This is my November Immersive technology Strategies Newsletter

1. Dear Badar,
Welcome to this Immersive Technology Strategies Newsletter. This month’s edition contains a lot of activity from both the past
month and upcoming events and activities – I very much hope you find it useful
Contained in this newsletter :-
 Games Festival/Conference Feb 2013 at De Montfort University combined with Cultural Exchanges
 DMU Institute of Creative Technologies Lunchtime Seminar Feb 13th
 GAME (Games Alliance Middle England) Update
 ImReal Simulation Augmentation Evaluation
 Global Entrepreneurship Week and Serious Games
 Archived Presentations, Images and videos
 Review of NEM 2012 Summit Istanbul
 Review of VS-Games 2012 and Imaginary Workshop on Games for Business Enterprise
 Serious Games and Immersive Technology Heroes 1 – Eliane Alhadeff
 Reflections on the past month
 Upcoming Conferences
Games Festival / Conference Feb 25 – Mar 1st 2013 at De Montfort University
As part of the GAME (Games Alliance Middle England) project I am working on at De Montfort University, I have started planning a
Games Festival/Conference to coincide with next year’s annual Cultural Exchanges festival being held from Monday Feb 25th to
March 1st. The Cultural Exchanges festival is an annual cultural festival held at De Montfort University, Leicester, England. The
festival started in the year 2000 and is held over 5 days attracting up to 4,000 people each year.
Many celebrated guests from areas of the arts, media, literature, politics and film have appeared at the festival including
Alastair Campbell, Andrew Motion, Alan Yentob, Alan Moore[1], Sue Townsend, Alan Sillitoe, Ken Loach, Matthew Bourne, Ben
Okri, Louis De Bernieres, Billy Bragg, Andrew Davies, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Grayson Perry, Germaine Greer, Trevor Nelson[2]
and Lemn Sissay. The main programme is often complemented by workshops, day conferences and performance arts events.
The festival director, Tony Graves, recently received the Leicestershire First Award for Achievement in Arts and Music.
I am now looking for presenters, researchers and practitioners to participate in a series of thematic days which explore best
practices and future thinking on the application of games and immersive technologies such as virtual worlds and social networks
to important global issues. If you are interested in presenting and/or attending a one day festival workshop on the following
themes, please email me at dwortley@dmu.ac.uk or call me on +447896659695
Games and Immersive Technologies for Culture, Heritage and Tourism
In an age of globalisation, the preservation of culture and heritage is vital to the future of society and diversity. Today’s
immersive technologies offer unprecedented opportunities to capture and create highly interactive immersive and engaging
experiences that help us to learn about the past and explore the future. I am looking for experienced people in the use of 3D
immersive environments, video games and mobile applications to share their knowledge in this one day workshop and also
enjoy the rich variety of DMUs Cultural Exchanges Festival
Games and Immersive Technologies for the Ageing Society
The Ageing Society is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. As birth rates decline and life expectancy increases, and
shrinking working population may be forced to support a rapidly growing ageing population. There are many technologies being
developed support Independent Living and reduce the cost of care for the elderly but immersive technologies could offer a new
approach to these problems by harnessing the experiences of older people to continue to contribute to society well beyond
retirement age in ways which generate better well-being and thereby not only reduce the cost burden, but also create new
models for society where the wisdom of the elderly, once treasured so much in ancient cultures could be renewed and
regenerated. Please contact me if you would like to share your experiences and ideas.
Games and Immersive Technologies for Community Engagement and Empowerment
De Montfort University is a thought leader in the role of Universities within their local community and the DMU Square Mile
Project is a living example of staff and students working alongside local people in disadvantaged communities. This one day
workshop is designed to bring together leading practitioners and researchers involved in the use of Immersive technologies to
engage and empower local communities to shape a better future. My good friend Steve Thompson of Teesside University will be a
keynote speaker sharing his experiences of the use of Second Life to engage and empower his local communities is places like
Skinningrove. Please contact me if you would like to present or participate. This part of the festival will be held within the Square
Mile project community and will be a great opportunity to learn more about De Montfort’s work in this area.
Games and Immersive Technologies for the Environment Sustainable Development
I have been involved with the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) for the past ten years. This initiative was started by Al
Gore in the last century with a vision to help build a more sustainable and equitable future for mankind by visualising a sharing
environmental information amongst all global citizens in order to better understand and manage the future of Planet earth.
