IMMERSIVE ITALY and EiED 2017                 
 Registration is Open

The Immersive Education Initiative has announced the official dates and locations for IMMERSIVE ITALY 2017 and the 7th European Immersive Education Summit (EiED 2017).

The annual conferences are organized by the international non-profit Immersive Education Initiative in collaboration with INDIRE, the research division of the Italian Ministry of Education. Founded in 1925, INDIRE (National Institute for Documentation, Innovation and Educational Research) is the Italian Ministry of Education's oldest and most highly regarded educational research organization and is considered the benchmark for educational research in Italy.

The prestigious international conferences will take place in Lucca, Italy, from 16 to 18 November (November 16-18) and conclude on November 19 with special hands-on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality workshops and social activities at the world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in nearby Pisa, Italy. The event will be co-organized and hosted by UIBI Foundation, the Italian non-profit institution dedicated to teaching and pedagogical innovation.

• 16 to 18 November: Lucca (exhibits and all conference sessions)
• 19 November: Pisa (hands-on VR and AR workshops at Leaning Tower of Pisa)

Speakers at previous Immersive Education Initiative conferences ("iED Summits") have included faculty, researchers, graduate students, administrators and executives from the world's leading academic and cultural organizations, universities, and companies, such as United Nations, NASA, United States Department of Education, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MIT Media Lab, Microsoft, Google, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Smithsonian Institution, United States Department of the Interior (DOI) National Park Service (NPS), Stanford University, USC, UCLA, Keio University (Japan), INDIRE (Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research institute), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italian National Research Council), Intel, Università degli Studi di Padova (University of Padua, Italy), University of St Andrews (UK), University of Glasgow (UK), Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), National University of Singapore (NUS), University of Barcelona (Spain), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (India), Technion Israel Institute of Technology (Israel), University of São Paulo (Brazil), and many other world-class organizations and academic institutions.

Located in Italy's Tuscany region, and in close proximity to both Pisa and Florence, Lucca is known for the well-preserved Renaissance walls that encircle the city's historic center. Conference attendees will walk together down the historic cobblestone streets and broad tree-lined pathways that run along the tops of Lucca's massive 16th- and 17th-century ramparts as they take part in unique hands-on Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) outdoor workshops.

VR & AR at the Leaning Tower of Pisa WORKSHOPS & SOCIALS 
 Registration is Open

Create your own VR and AR Experiences!

The prestigious IMMERSIVE ITALY and European Immersive Education Summit international conferences conclude in Pisa on November 19 with special hands-on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality workshops and social activities at the world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Bring it home! A personal Immersive Education (iED) Google Cardboard VR headset is provided to all attendees. Your iED VR headset is yours to keep and bring home after the conference so that you can relive the memories that you capture in VR, and also so that you can enjoy thousands of new and emerging VR experiences free of charge once you get home.


Register now to receive your very own Immersive Education (iED) Virtual Reality headset that you can use during the Leaning Tower of Pisa hands-on workshop. During this unique hands-on workshop you'll learn how to create your very own VR experiences that you can enjoy with your new iED VR headset!

Mobile VR: Learn how to use your mobile phone to capture 360° VR scenes of the world around you, and then use these skills in your classroom or company when you get home. Mobile VR is convenient, inexpensive and ideal for engaging students and employees in a fun & cost effective manner.

Meet new friends, colleagues and collaborators during the hands-on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality workshops and social activities in Lucca and Pisa.

Augmented Reality (AR) EXHIBITS & WORKSHOP                  
 Registration is Open

Augment your own Reality!

Learn how to to create your own Augmented Reality (AR) scenes and experiences using only your mobile phone and your imagination.

Attendees are invited to attend a unique hands-on Augmented Reality workshop that extends into an "on-your-own" lunch period in Lucca, giving you plenty of social time to explore your new skills over lunch with your new colleagues and friends and as we stroll down the historic cobblestone streets and broad tree-lined pathways that run along the tops of Lucca's massive 16th- and 17th-century ramparts.

