Come listen, then help us brainstorm!

				
				Virtual NMU

			Elizabeth Sprehe* and Jeffrey Horn**

			Thursday, April 15, 2004
			4:00 pm
			Mead Auditorium

Virtual NMU (vNMU)  is a new, internally-funded project whose goal is to create an immersive, 3D simulation of the NMU campus and distribute it via computer CD and the world wide web.  Prospective students, among others, will be able to virtually visit campus and interact with people and resources through this "interface".  The creation of this computer simulation requires a diversity of creative talents and tools, ranging from graphic artists who design furniture, textures, and animated characters, to amateur architects for making models of NMU buildings, to programmers for scripting actors and dynamic objects.  
	-	How will we do this?
	-	Why should we do this?
	-	Who is going to do it?
Come join us for a wide-ranging presentation, and informal discussion, of this wild concept.  We will include some demonstrations of the 3D game authoring tools licensed by NMU, including games and simulations developed here at NMU over the last year.  We will compare vNMU to the latest 3D computing technologies and innovations, here at NMU and in the wider world, and ponder the role of an immersive, virtual campus in tomorrow’s higher education experience.

*Ms. Sprehe is an NMU 2003 Freshman Fellow. 
**Jeffrey Horn is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at NMU (jhorn@nmu.edu)
Please see http://cs.nmu.edu/~jeffhorn/vNMU for more information, or contact Jeff Horn above.