Magitech Division Partners with GVU Center for Advanced AR Research ATLANTA, May 28
ATLANTA, May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- 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's 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's 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.
Augmented 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 "augmented" by the addition of
computer-generated graphics.
"Augmented 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," said Carl Freer, Media Power
Co-Founder and Visionary.
"We 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," said Rich Jenkins, CEO Media Power.
"We are very excited about the work we will do together."
Under the guidance of Georgia Tech professor Blair MacIntyre, GVU's
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.
"Augmented Reality is one of the most significant emerging industries
in the world right now," said Rich DeMillo, Dean of the College of
Computing at Georgia Tech. "Its influence will be felt from entertainment
to education to health care. Georgia Tech's leadership in AR research and
Media Power's strength in commercialization make this an ideal
partnership to achieve our mutual goal of creating breakthrough
technologies that achieve sustained real world impact."
"GVU has a long track record in Augmented Reality and mobile
computing," said Elizabeth Mynatt, Director of the GVU Center. "This
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."
Magitech 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.
Magitech is Media Power's 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's goal is to
develop commercial grade Augmented Reality products and networks.
About Media Power
Media 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 www.themediapowergroup.com
About GVU
The 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.
After 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 www.gvu.gatech.edu
SOURCE Media Power Inc.