Technologies such as smart meters and 3D visualisations of energy usage and environmental data could play an important role of
ensuring that our planet is protected for future generations. I am looking for presenters and practitioners working in this field to
share their knowledge and experience in this one day workshop
Games and Immersive Technologies for Creativity and Innovation
De Montfort University hosts the Institute of Creative Technologies and is doing some ground breaking work in areas such as
digital music, immersive audio and computer art. DMU’s Game Art Design course is the only Industry accredited course of its kind
in the UK and DMU work closely with local arts organisations such as the Phoenix and the brand new Curve Theatre to bring
Digital Technologies to the creative process. This one day workshop is designed to showcase the best of creative technologies and
bring together practitioners, artists and researchers to share their ideas for the future of creativity and innovation. Please join us
for this one day workshop.
DMU Institute of Creative Technology Lunchtime Seminar Feb 13th

2. At 12:30 on Tuesday Feb 13th, I will be hosting a lunchtime seminar on the Role of Games and Immersive Technologies and their
impact of Business and Society. The session will be based on the reflections of our changing relationship with technology
presented in my “Gadgets to God” book – www.gadgetstogodbook.com where I argue that we have entered an unprecedented
era in mankind’s history in which technology, for the first time, is using its senses, intelligence and knowledge to harness the
potential of human beings with many potentially as yet unseen consequences. If you are in Leicester on Feb 13 th, join us at the
Institute of Creative technologies. More details of the event can be found at :-
http://transdisciplinarydmu.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/1230-tue-13th-november-2012-games.html
GAME (Game Alliance Middle England) Update
The GAME project at De Montfort University brings DMU together with some of the UK’s leading games developers to share
knowledge and experience to mutual benefit and leverage the skills and talents of these companies and DMU staff and students
working in games related areas. The next meeting of the GAME project team is on Wednesday December 12th and will be followed
by a presentation to the DMU Health and Life Sciences Faculty on the application of games technologies to health related issues
such as paramedic and doctor training and care home simulations. Game industry stakeholders include Blitz Games, Rare Games,
Crytek, Codemasters, Lockwood Studios, PixeLearning, Serious Games Institute, Dassault Systemes together with cross-faculty
representation from De Montfort University.
ImReal Simulation Augmentation Evaluation
The European project ImReal is a very interesting exploration of augmenting simulations with participant feedback. It works very
much like a role playing game in which you have to deal with a typical business situation such as organising and hosting a
company meal with guests from different cultures and backgrounds.
“ImREAL develops a set of intelligent services to help with simulation augmentation, which means:
(1) augmenting the simulation design process;
(2) augmenting the learning experience with the simulator.
These services will be supported with a pedagogical framework and an integration framework.
The chosen domain is interpersonal communication with multi-cultural awareness. ImREAL takes an activity-driven approach and
focuses on specific interpersonal communication dimensions”
You can learn more about ImReal from the web site website www.imreal-project.eu, the LinkedIn Group “ImREAL” and the
Twitter Feed @ImREAL_project
We are also looking for people to try the simulation and not only give feedback, but share their experiences to add extra value
and knowledge to the simulation. If you would like to do this, please contact Antonio Ascolese [antonio.ascolese@i-maginary.it]
who will supply you with a guest userid and password.
Global Entrepreneurship Week and Serious Games
Richard Branson, speaking at an entrepreneur event in Egypt recently with President Carter, mentioned how President George W
Bush had reportedly said "the French don't have a word for entrepreneur." He said “a quick Google will tell you that the word
entrepreneur is a loanword from the French verb "entreprende", which means "to undertake". That sounds quite fitting, as
entrepreneurs are always undertaking new challenges and coming up with new ideas.
Joseph Schumpeter's definition is pretty good. "Entrepreneurs are innovators who use a process of shattering the status quo of
the existing products and services, to set up new products, new services." Peter Drucker was onto something too when he made
the following definition in 1964: " An entrepreneur searches for change, responds to it and exploits opportunities. Innovation is a
specific tool of an entrepreneur hence an effective entrepreneur converts a source into a resource."
But to me, being an entrepreneur simply means being someone who wants to make a difference to other people's lives.” You can
read more at :- http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20121030140136-204068115-what-is-your-definition-of-
entrepreneur?goback=%2Eptf_204068115_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1&trk=who_to_follow-b
This is a prelude to Global Entrepreneurship Week which takes place from November 12th – 18th. PixeLearning have created a
bundle of games for the Global Entrepreneurship Week called The Enterprise Bundle, it includes games that help to teach
business and entrepreneurship concepts.
To try these games out or learn more, go to :- www.pixelearning.com/enterprise-bundle.shtml (dedicated temporary pages on
the website) and/or http://pixelearning.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/pass-it-on/ (our blog describing the what, where, when,
how and most importantly why!)
Vicky Rose of PixeLearning can be contacted at victoriajanerose@gmail.com for further information.
