From: Carl Loeffler Subject: ANNOUNCE: SIMLAB at Carnegie Mellon University Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 14:01:47 -0400 (EDT) SIMLAB: A New Computer Simulation Lab at CMU A new laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University will do research and develop applications in the area of advanced computer simulation. SIMLAB is a research, education, arts and production initiative in networked virtual reality and integrated media, led by Lowry Burgess, Director, and Carl Eugene Loeffler, Research Director. The lab's combination of advanced technologies with artistic creativity is designed to generate new forms for multi- user interaction over computer networks. The founding of the new center reflects campus-wide initiatives at Carnegie Mellon to transform education by applying advanced communication technology and to create new products improving the interaction between people and information. The creation of SIMLAB in the College of Fine Arts (CFA) follows four years of intensive research and project development in the area of networked virtual reality conducted at CFA's STUDIO for Creative Inquiry. This research has earned an international reputation for excellence. ** Research, Education and Creative Output ** SIMLAB is a research center for networked, virtual environments with applications in the arts and education, in interactive television and virtual entertainment, in industry and medicine. It will support research, education, and creative production and promote the collaboration of experts in many areas. SIMLAB is an education and training center for students in the multi-disciplinary field of simulation media. It will offer a variety of educational programs and opportunities related to its mission. SIMLAB is also a production center for new media projects in networked, multi-user simulation in the arts, humanities, and sciences. SIMLAB is supported by an international consortium which brings together educational organizations, government agencies, and high tech businesses. As a center of cross-disciplinary collaboration, SIMLAB includes participating faculty and researchers from departments across Carnegie Mellon University, as well as researchers from other consortium partners. It provides advanced facilities in networked digital media to facilitate joint work among its educational and industrial partners. ** The SIMLAB location ** The SIMLAB research and production facility will be located at the NASA Robotics Engineering Consortium (REC), a new entrepreneurial body dedicated to developing high-tech products to generate new markets. REC is directed by David Pahnos and Red Whittaker. The SIMLAB administration and demonstration facility will be housed in the Intelligent Workplace, the environmental laboratory of the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, directed by Professor Volker Hartkopf. The collaboration between SIMLAB, the Robotics Engineering Consortium, and the Intelligent Workplace will foster interaction between research in actual and virtual environments. ** SIMLAB directors ** The SIMLAB Director is Lowry Burgess, an artist who has achieved wide recognition for his creative exploration of technological frontiers. He created the first art payload lifted into space by NASA. His artworks are in museums in the United States and Europe and installed in other sites around the world. At Carnegie Mellon University, Professor Burgess co-founded the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry. His research interests are in advanced imaging, simulation, synaesthesia and language. He was a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for 25 years, where he developed collaborative technological projects in the U. S. and Europe. Professor Burgess has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and others. The SIMLAB Research Director is Carl Eugene Loeffler, an internationally recognized pioneer in telecommunications and art. Formerly Project Director of Telecommunications and Virtual Reality at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, he is a specialist in the design of applications and systems for distributed virtual reality. He has produced simulations sponsored by the Archeological Institute of America, Ford Motor Company, Intel Corporation, Silicon Graphics, and others. His virtual environments have been demonstrated at the International Conference on Artificial Reality and Tele-Existence (in Japan), the Guggenheim Museum of Art, SIGGRAPH expositions and other museums and conferences. He is co-editor of _The Virtual Reality Casebook_, and he has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the United States Information Agency. SIMLAB College of Fine Arts Carnegie Mellon University (412) 268-3452 cel@andrew. cmu.edu ---------------- end of text ----------------