Join us as we walk together down Lucca's historic cobblestone streets and tree-lined paths during our unique hands-on Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) outdoor workshops and social activities.

Microsoft HoloLens EXHIBIT & KEYNOTE
 Registration is Open

The HoloLens is Here!

Mixed Reality brings people, places, and objects from your physical and digital worlds together. This blended environment becomes your canvas, where you can create and enjoy a wide range of experiences. Interacting with holograms in mixed reality enables you to visualize and work with your digital content as part of your real world. Realize Mixed Reality's promise with Microsoft HoloLens. Holograms are responsive to you and the world around you. Microsoft HoloLens enables you to interact with content and information in the most natural ways possible.

Transform the ways you communicate, create, collaborate, and explore. Your ideas are closer to becoming real when you can create and work with holograms in relation to the world around you. When you collaborate, it's easier to show than to tell. Your Skype contacts can overlay sketches and holograms on physical objects in your view. Shape holograms to fine-tune a design, share ideas, and understand your creations in relation to the real world. Go beyond what 2D can do by working in 3D. Make smarter decisions and prototype faster when you can inspect every vantage point. See holograms from your colleague's perspective even if she's on the other side of the world. Explore ideas in the real world, inside and out. Learn more now!

Microsoft Mixed Reality EXHIBIT, WORKSHOP & KEYNOTE
 Registration is Open

Immerse Yourself in a New Reality!

Mixed Reality blends real-world and virtual content into hybrid environments where physical and digital objects coexist and interact. Create highly immersive Mixed Reality experiences targeting a broad range of Windows 10 devices. From the fully untethered, self-contained HoloLens to the upcoming Windows Mixed Reality headsets, your users will expect your software to put them at the center of it all. Windows Mixed Reality releases your apps, and your students and customers, from the limitations of the flat screen. Create fully untethered experiences on HoloLens, the world's first self-contained, holographic computer. Or add new depth and immersion to your PC software when using a Windows Mixed Reality headset.

Windows Mixed Reality improves your workflow between coding and testing. View your 2D desktop from within your headset or view your physical surroundings without fully removing your headset. Inside-out tracking lets your users jump right in without setting up room-based gear, and eliminates room size requirements so they can experience your app almost anywhere. We made it simple: The Windows 10 toolkit lets you apply your skills to PCs, HoloLens, Xbox and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. Use the same app model, tools, and UX to develop for all Windows devices: You won't have to start from square one to get your mixed reality software up and running. Learn more now!

Acer Windows Mixed Reality EXHIBIT
 Registration is Open

The Acer Mixed Reality Headset Now Available!

As of IMMERSIVE ITALY 2017 the Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset is available, and you can try one yourself at our hands-on exhibit. The Acer headset is comfortable and easy to adjust as you experience different apps while walking wherever you want. Immerse yourself in a whole new world with technology to break you out and free you up. Free yourself from the difficulty of securing room sensors onto walls and immerse yourself in any environment with the benefit of inside-out tracking.

The Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset offer the fastest, easiest setup available. You are good to go in 10 minutes or less. Temporary interruptions mean that you don't have to remove the headset: just lift the visor up and engage with the real world again. For more immersive feeling freely move through your virtual environment within the Six Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) and Spatial Audio 2. Learn more now!

Samsung Gear VR EXHIBIT & WORKSHOP
 Registration is Open

Samsung Gear VR

Explore virtual worlds and travel the globe with Gear VR. With your phone in the headset, sit front row at the biggest events, paint in VR or just hang out with friends. And the intuitive handheld controller gives you new ways to go deeper into games and other experiences. Anything's possible in Virtual Reality.

Samsung VR is your go-to app for all the latest 360° video. Watch clips from MLB.com, NowThis 360° and more, and experience the biggest live concerts and events from the UFC and X Games. You can even upload your own videos captured on Gear 360 for your chance to be featured in the library. Into gaming? You've never gamed like this before. Use the handheld controller to steer VR Karts, pilot your ship in the critically-acclaimed End Space or go head-to-head with friends in multiplayer mode. There are over 600 titles to discover. Learn more now!

