The University Research Park will be the center for this week's presentation.  The event is being held in conjunction INNOV8.  INNOV8 Lafayette is a project of the Innovation Division of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce.  The eight-day festival of creat creativity and innovation continue now through Sunday, April 29, 2012.   According to organizer's they are trying to "focus on Lafayette’s creative economy and explore resources for connecting talented innovators with marketplace opportunities. Funding forums, pitch presentations, workshops, competitions, and networking will showcase talented artists and entrepreneurs, bringing them together with valuable resources."

iOpener at INNOV8 will allow participants to get the experience of "walking inside the human body" when going into the LITE center.  They will also be treated to information on how Pixel Magic converted Harry Potter "using visual effects all in 3-D animation."

The iOpener event will start at noon tomorrow and last until 5 p.m., and the event will open the doors on a wide range of activities.  “Our research park is Lafayette’s best kept secret. Ideas and inspiration flow from these buildings every day, and it is time that all of Lafayette meets the people and projects behind these walls," said Dr. Robert Twilley, UL Lafayette’s vice president for research.

Here is what you can visit at LITE tomorrow as part of the program:

  • the 3-D immersive visualization resource center
  • the technology incubator featuring high-performance visualization capabilities
  • demonstrations on all of LITE's visualization venues

“The idea of the open house is to allow interested guests to flow throughout the venues and demonstrations at their own pace and interact with staff to discover all of the unique applications that are taking shape in our facilities,” said Twilley.

If you visit, you will also be able to check out  the FLEX collaboration space where training applications using video game engines will be demonstrated.  You can also check out the center’s TRON animation, and you will be able to see short-film animations.

CajunBot, Cajun Crawler and special demonstrations by the Gear Up program will also be available on this tour. Visitors can also tour the Picard Center’s new memorial library dedicated to the late Cecil J. Picard, former superintendent of schools in Louisiana.

The event is free and open to the public. To see the full agenda, visit www.lite3d.com/iopener.

 

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