{"51239":{"#nid":"51239","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Media Power Donates $5M to GVU Center","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EATLANTA (May 28, 2008) \u2013\u2013 Media Power Inc., a global developer of high technology products, today announced it is donating $5 million over the next five years to Georgia Tech\u0027s GVU Center for research and educational activities in Augmented Reality (AR) and mobile computing. In addition to the funding, Media Power is providing hardware and development tools to the GVU Center to aid research and will assist the Center to find realistic settings to deploy and evaluate game ideas. The gift partners Media Power\u0027s AR division, Magitech, with the GVU Center to envision, prototype and evaluate the next generation of mobile AR games and entertainment applications and positions the company as a leader in AR.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\nAugmented Reality (AR) is a field of computer research that deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data. At present, most AR research is concerned with the use of live video imagery that is digitally processed and \u0022augmented\u0022 by the addition of computer-generated graphics.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAugmented Reality is one of the most exciting technologies available today. Thus far, it has only existed in the research lab. It is our intention to commercialize the technology and make it available to the public at large. Augmented Reality offers us the opportunity to create an entirely new advertising paradigm,\u201d said Carl Freer, Co-Founder and Visionary.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe partnered with Georgia Tech because of their reputation for excellence in this area. The work they have done thus far is very exciting and their open stance with commercial entities such as Magitech provides for a great opportunity,\u201d said Rich Jenkins, CEO Media Power. \u201cWe are very excited about the work we will do together.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnder the guidance of Georgia Tech professor Blair MacIntyre, GVU\u0027s faculty and students with expertise in computer science, human-centered computing, digital media and game design will partner with Magitech to explore new mobile AR application concepts.  The gift from Media Power also enables research in new kinds of design and authoring tools for handheld AR systems, including systems empowering end-users to create AR games themselves.  The partnership will create opportunities for GVU researchers to evaluate commercial-grade AR applications in realistic settings.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAugmented Reality is one of the most significant emerging industries in the world right now,\u201d said Rich DeMillo, Dean of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. \u0022Its influence will be felt from entertainment to education to health care. Georgia Tech\u2019s leadership in AR research and Media Power\u2019s strength in commercialization make this an ideal partnership to achieve our mutual goal of creating breakthrough technologies that achieve sustained real world impact.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGVU has a long track record in Augmented Reality and mobile computing,\u0022 said Elizabeth Mynatt, Director of the GVU Center. \u0022This partnership with Media Power strengthens our ability to look at the entire ecosystem of mobile computing from human experience to technology, design strategies to business opportunities.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMagitech also announced today the opening of its Atlanta offices, located at 817 West Peachtree Street in the Biltmore Hotel building, a location providing easy access to Georgia Tech.  Magitech has already hired a sizable compliment of designers, 3D modelers, AR programmers, researchers and content developers, consisting of over 15 Georgia Tech and Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta graduates.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMagitech is Media Power\u2019s Atlanta-based augmented reality division. Its world class research partners include the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, the Graz University of Technology in Austria and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Magitech\u2019s goal is to develop commercial grade Augmented Reality products and networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAbout Media Power\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Power is a unique tech company that develops consumer and business products based on Augmented Reality technology (AR) and other advanced systems. Media Power has four divisions offering a range of hi-tech goods and marketing services: Magitech; GetFugu.com; Gizmondo; and Chinetic. For more information visit the company\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.themediapowergroup.com.\/\u0022 target=\u0022blank\u0026gt;website\u0026lt;\/a\u0026gt;.\u0026lt;\/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br \u0026gt;\u0026lt;\/a\u0026gt;\n\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\u0026lt;b\u0026gt;About GVU\u0026lt;\/b\u0026gt;\u0026lt;\/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\n\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;The\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nGVU Center at Georgia Tech is an interdisciplinary research center\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nencompassing a number of individual colleges at Georgia Tech as well as\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nexternal collaborators. GVU focuses on unlocking and amplifying human\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\npotential through technical innovation in computing technologies. The\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nfaculty and students associated with GVU bring expertise ranging from\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nscience and engineering to the humanities and design. It is through\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\ndeep collaboration between these diverse domains that enables the GVU\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nCenter to engage in research that would otherwise be difficult to\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\ntackle in traditional academic and industrial settings.\u0026lt;\/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\n\u0026lt;p\u0026gt;After\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nmore than a decade and half of practicing interdisciplinary research,\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nGVU has gained an international recognition in 3D Compression,\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nAnimation, Augmented Reality, Collaborative Work, Educational\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nTechnologies, Gaming, Graphics, Human-Computer Interaction, Information\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nVisualization, New Media, Online Communities, Perception, Robotics,\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\nUbiquitous Computing, Virtual Reality and Wearable Computing. For more\u0026lt;br \/\u0026gt;\ninformation visit the center\u0026#039;s \u0026lt;a href=\u0022\u003Ewebsite\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout GVU\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe GVU Center at Georgia Tech is an interdisciplinary research center encompassing a number of individual colleges at Georgia Tech as well as external collaborators. GVU focuses on unlocking and amplifying human potential through technical innovation in computing technologies. The faculty and students associated with GVU bring expertise ranging from science and engineering to the humanities and design. It is through deep collaboration between these diverse domains that enables the GVU Center to engage in research that would otherwise be difficult to tackle in traditional academic and industrial settings.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter more than a decade and half of practicing interdisciplinary research, GVU has gained an international recognition in 3D Compression, Animation, Augmented Reality, Collaborative Work, Educational Technologies, Gaming, Graphics, Human-Computer Interaction, Information Visualization, New Media, Online Communities, Perception, Robotics, Ubiquitous Computing, Virtual Reality and Wearable Computing. For more information visit the center\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gvu.cc.gatech.edu\/index.php\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewebsite\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more information, contact:\u003Cbr \/\u003EBecky Biggs\u003Cbr \/\u003EGCI Group\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:rbiggs@gcigroup.com\u0022\u003Erbiggs@gcigroup.com\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E(404) 260-3510\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EATLANTA (May 28, 2008) \u2013\u2013 Media Power Inc., a global developer of\nhigh technology products, today announced it is donating $5 million\nover the next five years to Georgia Tech\u0027s GVU Center for research and\neducational activities in Augmented Reality (AR) and mobile computing.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27154","created_gmt":"2010-02-09 21:40:56","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:04:36","author":"Louise Russo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-05-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-05-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}