15.06.2009 - 15:21 Uhr

Best-in-class Virtual Reality research and education

Ames, Stuttgart, June 15th, 2009: The Virtual Reality Application Center (VRAC) at the Iowa State University and ICIDO (www.icido.com), global provider of immersive Virtual Reality software, today signed an cooperation agreement. The goal of this agreement is the better use of Virtual Reality both in Education and Research as well as in the industry.

The Virtual Reality Application Center (VRAC) at Iowa State University is an interdisciplinary research center focusing on the rapidly expanding interface between humans and computers. The research centers around developing computer interfaces that integrate virtual environments, wireless networking, pervasive computing and emerging user interface devices to amplify the creativity and productivity of people.

Examples of the Research of the VRAC among others are the development of virtual power plants, immersive learning environments or virtual reality interfaces. The cooperation with ICIDO, one of the world’s leading providers of virtual reality software, enables VRAC researchers to build research applications based on a stable and full featured platform that is used industry-wide. This opens the door to new research opportunities in virtual collaboration in a 1:1 scale, the visualization of large datasets and new 3D user interfaces.

ICIDO will provide the VRAC with the latest software technology for all of their research and education areas. It also supports the VRAC in education and classroom technology for immersive virtual environments. This will introduce a large number of students to the potential uses of virtual reality in product development through the use of the Visual Decision Platform (VDP), the standard product of ICIDO.

James Oliver, Director at the VRAC, comments: “The VRAC is widely known for its excellent research and educa-tion in the field of Virtual Reality and visualization. The cooperation with ICIDO enhances our ability to involve industry closely with this research in many different ways, like the education of employees or the development of industry specific tools and applications”.

“The cooperation for the use of Virtual Reality Technology at the VRAC gives us the possibility to enhance the capabilities of our software and to participate at the results of the research especially in immersive user interface design or virtual training”, Ralf Heimberg, CEO of ICIDO, adds and he remarks: “we are proud that the VRAC, the leading research institute in the Virtual Reality area, choose ICIDO as a partner and application provider for their research.”

The cooperation start’s now and will be signed for 24 months. More information is available at: http://www.icido.com

About VRAC
Iowa State University’s Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC) is internationally renowned as one of the world’s premier research facilities for interdisciplinary applications of emerging interface technologies, spanning engineering, sciences, and the humanities. With more than $20M of contract research in process, the VRAC currently supports the research of 40 faculty, 165 graduate students and 115 undergraduate research assistants spanning all seven ISU colleges. The VRAC is also home of ISU’s interdepartmental graduate major in Human Computer Interaction. The HCI program, with more than 110 students currently enrolled, is now the second largest interdepartmental graduate major in the university and offers PhD, MS and Professional Certificate degrees. The VRAC is home of the C6, the world’s highest resolution fully immersive VR device. The C6 is a 10x10x10 foot room in which all six surfaces are illuminated from outside by ultra-high resolution stereoscopic interactive computer graphics, creating a compelling sense of total immersion in a virtual environment. The VRAC also features the Lee Liu Auditorium – with seating for more than 230 people, Lee Liu is the world’s highest resolution stereoscopic-enabled auditorium.