The Computer Science Department of the University of Cyprus is coordinating a Virtual Reality (VR) project, with the aim of training a future generation of innovators and researchers in the field of VR simulation and animation.

Entitled CLIPE, short for Create Lively Interactive Populated Environments, the project is part of the European Union’s Marie Sklodowska-Curie (ITN) innovative training network.

“Achieving such innovations calls for a re-examination of the educational, research and professional goals championed by higher institutions and businesses,” said CLIPE, referring to the growing proliferation of virtual reality worlds, including the recent shift of Facebook towards futuristic digital landscapes.

“The development of entrepreneurial and innovative thinking among young researchers, with the aim of bridging the gap between the needs of the business world and universities, has become a European and global priority, as have efforts to strengthen research, technological development, and entrepreneurship, ”the statement added.

The CLIPE project involves the participation of nine European organizations, all recognized as leading institutions in the fields of virtual reality, augmented reality, computer graphics, computer animation, as well as psychology and of perception.

Besides the University of Cyprus and its role in coordinating the project, the initiative also includes the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya; the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA); University College of London; Trinity College Dublin; the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems; the Royal KTH Institute of Technology in Stockholm; the Polytechnic School; and Silversky3d Virtual Reality Technologies Ltd.

CLIPE has already offered 15 doctoral scholarships to young researchers, with the aim of giving them the opportunity to join a multidisciplinary research network.

Participation in the project will also allow these researchers to gain industry knowledge by working with large companies operating in this field, including BCC, Ubisoft, Golem, Treedy’s and the Amazon Development Center.

“The training and research program, led by the project coordinator, Professor Yiorgos Chrysanthou, is based on a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral philosophy, bringing together experts from industry and academia and focusing on the development of related skills to research and entrepreneurship, ”explained CLIPE. .

“CLIPE’s research focuses on the main challenge of designing new techniques for the creation and control of interactive virtual characters, taking advantage of the opportunities opened up by the wide availability of emerging technologies in the fields of human digitization and displays. , as well as recent advances in artificial intelligence, ”the statement added.

The CLIPE training program includes a series of workshops, with the first workshop (virtual humans summer school) having already taken place in September this year.

While the workshop was held in a hybrid format, the majority of researchers were able to physically attend the meeting in Ayia Napa.

The workshop also brought together virtually 31 researchers from various international organizations. from all over the world participated in the workshop.

CLIPE’s next training workshop will focus on EU funding, grant writing and career advancement opportunities. It should take place in France, in March.