“IMT & VRARA COLLABORATION” Immersive Technologies - Innovation in Education, Training and Game Design

International MSc program

We are proudly announcing the collaboration of IMT  Msc Program with VRAR Association !

The Immersive Technologies - Innovation in Education, Training and Game Design (IMT) MSc program of the Department of Computing Science of the International Hellenic University (IHU) is an International MSc  that covers a unique thematic area in Greece and with a very high degree of innovation in Europe, focusing on cutting-edge technologies such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality with an emphasis on Education, Training, and Game design

The MSc program is offered worldwide as it has been structured to correspond to modern scientific and technological needs within the constantly evolving socioeconomic context, employing Distance Learning and Blended Learning educational approaches. The students and the Academic Staff of the IMT MSc Program come from different countries as the program is offered online, and all courses are taught exclusively in English.

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to foster collaboration between solution providers and end-users that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry best practices, connects member organizations, and promotes the services of member companies.

The collaboration between the IMT MSc Program and the VR/AR Association aims to achieve several objectives.

Firstly, bring together experts from academia and industry in the fields of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to promote knowledge sharing, best practices, and the latest developments in immersive technologies.

Secondly, the collaboration seeks to provide IMT MSc Program students with access to a network of VR/AR professionals, which will enable them to gain hands-on experience and practical knowledge in the development and application of immersive technologies.

Thirdly, the collaboration aims to facilitate research and innovation in the field of VR/AR, promoting joint research projects and encouraging the development of new applications and tools that can benefit both academia and industry.

Finally, the collaboration seeks to promote the use of VR/AR technologies in education, training, and game design at the Master or PhD educational level,  by highlighting best practices and success stories in these areas and by fostering the development of new educational and training solutions that incorporate immersive technologies.

           
  Professor Dr. Avgoustos Tsinakos,

Director of Advanced Educational Technologies and Mobile Applications  (AETMA) Lab

Director of MSc in Immersive Technologies - Innovation in Education, Training and Game Design

Department of Computer Science

International Hellenic University

Alexander Jones appointed as Co-Chair of VR/AR Association's Universities & Colleges Committee

We are thrilled to have Alexander Jones be a key part of our Universities & Colleges Committee.

Alexander possess over fourteen years of extensive experience in career/workforce development, cultivating industry partnerships, professional development programming, and collaborating to create career pathways for diverse learners. My higher education experience includes research, program development, and program evaluation for The Bay Area Community College Consortium, College of Marin’s Work Experience, Career Services and Career Education programs, and the San Mateo Community College District’s Cooperative Education Department and Apprenticeship Programs. Working together with administrators, faculty and classified personnel, I have increased job placement rates, ensured students possess the requisite skills needed to secure their careers, and ensured that my efforts remained responsive to the needs of employers and community partners.

The successful and inclusive workforce development initiatives he has overseen have enhanced programming that bridged community college students to their career of choice, and is responsible for an influx of a younger and more diverse workforce into industries that have historically struggled to forge and sustain lasting relations.

“I am excited to co-chair the VRARA University & College Committee, and look forward to creating similar programming that is effective, sustainable, and robust for VRARA members/communities and students.”

— Alexander Jones

Ciara Hamagishi of Unity appointed as Co-Chair for our VR/AR Association Universities & Colleges Committee

We are thrilled to have Ciara Hamagishi of Unity help lead our VRARA Universities & Colleges Committee.

"Institutions incorporating VRAR truly inspire me and motivate my own work. I know all too well the commitment required to start new programs or to bring new technology into the classroom. I’m honoured to co-chair this committee and learn from its members."

Ciara Hamagishi

Ciara is the Senior Partnerships Manager, Education for Unity. Her focus is on higher education and workforce development opportunities to create equitable access for a diverse pool of future real-time 3D creators. She works with schools globally to provide grants, develop programs or incorporate Unity technology into the classroom.

Ciara has over a decade of experience in education in both Canada and the US across public, private and international. Her expertise is in partnerships, marketing and admissions/recruitment. Prior to Unity, she was on the leadership team of a Canadian technology bootcamp.

Rob Theriault appointed as Co-Chair of Universities & Colleges Committee of the VR/AR Association

We are thrilled to have Rob Theriault lead our Universities & Colleges Committee and VRARA community with respect to schools and learning institutions. Check schedule for upcoming Online Meets here.

“I think this committee is important, particularly for bridging the gab between education and enterprise in the VRARA sphere.”

Rob Theriault

Rob Theriault is the Immersive Technology Manager for Georgian College. Prior to taking this position, Rob was a 35 year veteran paramedic and former Critical Care Flight Paramedic. Rob also taught paramedics for over 20 years. After introducing virtual reality into the paramedic program at Georgian and helping to create a VR hub in the library, Rob was asked to lead the exploration and integration of VR for Georgian’s seven campuses. In two years Georgian has launched over a dozen virtual reality pilots for Indigenous language learning, Veterinary Technician, Biotech, Paramedic, Nursing, Power Engineering, Events Management, Trades and others. Georgian is now regarded as one of the world leaders in the exploration and integration of virtual reality as a learning medium.

