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Serious games are games where the entertainment aspect is not the most relevant motivation or objective. TimeMesh is an online, multi-language, multiplayer, collaborative and social game platform for sharing and acquiring knowledge of the history of European regions. As such it is a serious game with educational characteristics. This article evaluates the use of TimeMesh with students of 13 and 14 years-old. It shows that this game is already a significant learning tool about European citizenship.

In this paper, a Training and Support system for Search and Rescue operations is described. The system is a component of the ICARUS project (http://www.fp7-icarus.eu) which has a goal to develop sensor, robotic and communication technologies for Human Search And Rescue teams. The support system for planning and managing complex SAR operations is implemented as a command and control component that integrates different sources of spatial information, such as maps of the affected area, satellite images and sensor data coming from the unmanned robots, in order to provide a situation snapshot to the rescue team who will make the necessary decisions. Support issues will include planning of frequency resources needed for given areas, prediction of coverage conditions, location of fixed communication relays, etc. The training system is developed for the ICARUS operators controlling UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles), UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and USVs (Unmanned Surface Vehicles) from a unified Remote Control Station (RC2). The Training and Support system is implemented in SaaS model (Software as a Service). Therefore, its functionality is available over the Ethernet. SAR ICARUS teams from different countries can be trained simultaneously on a shared virtual stage. In this paper we will show the multi-robot 3D mapping component (aerial vehicle and ground vehicles). We will demonstrate that these 3D maps can be used for Training purpose. Finally we demonstrate current approach for ICARUS Urban SAR (USAR) and Marine SAR (MSAR) operation training.

The objective of this work was to support the sustainable deployment of immersive learning environments, which face varied obstacles, including the lack of support infrastructures for active learning pedagogies. Sustainability from the perspective of the integration of these environments in educational practice entails situational awareness, workload, and the informed assessment ability of participants, which must be supported for such activities to be employed in a widespread manner. We have approached this wicked problem using the Design Science Research paradigm and produced the Inven!RA software architecture. This novel result constitutes a solution for developing software platforms to enable the sustainable deployment of immersive learning environments. The Inven!RA architecture is presented alongside four demonstration scenarios employed in its evaluation, providing a means for the situational awareness of immersive learning activities in support of pedagogic decision making.