HTC VIVE EXHIBIT
 Registration is Open

Delivering on the Promise of Virtual Reality

VIVE was developed by HTC and Valve to deliver on the promise of Virtual Reality. The VR community partnering with VIVE today includes an international base of users, developers and businesses that continues to grow every day.

Room-Scale Stage: Teleport around boundless virtual worlds sitting at your desk, or create a dedicated room-scale play area where you can physically walk around. SteamVR Tracking provides the best experience possible, so play the way that works for you: seated, standing or room-scale.

Fully Immersive: Precise, 360° controller and headset tracking, realistic graphics, directional audio and HD haptic feedback mean realistic movement and actions in the virtual world. It doesn't get more first-person than this.

Powerful Immersion: Putting on the VIVE headset washes away the real world with fantastical experiences ranging from recreational room types of games, like ping-pong or pool, to experiences spanning a wide range of categories. SteamVR Tracking, stunning graphics, a 110° field of view, intuitive controls and HD haptic feedback provide an unparalleled sense of immersion.

Come to IMMERSIVE ITALY and try the VIVE yourself! Want to know more about the VIVE in the meantime? Learn more now!

Google Cardboard WORKSHOP
 Registration is Open

Visit new places, play immersive games, fly through space and more.

Google Cardboard is a Virtual Reality (VR) platform developed by Google for use with a fold-out cardboard viewer (headset) in which a mobile phone is placed. Intended as a low-cost system to encourage interest and development in VR and VR applications, Cardboard is used extensively by learners of all ages in Immersive Education Initiative clubs, camps and classes.

This "Creating Mobile Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences" hands-on workshop will guide you through the process of creating 360° panoramic scenes, which are ideal for virtual tours and immersive school lessons, using your iPhone or Android phone. After you create your 360° panoramic scenes anyone with an iPhone, iPad or Android phone or tablet can experience them. Attendees with an iED VR Headset (available for 15 Euro at the time of conference registration) will also be able to experience their creations in VR.

During this "Creating Mobile Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences" workshop attendees will be able to use Google Cardboard with their own Android phone or iPhone. Attendees can also purchase their very own iED VR Headset upon registering for IMMERSIVE ITALY which they can use during the special "Immersive Meal" afternoon lunch social, VR walks around Lucca, and VR at the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Apple ARkit EXHIBIT & WORKSHOP
 Registration is Open

Apple Augmented Reality Toolkit (ARkit)

ARKit provides a cutting-edge platform for developing augmented reality (AR) apps for iPhone and iPad. Get introduced to the ARKit framework and learn about harnessing its powerful capabilities for positional tracking and scene understanding. Tap into its seamless integration with SceneKit and SpriteKit, and understand how to take direct control over rendering with Metal 2.

Augmented reality (AR) describes user experiences that add 2D or 3D elements to the live view from a device's camera in a way that makes those elements appear to inhabit the real world. ARKit combines device motion tracking, camera scene capture, advanced scene processing, and display conveniences to simplify the task of building an AR experience. Come to IMMERSIVE ITALY and learn how to use Apple's ARKit yourself! Want to know more about the ARKit in the meantime? Learn more now!

Apple Swift EXHIBIT & WORKSHOP
 Registration is Open

let today = newBeginnings

Swift is the future of programming for Apple iPads, iPhones, laptops, desktops and even television! Swift is a robust and intuitive programming language created by Apple for building apps for iOS, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch. It's designed to give developers more freedom than ever. Swift is easy to use and open source, so anyone with an idea can create something incredible.

Developers aren't the only ones who've noticed the potential of Swift. Some of the top universities and academic institutions are teaching Swift in their computer programming courses and offering free courses on iTunes U. Which means the transition from introductory coding to professional programming has never been easier.

Swift is free and open source, and it's available to a wide audience of developers, educators, and students under the Apache 2.0 open source license.