Archived Presentations, Images and Videos
I am archiving as many of my previous presentation, videos and event images as possible. You can access these from my web site
at :- http://www.davidwortley.com/conferences.html or visit my Slideshare page at :- http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/
Review of NEM 2012 Summit Istanbul

3. I participated in the Networked and Electronic Media Summit 2012 last month and used it as an opportunity to launch my new
conference ice breaker service (https://www.facebook.com/ConferenceIceBreakerGame) which began with a small physical
delegate games at the welcome cocktail and conclude with a closing presentation http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/2012-
nem-summit-istanbul and videos of conference highlights http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/2012-nem-summit-video-trailer
and http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/2012-nem-summit-video.
The Ice Breaker service was very well received and got great feedback from the delegates and organisers. If you would like to use
this service in a future conference, please do not hesitate to contact me at david@davidwortley.com
You can download the conference proceedings and access detailed information about this event at http://nem-summit.eu/
Review of VS-Games 2012 and Imaginary Workshop on Games for Business Enterprise
VS-Games Keynote Presenters Marco Marsella (European Commission), Pascale Xelot (IBM), and Donald Brinkman (Microsoft)
The VS-Games 2012 conference was held at the University of Genoa in October and attracted over 100 delegates, primarily from
research organisations. I was involved in helping facilitate a one day workshop on serious games for Entrepreneurship which was
a combination of presentations and interactive exercises for delegate participants in which they played and gave feedback on
serious games developed for the project. You can access an edited version of my presentation at :-
http://www.slideshare.net/dwortley/serious-games-for-entrepreneurship-genoa
I was very impressed by the keynote presentations of Marco Marsella from the European Commission see
http://www.elearningeuropa.info/en/news/marco-marsella-keynote-speaker-vs-games-2012 , Pascale Xelot of IBM Innovation
Center and Donald Brinkman of Microsoft Research who gave an excellent presentation on the work Microsoft are doing on the
use of games in Education. Most of the conference presentations were on the use of serious games for education. The conference
web site is at http://www.vs-games2012.org/
The conference was organised by the European GALA Network of Excellence http://www.galanoe.eu/ and saw the launch of the
Serious Games Society www.seriousgamessociety.org
I am involved with GALA as a member of their advisory outreach board
Serious Games and Immersive Technology Heroes 1 – Eliane Alhadeff
Each month from now on, I plan to celebrate the contributions of some of the excellent people I have had the pleasure of
encountering over the last 12 years or so that I have been actively working with Immersive Technologies and Serious Games. I
have met so many of these amazing people that this section of my newsletter will be filled for many months to come. My regret is
that I will inevitably and inadvertently miss some of these wonderful people. To be included, the people I highlight each month as
my heroes are not only very experienced and expert in their field, but are also incredibly generous and selfless in their sharing of
knowledge and network contacts and extremely hard working and tireless.
Almost ironically, my first hero is Eliane Alhadeff of Brazil whom I have never met but who has always been my first port of call
when I need to find out about serious games applications. Her Blogspot is highly recommended – see
http://seriousgamesmarket.blogspot.co.uk/
Reflections on the past month
The past month has been very hectic with conferences in Singapore, Istanbul and Genoa. Each event I attend brings me into
contact with new people and new ideas from so many different sectors from the focus on health in Singapore, creative media in
Istanbul and entrepreneurship and games based learning in Genoa. Almost every month I can see new developments and trends
emerging. One thing that is certain in my mind is that serious games and immersive technologies have gained widespread
acceptance not only for their value in education but also as a driver for innovation and relationship building.
I am fortunate to be working at De Montfort University whose Vice Chancellor, Dominic Shellard (@DMUVC ) is not only
passionate about social media but is also extremely dynamic and innovative with a vision for the University’s role in the
community and society that I fully embrace. A great example of one of his initiatives took place on November 7 th when he
organised a flashmob with almost 2,00 staff and students doing a synchronised dance to Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart
raising a significant amount of money for the LOROS hospice in Leicester.
This month looks like being even more hectic but more focused on Europe and the UK.
Upcoming Conferences
Below is a list of forthcoming conferences – also accessible at http://www.davidwortley.com/events.html
Date Event Location URL
Nov 13- World Innovation Summit Doha, Qatar http://www.wise-qatar.org/content/2012-wise-summit
15 on Education WISE 2012
Nov 13 Immersive technologies and Institute of Creative http://transdisciplinarydmu.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/1230-
their Impact on Business Technologies, De tue-13th-november-2012-games.html
and Society Lunchtime Montfort University,
Workshop Leicester
Nov 14 SGI Second Wednesday Coventry, UK http://www.eventsforce.net/c u/278/register
Seminar - Building Risk and
Resilience into our
International Communities -
Urban Crisis II
Nov 14- European GAMEON Malaga, Spain http://www.eurosis.org/cms/ ?q=taxonomy/term/325
16 Conference 2012 on AI and
Computer Games
Nov 15- ASPIS International Ghent, Belgium www.aspis-learn.eu
16 Conference on Sustainable
Public Spaces

4. Nov 20- 3D Experience Forum by Brussels, Belgium http://www.3ds.com/compan y/events/3dexperience-
21 Dassault Systemes - The forum-europe/home
3DEXPERIENCE FORUM
Europe will enable you to
experience first-hand how
3DS is leading the way
businesses; research,
education, and society cross
boundaries and connect to
invent tomorrow.
