implementation; addressing the requirements for IT acceptance; and creating or importing 3D content. Guided tours of the Forterra OLIVE software will also be provided.

About Forterra Systems

Forterra Systems is the leader in providing enterprise grade virtual world technology for the corporate, healthcare, government, education, and entertainment industries. Forterra's software and services enable organizations to train, plan, rehearse, and collaborate using new media technologies integrated into a compelling 3D virtual world. Using the OLIVE™ (On-Line Interactive Virtual environment) platform and industry standard PC hardware, customers can rapidly generate realistic, collaborative, 3D Internet solutions that easily scale from single user applications to large scale simulated environments supporting many thousands of concurrent users.

About Clever Zebra

Clever Zebra’s employees live and work in virtual worlds, and in fact have never met in the physical world. Operating from the US, Canada and Denmark, their "office" is a connection to the virtual world. The company, founded by virtual worlds expert Nick Wilson focuses exclusively on enterprise use of virtual environments. The firm advises Fortune 1000 companies on how to best use virtual worlds within the workplace through seminars, public events such as the vBusiness Expo and its website.

Technorati Tags:serious games seriousgames future-making serious games virtual worlds

Visual Web Convention: Leading B2B Conversation On NextGen Web

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:22:00 +0000

How Web 2.0 is transforming the Business Landscape

UPCOMING: Visual Web Convention 9–10th July London

The leading European event devoted to discussing the business opportunity and monetization model for Virtual Worlds, Serious Games, Social Networks, Casual Games, and Web 2.0

The Visual Web Convention is the only convention in the UK that is focused on delivering a ‘ready-to-go’ strategy roadmap for monetizing Web 2.0 for organizations planning now to harness the NextGen Web.

The Visual Web Convention brings together 4 conferences under 1 roof, over 2 days:

June 9th, 2008 09:00 to June 10th, 2008 17:00
RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London

EMI and Microsoft are keynoting on 9th July, with Lord Puttnam keynoting on the morning of 10th July. In his role heading the Climate Change Bill, Lord Puttnam will address how Serious Games can meet the related educational challenges.

They are joined by 42+ eminent speakers from the leading organizations shaping and monetizing the NextGen Web.

Book VIP Day and Full Convention Passes Here

The 4 separately bookable events are:

· Monetise Web 2.0 & Social Networks Conference

· Academic & Research Summit

· Apply Serious Games Conference

· Apply Virtual Worlds & MMOs Conference

There are 10 additional sessions including a legal clinic and Industry-focused consultations with experts from Games, Media, Healthcare, Defence & Homeland Security, Energy, Oil & Gas.

Please find also Apply Serious Games Is Now Part Of 3D Web Convention.

How Web 2.0 is Transforming the Business Landscape

Via: Web Spiders’ Blog

Web 2.0, through engaged participatory interaction, has brought about radical changes in the online business scenario. It is often explained as an open space for everyone to exchange, add and edit information through web-based communities and hosted services like social-networking sites, Blogs, wikis, pod casts, multimedia sharing, content syndication, content tagging services and folksonomies.

Web 2.0 has created a new form of economic value known as peer production, by which the users recommend the use of a product or service. It takes into account user ratings, product reviews, online user forums, feedback and Blogs, some of which have become an increasingly credible and trusted source of information for a number of online shoppers.

Participation and collaboration are the two main areas where Web 2.0 is a step above its predecessor. User feedback in the form of ratings, product reviews, and forums are driving forces behind purchase decisions. From a business perspective, customer conversion rate, return visits and promising ROI are the key benefits of Web 2.0.

Partnership with social networking sites provides ample opportunities for marketing, especially for newer products. Word of mouth or viral marketing is a very useful tool for targeting specific user groups. Web 2.0 has redefined the business process, giving it a multi-functional look and triggering engaged customer interaction.

Here are 2 examples…

Michelin Guide Goes Web 2.0

Michelin, the oldest and most respected European hotel and restaurant guide, is the continent's classic arbiter of gastronomic greatness. Since 1926, when the guide first introduced a rating system, its anonymous reviewers have had the power to propel or destroy Europe's priciest restaurants and best chefs simply by adding or removing a star in the famous three-tiered rating system.

Now, for the first time, the public is getting a chance to weigh in, thanks to state-of-the-art social networking and Web 2.0 features that take dining and trip-planning to a whole new level. "There are lots of amateur gourmets and seasoned travelers out there with opinions on good food and good restaurants," says Fabienne Latxague, Web site marketing manager for ViaMichelin, the digital arm of the Michelin Group, which also makes tires, of course. "We want to engage them and create communities."

The new tools, which went live in May, allow gourmands and travelers to share their opinions about restaurants, hotels, and vacation spots in eight European languages, to supplement the information in the traditional guide. The site also neatly pulls together useful information in one place, allowing, for instance, someone going to a business convention not just to book a hotel, but also to find out with a few clicks the weather forecast, which hotels are closest to the convention center, and how long it would take to bike, walk, or take a taxi from the from the closest train station to the various hotels.

Web 2.0 - User Experience Redefined

Although the term Web 2.0 might suggest a new version of the World Wide Web, it actually refers to changes in the way software developers and end-users use the web as a platform.

Web 2.0 basically refers to a two way communication between the users using the web as a platform. The phrase was first used by O’Reilly Media in 2003 and was popularized by the first Web 2.0 conference in the following year. It may be explained as information exchange and networking among the web users through web-based communities and hosted services like social-networking sites and wikis.