Come to IMMERSIVE ITALY and learn how to use Swift to create your very own Augmented Reality (AR) experiences! Want to know more about Swift in the meantime? Learn more now!

edMondo EXHIBIT & WORKSHOP
 Registration is Open

The Virtual World for Schools

edMondo is a virtual world specially designed for teaching and learning. A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment that can be inhabited by numerous users who can create a personal avatar (character), and simultaneously (and also independently) explore the virtual world, participate in its activities, and communicate with others in real time.

As an educational virtual world, access to edMondo is reserved for teachers and students. Teachers deliver active training and classes in edMondo, where they have the ability to manage their very own virtual spaces for their students.

For students using edMondo, cross-platform skills and abilities can be gained in different areas: building in 3D and developing space organization, sharing, collaborating and exchanging remote experiences, building virtual learning objects, networking to study programming techniques, using design, and graphic/audio/video recording techniques.

Students in edMondo have access to virtual spaces equipped for mathematical, art, history, technology, and science practices. Sites and structures within the virtual world can be built that reproduce real-world or imaginary museums, laboratories, buildings, logical paths, plant roads and dedicated facilities — all in an immersive environment.

Come to IMMERSIVE ITALY and learn how to use edMondo for your own classes and training sessions! Want to know more about edMondo in the meantime? Learn more now!

SugarCAD EXHIBIT & WORKSHOP
 Registration is Open

3D Modeling for the Primary School

SugarCAD is a 3D modeling software that, thanks to its ease of use, allows teachers, students and makers to shape their ideas. With a simple and intuitive user interface you'll be able to create an infinity of shapes. Developed considering technological settings and common problems of school's environments. You can choose you user interface: considering your experience level you can use more or less tools.

All The Shapes You Can Imagine: In SugarCAD you'll be able to use a lot of predefined shapes, and if you don't find what you're looking for you can create it on your own! Freehand drawing, rotation, extrusion or parametric shapes, manual editing of shapes vertices and faces, boolean operations such as union or intersection of shapes. The only limit is your imagination.

Imagine, Create, Print: SugarCAD has been developed and optimized to work even on devices different from the common computers. You'll be able to create your masterpieces using tablets or other devices such as interactive tables or whiteboards.

Come to IMMERSIVE ITALY and try how to use SugarCAD yourself! Want to know more about the SugarCAD in the meantime? Learn more now!

in3Dire EXHIBIT & WORKSHOP
 Registration is Open

3D Modeling and Printing via WiFi

in3Dire is a single board computer (SBC) based server that provides a set of Web services dedicated to 3D modeling and printing through the provision of a private WiFi network. To create an in3Dire server, simply use a Raspberry Pi3 or Orange Pi Plus 2E card and download the file that already contains the fully-configured operating system. No configuration is required when installed in3Dire on the SBC card will be enough to turn on the server, run the first recording, and start working.

The in3Dire system contains (already ready to be used):

• Owncloud: for file sharing within the workgroup.
• SugarCAD: Computer Aided Design (CAD) for 3D modeling and .stl file generation.
• Octoprint: print management software and slicing of models generated by SugarCAD or other 3D modeling software.
• WordPress: a writing environment for 3D print experiences, in a blog-like format.

Come to IMMERSIVE ITALY and try how to use in3Dire yourself! Want to know more about the in3Dire in the meantime? Learn more now!

Location-based Scavenger Hunts WORKSHOP & SOCIAL
 Registration is Open

Location-based Scavenger Hunt and Workshop

Bring your mobile phone and a keen sense of adventure! Join the experts, meet new colleagues, and make new friends from around the world as you explore the historic city around you during this unique social event and hands-on workshop conducted outside in the cobblestone streets and tree-lined pathways that run along the tops of Lucca's grand 16th- and 17th-century ramparts.

This special IMMERSIVE ITALY 2017 and the 7th European Immersive Education Summit location-based scavenger hunt involves real-time problem solving, exploration and orientation activities, and friendly team-based competition that leads to a golden treasure.

