Collaboration Will Educate Canadian Students about International Space Station
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA (August 14, 2008) - Virtual Heroes Inc. (VHI), ‘The Advanced Learning Technology Company,’ today announced their latest space exploration product, an educational serious game intended to simulate the International Space Station and its components.
The product will be designed to teach mathematics at the elementary and high school levels, featuring the famous Canadarm2 and Dextre robots. Canadian astronaut Julie Payette's role as the robotics lead on upcoming space shuttle mission STS 127 will be featured as students are immersed in the space robotics environment, take control of the virtual robotics systems, learn and apply age-appropriate math concepts and complete a series of robotics tasks similar to those assigned to Ms. Payette. Innovative modes of learning and assessment will be employed, harnessing the power of modern game technology, thus introducing a new era in education to classrooms across the nation.
“It will feel real – and students will control their learning environment and math education will take on a whole new dimension,” says Khal Shariff, CEO of Project Whitecard, “Canadians have some beautiful technology up there in space, and the new immersive technologies are finally catching up to the point where they are going to provide the next space generation with virtual, hands-on access to space so that they can use it as the ultimate learning platform.”
The project will assemble a world-class international team which includes Project Whitecard, famed advanced learning technology experts Virtual Heroes Inc. of North Carolina, Cinetik Studios of Montreal, Canadian Space Agency robotics and training experts and even a Canadian astronaut! The Canadian Space Agency's new learning products will launch in early 2009.
The challenge of the Team is to create a specific curriculum-based product which at the same time remains fun and is engaging to students and educators alike. The DVD will feature a cutting-edge, multiplayer immersive environment on the International Space Station, space shuttle in tow, with high-fidelity 3D graphics and an unprecedented level of interactivity.
Project Whitecard is a company specializing in the new "Serious Gaming" field for space exploration, health, training and education. They are located at the University of Manitoba Smartpark as part of the Eureka! Business Incubator. CEO Khal Shariff has participated in several NASA outreach projects as a speaker and also maintains the Serious Games Canada industry group.
Partner Virtual Heroes Inc. (VHI), the “Advanced Learning Technology Company” creates collaborative interactive learning solutions for U.S. Federal Systems, Healthcare and Corporate Training markets. VHI applications facilitate highly interactive, self-paced learning and instructor-led, distributed team training on the Virtual Heroes Advanced Learning Technology (A.L.T.) platform.
Cinetik Studios have been developing game based training and simulations since 2004. Their mission is simple and straightforward: to develop profitable efficient game-based training and simulation systems for corporate, institutional and government clients using existing and proven game technology.
This is Project Whitecard and Virtual Heroes' first project with the Canadian Space Agency. Project Whitecard also produces “Project Moonwalk,” a science education game featuring Apollo and Constellation Missions. Needless to say, all the team members are very excited to be working with the Canadian Space Agency on such a creative and forward-thinking project.
About Virtual Heroes Inc.
Founded in January 2004, and located in Research Triangle Park, NC, Virtual Heroes Inc. (VHI), the "Advanced Learning Technology Company," creates collaborative interactive learning solutions (serious games) and virtual worlds for the federal systems, healthcare and commercial markets. Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT) leverage simulation learning and digital game-based learning paradigms to accelerate learning, increase proficiency and reduce costs. Virtual Worlds facilitate training, education, collaboration, telepresence, and R&D across distributed teams using internet 2.0 technologies. As a global market leader in this field, VHI applications facilitate highly interactive, self-paced learning and instructor-led, distributed team training on the Virtual Heroes Advanced Learning Technology (A.L.T.) platform using the Unreal® Engine 3 by Epic Games. In 2007, VHI was honored by Military Training and Technology magazine as one of the industry’s Top 100 companies for a third consecutive year. Virtual Heroes is expanding its experience and success in the defense sector into the healthcare market with the development of HumanSim™, and into the commercial market with custom solutions.
For more information about Virtual Heroes, its products and services, please visit www.virtualheroes.com.
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