Nov 22 Serious Games Workshop at Paris, France http://www.slideshare.net/d wortley/paris-serious-games-
CAP Digital workshop-at-cap-digital
Nov 22- Hello Culture Conference - Birmingham, UK http://www.hello-culture.co.uk
23 Hello Culture returns for a
two day conference
exploring digital
transformation on 22nd –
23rd November 2012. It is a
gathering of curious minds,
all with a passion for finding
innovative solutions to the
challenges of today and
tomorrow
Dec 10- Eurosis Gameon ARABIA Muscat, Oman http://www.eurosis.org/cms/ ?q=node/2218
12 2012 - The 3rd annual Pan-
Arabic Simulation and AI in
Computer Games
Conference Arab Open
University
Dec 30- The Third International Singapore http://www.icea-conf.org/index.htm
31 Conference on Information,
Communication and
Education Application
Jan 13- 2013 Technology, Vancouver, Canada http://techandsoc.com/confer ence-2013/register/
14 Knowledge, and Society
Conference
Jan 15- 3rd International Taipei, Taiwan http://www.icass-conf.org/
16 Conference on Applied
Social Science (ICASS 2013)
Jan 30- BETT 2013 – UK’s largest Excel, London, UK http://www.bettshow.com/
Feb 2 Educational Technology
Exhibition
Feb 2-3 BVIMR's 6th International Pune, India http://www.bvimr.com
Conference on "Innovative
Ways of Managing Business
in the Post Globalised Era
Feb 13 SGI Second Wednesday Coventry, UK http://www.eventsforce.net/c u/278/register
Seminar - Our Education:
Using Digital Technologies
for transforing our schools,
colleges and universities
Feb 25 - De Montfort University Leicester, UK TBA
Mar 1 Cultural Exchanges week
and Games Festival for
Global Issues
March Association for Business Oklahoma City, USA http://www.absel.org/
6-8 Simulation and Experiential
Learning (ABSEL) 40th
Annual Conference
March Gameon Asia and Asian Shanghai, China http://www.eurosis.org/cms/ ?q=taxonomy/term/330
7-9 Simulation Technology
Conference
Mar 13 SGI Second Wednesday Coventry, USA http://www.eventsforce.net/c u/278/register
Seminar: Solving Business
and Social Challenges: The
Use of Virtual Organisations
Mar 25- CAA 2013 - CAA (Computer Perth, Australia http://caa2013.org
28 Applications and
Quantitative Methods in
Archaeology) is the premier
international conference for
all aspects of computing,
quantitative methods and
digital applications in
Archaeology.
April *EUROMEDIA'2013* University of Lincoln, http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/ho me
15-17 17th Annual International UK
European Media Conference
2013
May 8 SGI Second Wednesday Coventry, UK http://www.eventsforce.net/c u/278/register
Seminar - Smart Cities: New
Digital Technologies and
Computer Modelling
May 29- E-Learning Africa 2013 Windhoek, Namibia http://www.icwe.net
31
June 5- ACCESS 2013 International Singapore http://www.accesscongress.o rg/
7 Congress on Advances in
Citizen, Cyberspace and
Environment Safety &
Security
June 12 SGI Second Wednesday Coventry, UK http://www.eventsforce.net/c u/278/register
Seminar - Our Health: Using
Digital Technologies for
therapy and awareness
raising around health issues
Aug 20- Serious Play Conference Digipen University, http://seriousgamesmarket.b logspot.co.uk/2012/11/save-
22 USA date-2013-serious-play.html

5. Aug 26- SGSC Conference 2012 Singapore http://www.seriousgamescon ference.org/
28
Sept 11 VS-Games Conference Bournemouth, UK http://www.vsgames2013.org
-13
Future Newsletter Articles
If you would like any event to be included in future newsletters or on my web site – www.davidwortley.com please email me at
david@davidwortley.com
I hope you find the contents of interest and value. Should you not wish to receive these monthly newsletters, please simply reply
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Best Regards
David Wortley FRSA
Founder of Immersive Technology Strategies
Email : mailto:david@davidwortley.com?subject=General Enquiry
Skype: davidwortley
Second Life : Hobson Hoggard
Web: http://www.davidwortley.com
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