Polycular

When culture meets technology magic happens, and when you add gaming and XR, you are on your way to transforming education! We are very happy to have received tonight the Ars Electronica x CultTech Association Award for Escape Fake, our free-to-play augmented reality game that takes players through a digital escape room debunking fake news. We first launched Escape Fake in 2019 and we did not anticipate how far we would go. We got here through a series of small steps, a dedicated team and all of those who believed in our mission along the way. Thanks to you and to our growing community of educators! This award is dedicated to all of you and the financial prize will be used in our co-design process of the next game chapter! Photos are courtesy of Axel Dietrich. Thank you for being our photographer Axel! 🙏🙏🙏 Former funders MitOst e.V. through the Advocate Europe programme European Cultural Foundation through the Democracy Fund Wirtschaftsagentur Wien through the Content Award European Media & Information Fund (EMIF) Current funder European Commission through Creative Europe Partners Waag Futurelab dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH DER STANDARD La Fabbrica Pro Progressione Expert Forum (EFOR)

We‘re having a blast on our second day at AWE Vienna, showing off our team development experience, Crew Together. In Crew Together, players start by being lost in space, and grow to a full team by experiencing initial stages of setting team goals, dealing with time pressure, improving their communication, collaboration and trust. Thanks to our partners from in scope GmbH for their insight into team development that was integrated in the experience! And to our funders and partners from EMIL-XR led by Animationsinstitut at Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, Aalto University, University of Bath and Universitat Pompeu Fabra and funded by the European Commission through Horizon 2020. Super happy to meet Santeri Saarinen and Ian Biscoe from Helsinki XR Center and Eindhoven University of Technology from other EMIL funded projects at AWE! Grateful to Chris Schernthaner for his amazing support on polishing our go-to-market approach and Klaus Neundlinger for his help on site and together with Simone Rack on their input in team organisational development. Want to learn more? Check out https://lnkd.in/dQ3aZJRe or book a demo call with us. #crewtogether #teamdevelopment #collaboration #awe #awevienna

Very happy to announce our first collaboration with Austrian newspaper DER STANDARD, with whom we implemented a mini game focusing on the role of journalism and the fact checking process! Really excited to have our first press organisation on board of Escape Fake and looking forward to some more exciting news this autumn! #medialiteracy #webgame #factchecking

🚀 Escape Fake is heading to Klagenfurt for Digi Play Days 2024! 🎉 Teachers and educators, don’t miss this opportunity to take part in our in-person workshops focused on how to use the Escape Fake game, specifically the exciting prequel, "Museum of Fake". 🕵️♂️💡 Join us on Tuesday, 1st of October, at the Lakeside Science & Technology Park in Klagenfurt for hands-on training to bring media literacy and augmented reality into your classroom. 📅 Workshop Slots: - 13:00 - 14:15 - 14:30 - 15:45 - 16:00 - 17:15 🎮 Explore how digital and playful learning can transform education at Digi Play Days, organized by the Julius Raab Stiftung. With interactive workshops, augmented and virtual reality, and more, this event is a must for EdTech enthusiasts! With Irina Paraschivoiu and Benjamin Arzt 🔗 Sign up here by choosing your desired timeslot: https://lnkd.in/dA4e6-rX #EscapeFake #DigiPlayDays #EdTech #AugmentedReality #MediaLiteracy #TeacherTraining #DigitalEducation #MuseumOfFake

🎙️ We had the pleasure of joining Craig Frehlich on his podcast, VR in Education, to discuss using Escape Fake in the classroom! In this episode, we dive into our motivation for using XR to enhance media literacy, how we developed resources for teachers, and shared best practices for creating escape rooms for education. We also had a chance to talk about some of our other work using XR for teambuilding and collaboration, rehabilitation and collaboration with robots in industrial contexts! Thank you, Craig, for the great conversation! 🎉 Craig does a great job at diving deep into different contexts and XR use cases, so check out his podcast VR in Education for insights on fields like hospitality, agriculture, healthcare, and more! 🎧 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/dXAY_VGT #EscapeFake #MediaLiteracy #EdTech #XR #HardFun #EducationInnovation #AugmentedReality #Podcast