The scavenger hunt social event and "user interface" workshop is complimented by an in-depth hands-on workshop during which you will learn how to create your very own location-based scavenger hunts for a wide variety of purposes (such as school and campus orientation programs, team-building exercises, student and employee engagement, interactive history and social studies, "gamified" education experiences, and more).

Pokémon Go! The location-based scavenger hunt social event and corresponding workshops optionally include Pokémon Go, the world's most popular Augmented Reality (AR) app.

For details on how this location-based scavenger hunt and the corresponding Pokémon Go activities and workshop will address Pokémon Go as an educational and business tool see the Pokémon Go Workshops module below.

Pokémon Go WORKSHOP & SOCIAL
 Registration is Open

Pokémon Go for Education and Business

Pokémon Go is the world's first truly mass-market mainstream application of Augmented Reality (AR), and one of the most successful games in history. It is, in fact, one of the most wildly popular apps ever created and is played daily by millions of people around the globe.

You'll be among the first in the world to learn first-hand how the Pokémon Go phenomenon can be harnessed for education and business.

Bring it home! As an attendee you will have exclusive early access to the preliminary edition of the Immersive Education Initiative's guidelines and best practices for Pokémon Go, which you can use immediately at your own school or business following the conference.

During the Location-based Scavenger Hunt (see "Location-based Scavenger Hunts" above) you will have the option of playing Pokémon Go (or simply watching others play, if you'd prefer not to play it yourself). You'll also be taught the fundamentals of playing Pokémon Go via the location-based mobile app that we'll use during the scavenger hunt.

During a corresponding workshop we'll discuss specific features and mechanics of the game with our fellow educators and business professionals as we draft in real time the Immersive Education Initiative's preliminary guidelines and best practices for Pokémon Go.

The Pokémon Go workshops address the following topics, and conclude with a review of the preliminary edition of the Immersive Education Initiative's guidelines and best practices for Pokémon Go that you can use immediately at your own school or business following the conference:

•  Pokémon Go for Teachers and Education
•  Pokémon Go for Business and Marketing
•  Child-safety: Criminal Elements & Physical Safety
•  Legal issues with Pokémon Go and other forms of Augmented Reality (AR)
•  Pokémon Go for Student and Employee Engagement
•  Pokémon Go for Team Building and Relationship Building
•  Pokémon Go for Exercise and Socialization
•  Pokémon Go for Geography, Spatial Awareness and Map-reading
•  Pokémon Go as a Resource Management Simulator
•  Pokémon Go for Teaching Math, Estimation and Conversions
•  Incorporating Pokémon Go into Curricula and Lesson Plans
•  Inquiry-based learning (IBL) with Pokémon Go
•  Project-based learning (PBL) with Pokémon Go

"IMMERSIVE MEAL" Social and Networking Event
 Special Lunch Social & Networking Event

Join the experts, meet new colleagues and make new friends from around the world during this unique social and networking lunch event at IMMERSIVE ITALY 2017 and the 7th European Immersive Education Summit (EiED 2017).

As you dine and socialize you'll have the unique opportunity to experience a wide variety of immersive experiences.

Bring it home! A personal Immersive Education (iED) Google Cardboard VR headset is provided to all attendees. Your iED VR headset is yours to keep and bring home after the conference so that you can relive the memories that you capture in VR, and also so that you can enjoy thousands of new and emerging VR experiences free of charge once you get home.


Register now to receive your very own Immersive Education (iED) Virtual Reality headset that you can use during the Leaning Tower of Pisa hands-on workshop. During this unique hands-on workshop you'll learn how to create your very own VR experiences that you can enjoy with your new iED VR headset!

Mobile VR: Learn how to use your mobile phone to capture 360° VR scenes of the world around you, and then use these skills in your classroom or company when you get home. Mobile VR is convenient, inexpensive and ideal for engaging students and employees in a fun & cost effective manner.