The XPAND 3D Educational Content Library Provides Schools and Educators With a Variety of Free Educational Content to Deliver Lessons and Presentations in 3D

“A significant component of Camp RED will be shooting in 3D and educating our campers on the proper techniques involved in 3D production”

[Press Release]

At ISTE 2011, XPAND 3D is introducing its XPAND 3D Educational Network, offering world-class 3D instructional technology to schools at the K-12 and higher education levels. The XPAND 3D Educational Network underscores XPAND’s commitment to serve as a content and technology resource for the education community.

“Educational institutions are continuing to adopt 3D technology into their classrooms as 3D is proving to have a profound impact on knowledge retention among students,” says Ami Dror, Chief Strategy Officer, XPAND 3D. “Our Educational 3D Network allows teachers to easily create their own stereoscopic 3D presentation, to share it with other teachers, to edit and modify such presentations and to have fruitful discussions about 3D education. It is the only educational 3D content that is made by teachers and for teachers.”

XPAND has teamed with industry leaders in order to supply the network members with high-quality, public-domain educational 3D content that can be used for free. Educational 3D content suppliers can also offer premium 3D content for sale on the Educational Network.

XPAND’s PowerPoint 3D plug-in allows users to easily add 3D images, graphics and objects to PowerPoint presentations. Users are able to set the amount of depth to every element in a slideshow and to embed 3D objects like 3D movies, 3D pictures and graphics. The plug-in is compatible with MS Office 2010.

Once a school joins the XPAND network, it will be granted free access to XPAND’s 3D Educational Content Library, where educators from around the world contribute by submitting new 3D movies, pictures and presentations. Educators are encouraged to create and modify the library in order to maximize the quality of 3D education. More information can be found at www.xpand.me/education.

The XPAND 3D Educational kit includes: 30 XPAND 3D glasses; a multi-format XPAND 3D cable; XPAND 3D PowerPoint software; and free access to the XPAND 3D Educational Content Library. The XPAND 3D Educational Kit is compatible with any 3D-ready DLP projector.

In addition to the Educational 3D Network, XPAND 3D is supporting other educational initiatives, such as Camp RED, sponsored by RED Digital Cinema. At Camp RED, students aged 9-15 will learn to use the same technology that was used on such blockbuster movies as The Social Network, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tidesand Peter Jackson’s upcoming film, The Hobbit. More information on Camp RED is available at www.red.com/learn/campred

“A significant component of Camp RED will be shooting in 3D and educating our campers on the proper techniques involved in 3D production,” says Ted Schilowitz, RED Digital Cinema. “XPAND is looking to be a key component in the teaching of the campers on 3D, while we in turn fully support XPAND’s efforts to improve education in all subjects through the use of 3D technology. It’s a really exciting and valuable part of the modern learning experience.”

See the original post here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110627006379/en/XPAND-Launches-World’s-Educational-3D-Network-Teachers

[By Vimita Mohandas, Channel News Asia]

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Fraunhofer – one of Europe’s largest research organisations – have jointly set up a new research centre to develop 3D technology.

The S$14 million Fraunhofer Interactive Digital Media @NTU will focus on interactive and digital media research and look into commercialising applications. The research centre is funded by NTU, Fraunhofer and the Media Development Authority.

Developing cutting-edge 3D technology to solve real-world problems – that is the aim of the newly opened Fraunhofer Interactive Digital Media @ NTU.

Among prototypes it has developed so far, is a virtual augmented Chinese learning aid. The learning game will benefit non-Chinese learners. To find out the meaning of a particular Chinese character, all they have to do is point it towards a camera and its image will be flashed on a screen.

The centre also hopes to develop breakthrough projects for the benefit of sectors such as tourism, culture and transport.

With media technologies constantly changing, the research centre hopes to engage youths.

Professor Freddy Boey, Provost-Designate of NTU, said: “Today, our young people are very media savvy, very visual. Everybody has an iPhone, iPad and this is where we’re coming in. With good graphic improvements, it will engage young people, not only in Singapore but the whole of Asia.”

The centre will also work on research areas like computer graphics and computer vision. The facility will also offer joint PhD programmes in visual computing with two leading universities from Germany and Austria.

As a start, a total of 20 scholarships will be given to promising PhD students – 10 from NTU and another 10 from the universities in Germany and Austria.

Under this programme – graduate researchers can go to Austria or Germany for at least a year to do their thesis and research at the Fraunhofer institutes there and vice versa. It signed agreements for the two joint programmes with Graz University of Technology and Technische Universitat Darmsradt.

See the original story here: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1137203/1/.html