Next steps for VRARA Universities & Colleges Committee, and Welcome Jon Gress as Co-Chair

See the latest VR & AR solutions at our VR/AR Global Summit ONLINE Conference+Expo Sept 16-18

We are thrilled to announce Jon Gress (see bio below) as Co-Chair for our University & Colleges Committee. 

Join our next Online Meet on July 1st!

“I’m very excited about the amazing progress I’ve seen in the VRARA and all the incredible people, talent, events, meetings and developments. I’d be pleased to co-chair the Committee and look forward to helping the VRARA continue to lead these exciting new immersive technology industries to a future of excellence.”

— Jon Gress

Feel free to email Jon with your ideas for projects or research for the Committee.

About the Committee

This committee shares and creates best practices, guidelines, and call to actions for university curricula and research relating to VR and AR. We meet every month online (next Online Meet is July 1st) to present recent case studies, projects, research, and enable a forum to discuss common problems and solutions. We have published a Report that features over 40 institutions that teach VR/AR. Plus, the active participants get preference to speak at our chapter events and Global Summits.

Jon Gress Bio

Jon Gress is the Academic Director, The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School at Universal Studios, Orlando, FL

With over 30 years of experience in motion picture, visual effects, immersive media technologies & production, Jon Gress has been on the cutting edge of digital production technologies since their beginnings. He has trained thousands of filmmakers and visual effects artists from all over the world, who have gone on from his training to secure jobs in top visual effects companies and have worked on blockbuster movies and award winning television series including:

24, 47 Ronin, Almost Human, Ant Man, Assassin's Creed, Captain America, Conan The Barbarian, CSI, Die Hard, Dredd, Fringe, Game of Thrones, GI Joe, Godzilla, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Harry Potter, Hawaii Five-O, Hugo, Iron Man, James Bond, John Carter, Life of Pi, Lost, MIB 3, Mirror Mirror, Narnia, Need for Speed, Oblivion, Olympus Has Fallen, Oz, Pacific Rim, Pirates of the Caribbean, Riddick, RIPD, Serenity, Snow White and the Huntsman, Spiderman, Stolen, Superman, Star Trek, Star Wars, Terra Nova, The Avengers, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Expendables, The Fast and the Furious, The Great Gatsby, The Green Hornet, The Green Lantern, The Hobbit, The Hulk, The Hunger Games, The Mechanic, The Twilight Saga, The Walking Dead, The Wolf of Wall Street, Thor, Titanic, Total Recall, Transformers, White House Down, Wolverine, X-Men, and many many more).

Jon is an active member of The Visual Effects Society, a published Pearson Higher Education author ("Digital Visual Effects & Compositing", the complete college curriculum textbook & instructor’s guide used in colleges all over the world), has been a regular writer/columnist for motion picture industry trade publications and has produced, directed and supervised hundreds of motion picture, television, VFX and cutting edge interactive multimedia & immersive productions (for institutions ranging from small independent to Fortune 100) since 1998.

Jon brings to The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School at Universal Studios, Orlando FL decades of expertise, research and development in cutting edge visualization technologies such as 3D Stereoscopic Imaging, 3D Photogrammetry, 360 & 180 VR photo/video, 3D motion tracking, capture & motion control, the integration of these into a the real-time visualization, VR, AR, MxR & Virtual Production development for Motion Pictures, Games, 3D Visual Effects and Fully Immersive Virtual Experiences.

The VR/AR Association Publishes the Universities and Colleges Report with over 40 Institutions that offer Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Courses and Programs

Click here to receive a copy of the report

Enter your email - Universities & Colleges Report

An educated workforce is a more than a qualified workforce; it is citizenry embracing curiosity. That very curiosity, encouraged by educators, creates the realm of possibility for a thriving, human-centered global populace. Enterprise may develop novel and innovative products with the latest VR/AR and immersive technologies, but without access to a trained, well-educated, and yes, curious workforce, business and industry cannot flourish or compete globally, no matter how cutting-edge or groundbreaking the technologies may be.

The overarching goal of the VRARA Universities and Colleges Committee is to increase higher education’s curiosity and knowledge of VR/AR. We seek to support and promote the bringing together of diverse disciplines, stakeholders, and interest groups within and across institutions in the service of learning both with and about VR/AR.

This report represents the first in a series of steps intended to advance that goal. It provides a high-level overview of over 40 institutions around the world are doing in this space, including:

• VR/AR courses and programs being offered;

• Use of VR/AR to support learning and teaching in other courses and programs;

• VR/AR-related research and development activity being undertaken;

• VR/AR in other areas of the institution (e.g., recruitment/ marketing/outreach, libraries, student services).

