This overview presents research projects of the VITAL Lab at Ohio University, founded by Dr. Chang Liu.

1. VITAL Lab @ Ohio University Virtual Immersive Technologies and Arts for Learning Director: Dr. Chang Liu liuc@ohio.edu http://vital.cs.ohio.edu

2. VITAL Lab VITAL Lab is a multi-disciplinary research and development facility at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. We specialize in creating immersive three-dimensional virtual environments and mobile applications for teaching, learning, training, and process improvement purposes. Our mission is to develop new underlying technologies to facilitate learning and communication, deploy innovative immersive applications to showcase their potential, perform rigorous studies to measure the effectiveness of new paradigms, and actively disseminate our innovations to benefit the general public.

3. People Dr. Chang Liu Director and Associate Professor in Computer Science En Ye Computer Science, Ph.D. Student Ying Zhong Computer Science, Ph.D. Student Sertac Ozercan Computer Science, Ph.D. Student

4. People (cont.) Qing Zhu Computer Science, Ph.D. Student Xin Ye Computer Science, Ph.D. Student Nathan Andre Computer Science, Master’s Student Jonathan Maple Computer Science, Master’s Student

5. People: The NSF BooKS Virtual Boat Project Team Dr. Tiao Chang Civil Engineering Dr. Chang Liu Computer Science Dr. Teresa Franklin Education Dr. Kelly Johnson Biological Sciences Dr. David Diggle Electrical and Computer Engineering

6. Current Project:Virtual Boat for Environmental Education A 5-year, $2.8M NSF-funded project. A learning game that aims to increase student player’s appreciation of the real-world relevance of the Ohio River and enhance awareness of water pollution prevention. Players can navigate the virtual boat along the virtual Ohio River. Satellite data from Marietta to Gallipolis, Ohio were used to display accurate terrain in game. Students can collect water quality data of temperature, dissolved oxygen, E. coli, pH, total phosphate, nitrate, and turbidity. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0947813. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

7. Recent Project:STEAM (Science and Technology Enrichment for Appalachian Middle-schoolers) A 4-year, $1.6M NSF GK-12 program. This project aims to broaden graduate education for engineering students at Ohio University and improve learning in science courses for middle schoolers at surrounding middle schools. STEAM Graduate Fellows work with school teachers to create and deliver engaging digital curricular content that can produce learning with engagement among students in grades six through eight. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0538588. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

8. Recent Project:Financial Literacy Game The Financial Literacy Game is a 3-D multi-player online game aiming to teach teenagers how to manage their finances in real life. Provides teenagers with an opportunity to safely experiment with personal finances. Takes players through a virtual lifetime and allows them to see the results of various life decisions. Automatically keeps track of players’ income and gives them feedback about their own financial health.

9. Recent Project:SecondWATCH (Second Life Workspace Awareness Toolkit) Informs developers of real-time and history artifact and co-worker information by monitoring team members’ activities on their local workspaces, and version control repository. Extracts, analyzes and visualizes the information in Second Life as a common view shared by the whole team using a 3-D city metaphor. Implemented as an Eclipse plug-in by integrating Eclipse with a modified open-source SL client viewer.

10. Current Project:iVirtualWorld: Virtual Worlds Made Easy Aims to enable end-users to create 3D virtual worlds using a non-technical, template-based approach. Users can use their web browsers to upload digital media, place them in the virtual world template, generate their own virtual world, and share it with their colleagues, students, and friends. http://www.ivirtualworld.org

11. The iPad BMM app helps migraine patients learn the skills of migraine management from clinically-proven behavioral migraine management materials in the form of text, images, audio and videos. The BMM app enables migraine patients to update a headache diary and worksheets anytime, anywhere so that it’s easier for therapists and patients to identify headache patterns. The app also helps patients stay in contact with their therapists via email and other communication means. This project is a collaboration between the VITAL Lab and Dr. Ken Holroyd’s Headache Treatment & Research Lab. Current Project:BMM (Behavioral Migraine Management) on iPad

12. Research and Development Directions Research How to improve learning effectiveness and increase engagement through immersive learning technologies How to improve teamwork of knowledge workers through immersive project awareness tools Development iOS and Android mobile applications Motion control and movement tracking with Kinect and other devices Cross platform development with the Unity3D game development tool OpenSimand other Second Life-like 3D virtual worlds Application of Augmented Reality technologies

13. For More Information Web: http://vital.cs.ohiou.edu Email: vitallab@gmail.com Voice: +1.740.593.1249 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/VITALLab