We are happy to share that Escape Fake now has its own Linkedin page where we will be sharing updates more frequently for the media literacy community! Also, starting with this autumn, we are offering workshops for educational, private and public organizations, which cover Escape Fake topics, from historic fakes to online behavior, as well as newer means of spreading and dealing with disinformation, such as deepfakes and social media algorithms. Super proud of our extensive Escape Fake team, including our design and programming team, as well as our network of international partners. More exciting updates are coming this autumn, so Like our showcase page to keep in touch with #escapefake. You can also write us if you are interested in the workshops and of course, always stay on your toes in order to #escapethefake. #medialiteracy #augmentedreality #escapefake With Polycular team Thomas Layer-Wagner Benjamin Arzt Tobias Hoffmann Patrick Obermueller Daniel Brantner Partners in crime Alice Bovone Tímea Kókai Nagy MBA Voinea Madalina Sorin Ionita Pro Progressione Expert Forum (EFOR) La Fabbrica Escape Fake is powered by the European Commission through the Creative Europe programme and by the European Media & Information Fund (EMIF)

🚀 Exciting News from coopXscape! 🚀 We’re thrilled to announce our participation at the Homecoming Startups Event hosted by FH Salzburg! 🎮✨ Join us and dive into the immersive world of coopXscape, our Collaborative XR Escape Game designed to enhance team development through tablet-based and headset-based immersive XR. Experience firsthand how we combine cutting-edge technology and meaningful collaboration to create something truly innovative. You can also try out coopXscape at the Pixel Playground, where our demo will be available for you to explore! What else can you expect? 🌟 Insightful talks, including the journey of Barbara Lippe from FH Salzburg to founder of Holodeck VR. 🌟 Networking with startup fellows, learning their stories, and connecting with the community. 🌟 A lively discussion on Salzburg’s potential as a Gaming Hotspot. 🌟 The Pixel Playground, where you can test games from FH Salzburg students and Austrian studios—including our own coopXscape demo! Whether you're passionate about gaming or curious about the future of collaboration, we can't wait to share our journey with you! Let’s meet, play, and innovate together! 🎮✨ https://lnkd.in/dEEsc3XD #coopXscape #XR #ImmersiveTech #Gaming #Innovation #FHSalzburg #HomecomingStartups #TeamDevelopment

🚀 Watch out here is the second round of updates from EMIL - The European Media and Immersion Lab - in the new FAST FORWARD format.   🌍 We are thrilled to introduce our latest developments to support VR headset gameplay. Now, you can fully immerse yourself in the escape room, using natural gestures to interact and solve puzzles – taking the experience far beyond what the tablet version offers.   🔗 Learn more about EMIL: https://emil-xr.eu/ More about the project on our website: https://lnkd.in/d3-6Kb7Y   👀 And, of course, stay tuned for updates on COOPXSCAPE or contact us to become testers. #teamcommunication #teamwork #coopxscape #cooperativeXR #multiplayerXR

👀 Watch out here is the first round of updates from EMIL (The European Media and Immersion Lab) in the new >> FAST FORWARD format. 🌍 We are thrilled to be expanding our work on our XR experience COOPXSCAPE, with support from EMIL, as a funded project through the FSTP call with 11 other great FSTP projects. 🔗 Learn more about EMIL: https://emil-xr.eu/ 👀 And, of course, stay tuned for updates on COOPXSCAPE! #teamcommunication #teamwork #coopxscape #cooperativeXR #multiplayerXR

🚀 We're on the road in Finland at Aalto University as part of the EMIL-XR project! 🎨 The European Media and Immersion Lab (EMIL) is a hub for advancing virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies across Europe. 🌍 We are thrilled to be expanding our work on our XR experience COOPXSCAPE, with support from EMIL, as a funded project through the FSTP call.  In Finland, we've had 2 intense days sharing our own work and better getting to know the lighthouse projects of Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg University of Bath Universitat Pompeu Fabra Aalto University and the other 11 FSTP projects. 🕹️ Highlights included trying a climate change VR game by Pixelcloud GmbH & Co. KG, using the AR projection "Magic Lantern" designed by the HCI lab at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, exploring Greek mythology with the Minotaur with Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, and discovering new ways to enhance immersive exhibitions together with Atlas V. 🔗 Learn more about EMIL: https://emil-xr.eu/ 👀 And, of course, stay tuned for updates on COOPXSCAPE! #teamcommunication #teamwork #coopxscape #cooperativeXR #multiplayerXR Thomas Layer-Wagner Irina Paraschivoiu Volker Helzle Alexander Kreische Narcis Pares Moverse Broomx Reality Crisis SenseGlove Design Academy Eindhoven