ATLANTA, May 28 /PRNewswire/ --

- Magitech Division Partners with GVU Center for Advanced AR Research

Media Power Inc., a global developer of high technology products, today announced it is donating US$5 million over the next five years to Georgia Tech's GVU Center for research and educational activities in Augmented Reality (AR) and mobile computing. In addition to the funding, Media Power is providing hardware and development tools to the GVU Center to aid research and will assist the Center to find realistic settings to deploy and evaluate game ideas. The gift partners Media Power's AR division, Magitech, with the GVU Center to envision, prototype and evaluate the next generation of mobile AR games and entertainment applications and positions the company as a leader in AR.

Augmented Reality (AR) is a field of computer research that deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data. At present, most AR research is concerned with the use of live video imagery that is digitally processed and "augmented" by the addition of computer-generated graphics.

"Augmented Reality is one of the most exciting technologies available today. Thus far, it has only existed in the research lab. It is our intention to commercialize the technology and make it available to the public at large. Augmented Reality offers us the opportunity to create an entirely new advertising paradigm," said Carl Freer, Media Power Co-Founder and Visionary.

"We partnered with Georgia Tech because of their reputation for excellence in this area. The work they have done thus far is very exciting and their open stance with commercial entities such as Magitech provides for a great opportunity," said Rich Jenkins, CEO Media Power. "We are very excited about the work we will do together."

Under the guidance of Georgia Tech professor Blair MacIntyre, GVU's faculty and students with expertise in computer science, human-centered computing, digital media and game design will partner with Magitech to explore new mobile AR application concepts. The gift from Media Power also enables research in new kinds of design and authoring tools for handheld AR systems, including systems empowering end-users to create AR games themselves. The partnership will create opportunities for GVU researchers to evaluate commercial-grade AR applications in realistic settings.

"Augmented Reality is one of the most significant emerging industries in the world right now," said Rich DeMillo, Dean of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. "Its influence will be felt from entertainment to education to health care. Georgia Tech's leadership in AR research and Media Power's strength in commercialization make this an ideal partnership to achieve our mutual goal of creating breakthrough technologies that achieve sustained real world impact."

"GVU has a long track record in Augmented Reality and mobile computing," said Elizabeth Mynatt, Director of the GVU Center. "This partnership with Media Power strengthens our ability to look at the entire ecosystem of mobile computing from human experience to technology, design strategies to business opportunities."

Magitech also announced today the opening of its Atlanta offices, located at 817 West Peachtree Street in the Biltmore Hotel building, a location providing easy access to Georgia Tech. Magitech has already hired a sizable compliment of designers, 3D modelers, AR programmers, researchers and content developers, consisting of over 15 Georgia Tech and Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta graduates.

Magitech is Media Power's Atlanta-based augmented reality division. Its world-class research partners include the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, the Graz University of Technology in Austria and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Magitech's goal is to develop commercial grade Augmented Reality products and networks.

About Media Power

Media Power is a unique tech company that develops consumer and business products based on Augmented Reality technology (AR) and other advanced systems. Media Power has four divisions offering a range of hi-tech goods and marketing services: Magitech; GetFugu.com; Gizmondo; and Chinetic. For more information visit www.themediapowergroup.com

About GVU

The GVU Center at Georgia Tech is an interdisciplinary research center encompassing a number of individual colleges at Georgia Tech as well as external collaborators. GVU focuses on unlocking and amplifying human potential through technical innovation in computing technologies. The faculty and students associated with GVU bring expertise ranging from science and engineering to the humanities and design. It is through deep collaboration between these diverse domains that enables the GVU Center to engage in research that would otherwise be difficult to tackle in traditional academic and industrial settings.

After more than a decade and half of practicing interdisciplinary research, GVU has gained an international recognition in 3D Compression, Animation, Augmented Reality, Collaborative Work, Educational Technologies, Gaming, Graphics, Human-Computer Interaction, Information Visualization, New Media, Online Communities, Perception, Robotics, Ubiquitous Computing, Virtual Reality and Wearable Computing. For more information visit www.gvu.gatech.edu

Web site: http://www.themediapowergroup.com http://www.gvu.gatech.edu

Becky Biggs of GCI Group, +1-404-260-3510, rbiggs@gcigroup.com, for Media Power Inc.