[11/02/2009]

The Naledi3d Factory achieves recognition from the World Summit Award for their “Rural Life Skills Development Project”, based on virtual reality technology from EON Reality

IRVINE, Calif., November 2, 2009 – The Naledi3d Factory, a resident at The Innovation Hub in Pretoria, South Africa, has reached another historic milestone by receiving acknowledgement for its interactive 3D learning projects based on virtual reality software from EON Reality, the world's leading interactive 3D software provider. In May 2009, its work with World Links Zimbabwe was selected by the World Summit Award (WSA) Grand Jury 2009 “as one of the most outstanding examples of creative and innovative e-Content”. 

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During a seven-day evaluation process in New Delhi, India, the “Rural Life Skills Development Project (Farming)” was chosen to be among the Special Mentions of this year’s contest out of a pool of 545 national best products from 157 countries.

Thirty-four leading e-Content experts from Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania, North America, Latin America and Europe met for the WSA Grand Jury in New Delhi, India, to consider 545 national finalists from United Nations member states. These finalists were selected from around 20 000 products and projects from the 157 countries that participated in the 4th edition of the World Summit Award, via national contests and a global jury process.

While the Naledi3d Factory started to explore the use of virtual reality in community development in 2000, this three-year project (supported by the WK Kellogg Foundation and in collaboration with World Links Zimbabwe) was the first time that Naledi3d Factory’s interactive3d learning objects (i3dlo’s) had been extensively used in a true implementation project – in this case, developing farming skills in Zimbabwe through workshops in four rural communities. 

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Against a backdrop of economic downturn and poor rainfall in most parts of Zimbabwe, and at a time when land was being transferred to people new to farming practice, this project presented itself as a timely and appropriate intervention.

Sixteen i3dlo’s were developed by the Naledi3d Factory as inputs to the workshops (and made publically available via the Naledi3d Factory’s i3dlo web portal). One major reason for the success of the workshops in Zimbabwe was that many of the i3dlo’s used were translated into Shona, (a language native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia), by World Links before being used in the workshops.

The extent to which local people and their leadership took up and understood the power of VR, and in particular, the use of i3dlo’s as a learning medium, has been amazing. Of particular interest is the way in which the i3dlo’s are now leading communities to establish income-generating projects themselves, such as bee-keeping (all four centers set up through this project established hives in the latter half of 2008) as a new income-generating activity for the centre as well as the community. 

Eli Gudza, Executive Director, World Links Zimbabwe said, “The use of interactive3d learning objects in the training of rural farmers produced results far beyond what we could think or imagine. During the training workshops, it became clear that this cutting-edge approach was capable of bringing out concepts and assisting in the development of skills, deepening understanding as well as changing attitudes in a way not previously possible using traditional media, text or video. i3dlo’s have the potential to revolutionize training across many sectors of development, not just on the African continent, but globally. They appeal to the way that people learn, whoever they are, wherever they are and in whatever language - through the localization process that has developed through this project. ...Our view is that it is now time to bring this powerful learning tool and methodology not just to the people of Zimbabwe, but to the many people of Africa who need it and whose livelihoods can be transformed.”

About The Naledi3d Factory
The Naledi3d Factory, has successfully used VR to communicate concepts and practices in a wide range of disciplines, including industrial training and safety awareness, heritage, new technology concepts, town planning, farming, as well as health awareness. Together with partners such as UNESCO, the WK Kellogg Foundation and World Links of Harare, they have been working on projects including rural hygiene in Uganda; Malaria; sanitation in Mozambique; HIV/AIDS awareness for Ethiopian educators and supporting emerging farmers in Zimbabwe on a range of agricultural issues. For further information, visit www.naledi3d.com.

About World Summit Award
The biennial World Summit Award started in 2003 as part of the UN’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and is a global initiative to select and promote the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. WSA demonstrates the local diversity and rich creativity of ICT use and values the crucial importance of local content to make today’s information society more inclusive. It is the world’s premier contest for excellence in e-Content and creativity. WSA honors producers of interactive multimedia and innovative ICT applications and identifies high-quality e-Content products in collaboration with the UN Secretary-General’s Global Alliance for ICT and Development, UNESCO and UNIDO.

About EON Reality
EON Reality, Inc. is the world's leading interactive 3D visual content management and virtual reality software provider. EON’s solutions enable all organizations to more effectively visually communicate, collaborate and accelerate knowledge transfer. Industry leaders include Atlas Copco, Bechtel, Boeing, Bombardier, Hon, Intel, Lexus, Lufthansa –Teknik, Peterbilt, Samsung, Siemens Medical, Suzuki, Toyota and Whirlpool use EON solutions to enhance the interactive user experience to effectively increase sales, better communicate product functionality and decrease the cost of service, training and technical support.  Educational institutions and organizations who have adopted EON’s SBL technology solutions include: the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology (located on the campus of the Florence-Darlington Technical College), Honolulu Community College, Old Dominion University, Marquette University, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Discovery World Museum, Oklahoma City Community College, Concord University, Texas State Technical College – Waco, El Paso Community College, University of Alabama, University of Hawaii, University of Kentucky and Fayetteville Technical Community College in North Carolina. For further information, visit www.eonreality.com.