Success in European Erasmus Mundus Call

The St. Pölten UAS was one of three Austrian higher education institutions to be successful in the call of the Erasmus Mundus Action “Design Measures” this year. The call is accompanied by the assignment to develop an international joint master degree programme involving at least three countries.

In terms of content, the master degree programme to be developed together with the Saxion University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and the Vidzeme Universiy of Applied Sciences in Latvia is geared towards national and international students who have completed a bachelor degree programme in Creative Computing or Game Design & Development.

With a master’s degree in “Gamified Reality Applications for Real-World Challenges and Experiences” – thus the full name of the programme abbreviated with the acronym GRACE – future graduates will be specialised in the development of eXtended Reality (XR)-assisted gamification applications for a wide range of application areas covering industry, retail, health, and general didactic tasks.

New Approach to XR Training

“The development of XR applications in simulated or real environments for training, therapy, education, or entertainment purposes has gained considerably in importance. However, there is a lack of specialised master degree programmes combining aspects of gamification, didactics, and gaming technologies with the manifold possibilities offered by XR”, says Michael Iber, Lecturer and International Coordinator at the St. Pölten UAS’ Department of Media and Digital Technologies who would like to close this gap with the planned “Joint Master of Science”.

The three higher education institutions are partners in the European University alliance E³UDRES² which is coordinated by the St. Pölten UAS. As such, they have joint teaching and research expertise in gaming and XR development as well as in potential application areas including health, smart industries, and education.

European Study Programme

Joint Europe-wide study programmes are a step towards the E³UDRES² goal of building a European multi-university campus with European degrees and also part of the research and development plan for the UAS sector issued by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. E³UDRES² strives for innovative university concepts with modern didactic approaches and emphasises challenge-oriented education, mission-oriented research, and human-centred innovation and knowledge exchange.

Broad Employment of Extended Reality

XR offers safe environments for the development of complex skills, allows for errors without real consequences, and saves time and resources compared to conventional methods. Immersive learning experiences motivate and promote deeper knowledge.

When it comes to therapy, XR opens up less intrusive treatment options with progress monitoring and individual adjustment. In sectors such as construction, retail, and production, XR simulates working environments, trains employees, and offers maintenance support. XR gamification is used in assistance systems, theatre, film, emergency services, museology, tourism, and schools for student motivation and tangible learning.

• Links:
• OeAD news report on the topic (in German)
• Erasmus Mundus
• E3UDRES2