We hope that the report will be a useful resource for locating expertise, facilitating connections, and building collective capacity among those who are part of the growing community interested in the potential of VR/AR in higher education.

Beyond this report, a further role of the VRARA Universities and Colleges Committee is the coalescing of a higher education– industry alliance aimed at bridging the gap between current educational practices and offerings on one hand, and the emerging workforce needs and demands on the other. To that end, we have recently embarked on an environmental scan of major industry sectors using or otherwise impacted by XR— such as transportation, medicine and healthcare, arts, media and entertainment, and advanced manufacturing—the findings of which will be cross walked to curricular and pedagogical approaches as a means of better understanding how we can prepare students for the jobs and careers of the future.

In the words of Jean Piaget, “the goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities ... to invent and discover, to create [ people ] who are capable of doing new things.” Join us in our efforts as together, we forge a path for a thriving future of higher education, and of a global workforce enabled by as well as further enabling next-generation VR/AR and immersive technologies.

New report to be published: VR/AR in Universities & Colleges. 60+ Schools Featured (Update)

If interested to be featured in this report or to sponsor, email info@thevrara.com

Our Universities and Colleges Committee is finalizing a Report that will highlight what postsecondary education institutions are doing in the VR/AR space. The report will provide an overview of:

• what VR/AR courses and programs are being offered by each institution;

• how VR/AR technologies are being used to support learning and teaching in other courses and programs;

• VR/AR-related research and/or development activity occurring at the institutions;

• applications of VR/AR to other areas, such as recruitment, marketing, outreach, the library, and student services;

• the institutions’ future plans in the VR/AR space.

Schools in the report include:

1. ABC Business Academy (Canada)

2. American University

3. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands)

4. Bow Valley College (Canada)

5. British Columbia Institute of Technology (Canada)

6. Camosun College (Canada)

7. Capilano University (Canada)

8. Carlow University (USA)

9. Champlain Regional College - Saint-Lambert Campus (Canada)

10. Cherry Creek Innovation Campus

11. Columbia College Chicago Online (USA)

12. Community College of Allegheny County (USA)

13. Eastern Iowa Community Colleges

14. Fashion Institute of Technology (USA)

15. Fielding Graduate University – Media Psychology Program (USA)

16. Florida International University

17. Georgian College (Canada)

18. Georgia Tech

19. Harvard

20. Howest, university of applied sciences (Belgium)

21. HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences – AURORA School for ARtists (Germany)

22. Iowa State University

23. Jackson State University (USA)

24. Johns Hopkins

25. Jefferson University (USA)

26. KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden)

27. Laney College

28. Lethbridge College (Canada)

29. Lawrence Technological University

30. Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU)

31. Marquette University (USA)

32. Massive VR Lab

33. MIT

34. New Brunswick College of Craft & Design (Canada)

35. Old Dominion University (USA)

36. Orange Coast College (OCC) (USA)

37. Oregon State University (USA)

38. Porto Polytechnic Institute (Portugal)

39. Qatar University (Qatar)

40. Rowan University

41. Rutgers University (USA)

42. San Jose State University (USA)

43. Sheridan College (Canada)

44. Solihull College University Centre (UK)

45. Southern Oregon University (USA)

46. Stony Brook University (Stony Brook, New York, USA)

47. TAFE NSW (Australia)

48. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (USA)

49. Texas A&M University Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications

50. Thomas More University College Mechelen-Antwerpen (Belgium)

51. TTS Työtehoseura (Finland)

52. University of British Columbia (Canada)

53. University of Central Florida

54. University of Southern California

55. University of Nebraska (USA)

56. University of the West of England, Bristol (UK)

57. Vancouver Film School (Canada)

58. Universidad Europea de Madrid (Spain)

59. Universidade Lusofona

60. University of Illinois at Chicago (USA)

61. University of Florida – Digital Worlds Institute (USA)

62. University of Nebraska–Lincoln
    Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts

63. Asia Pacific University- Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Call for Participation: VR/AR in Universities and Colleges

The VRARA Universities and Colleges Committee is currently putting together a Sector Report that will highlight what postsecondary education institutions are doing in the VR/AR space. The report will provide an overview of:

• what VR/AR courses and programs are being offered by each institution;

• how VR/AR technologies are being used to support learning and teaching in other courses and programs;

• VR/AR-related research and/or development activity occurring at the institutions;

• applications of VR/AR to other areas, such as recruitment, marketing, outreach, the library, and student services;

• the institutions’ future plans in the VR/AR space.

Participation is open to postsecondary education institutions worldwide. If your institution would like to have it featured in the report, please contact info@thevrara.com as soon as possible, but no later than Friday, December 21, 2018.

Want to Sponsor this report? Email info@thevrara.com for details!

(Note: While K-12 education does not fall within the scope of this report, plans are also underway for a cross-sector effort on VR/AR curricula that will include K-12, which will be undertaken by jointly the Universities and Colleges Committee and the Education Committee)