Participation is one of the key characteristics of Web 2.0. Participation, in this context, means the enrichment of a website by user generated content. This is one of the defining features that differentiate Web 2.0 from Web1.0. Earlier, websites served simply as static information display mediums and the communication was one-sided. Options to edit, comment or add more to the existing content were almost non-existent. Web 2.0 has empowered the users to take part in the process of content generation.

Convergence is another interesting feature in Web 2.0. It allows users to interact with like-minded users to exchange information or to discuss various issues using the web as a platform.

Web 2.0 makes use of techniques like RIA (Rich Internet Applications) including Ajax based CSS, semantically valid HTML markup and microformats, Syndication and aggregation of data in RSS/Atom, Folksonomies (through tags or tagclouds), Wiki software and Open source software (such as the LAMP solution stack) which facilitate faster and more convenient information exchange.

Technorati Tags: serious games seriousgames future-making serious games serious games market

Race To Equality: Serious Gaming To Overcome Racism In Higher Education

noreply@blogger.com (Eliane Alhadeff) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:34:00 +0000

Serious Games challenging unequal access to education

Race to Equality, will premiere on Thursday, June 26th, at 6:00 pm at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in Manhattan. The public is welcome to attend the free screening, but seating is limited.

Via: Global Kids and Online Leadership Program

NEWS RELEASE

NYC High School Students Produce Important New Film, Race to Equality, Exposing Educational Racism in the U.S., China and Brazil

New York, NY, June 18, 2008 - A diverse group of New York City public high school students, brought together by Global Kids, have produced an important new animated movie that exposes how racism relates to equal access to education. The film was created in Second Life, a three-dimensional "virtual world" that Global Kids uses to educate youth from around the world about global issues.

Global Kids is the foremost nonprofit organization in New York City specifically dedicated to educating students in underserved communities about international and public policy issues.

The film, Race to Equality, will premiere on Thursday, June 26th, at 6:00 pm at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in Manhattan. The public is welcome to attend the free screening, but seating is limited.

The press is also invited to cover the screening and talk to the young filmmakers who will be available to discuss their work. RSVP: vvp@globalkids.org The Sony Wonder Technology Lab is located at 550 Madison Avenue (56th St.). It can be accessed by subway (4, 5, 6 to 59th St.; N, R E, V, to 5th Ave.).

Race To Equality is the culmination of the year-long Virtual Video Project, an after-school program conducted by Global Kids, Inc. The students gathered regularly during the past year to learn about film production, global access to education, and virtual worlds. Their knowledge and efforts resulted in the production of Race To Equality, a year-end project on the struggle of individuals from Brazil, Tibet, and the United States to overcome racism in higher education.

The students represent a range of high schools from Brooklyn and Queens, including, Aviation High School, James Baldwin School, the Academy of American Studies, Banneker Academy, and Hostos Academy. The students who participated in the program are Brian Rodriguez, 20; Christopher Randolph, 15; Doldech Siriwongsal, 16; Jamila Begum, 16; Jinsol Lee, 16; Juan Zuluaga, 16; Justin Arvelo, 17; Mathew Cruz, 19; Michael Araujo, 16; Nafiza Akter, 17; Sabina Runa, 15; Tarana Lewis, 16,; Thein Htay, 16; Vanessa Freytes, 18; and Yessenia Rivera, 18.

Throughout the 2007-2008 Virtual Video Project, the students used machinima (digital movies made in online virtual worlds) to create short films and public service announcements (PSAs) that relate to important global issues.

Race To Equality is a short video that displays the students' impressive understanding of both digital media and important international issues. Through Race To Equality, the 15 young creators illustrate a poignant story about the struggle of three individuals in Tibet, Brazil and the U.S. to overcome institutional racism in their respective countries. While the stories are fictional, they are based on research with the U.N. about unequal access to education and financial aid in China, Brazil and the U.S. In the film, the characters document their experiences at the U.N. Headquarters, underlying the film's central message about the necessity to take social action to overcome such obstacles.

Race To Equality was created in the virtual world of Second Life, one of several "virtual worlds" that offers a three-dimensional environment where online participants from around the world are represented by avatars in social and workplace interactions that mimic and reinvent the physical world. Second Life has millions of users and a growing non-profit community.

By streaming the video in Second Life, disseminating it online, and presenting it at screenings such as the one on June 26th, the students hope to raise awareness about the critical global issue of unequal access to education.

The Virtual Video Project is part of Global Kids' Online Leadership Program (OLP) and made possible with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development. The project was also supported by the Campaign for Educational Equity at Columbia University.

About the OLP

The OLP helps underserved youth learn about important international affairs issues and exercise their leadership skills through innovative media forms. Students in the OLP's Virtual Video Project meet twice a week throughout the school year. The after-school program educates them about film production, digital media literacy, youth media, civic engagement, and global education. Throughout the Virtual Video Project, students learn about Second Life, construct a storyboard based on a global issue of their choosing, create a series of public service announcements, and create one short film such as Race To Equality. Last year VVP produced A Child's War about child soldiers in Uganda.

About Global Kids, Inc.

Founded in 1989, Global Kids' mission is to transform urban youth into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through its leadership development and academic enrichment programs, Global Kids educates youth about critical international and domestic issues and promotes their engagement in civic life and the democratic process. Through professional development initiatives, Global Kids provides educators with strategies for integrating experiential learning methods and international issues into urban classrooms. Over ninety percent of the high school seniors who participate in Global Kids' leadership program graduate from high school.

Technorati Tags:serious games seriousgames future-making serious games global kids