January 31, 2017 – Bryan, TX – Furthering its commitment to innovation in higher education, Triseum has pledged to the Texas A&M Foundation to fund an Endowed Chair for the University’s Department of Visualization in the College of Architecture. The endowment will go towards teaching, research, service and professional development, creating growth within the Department of Visualization and advancing the work it is doing to foster students’ artistic, scientific and technical abilities.   “This is an extraordinary time to be involved in visualization. We are inspired by the ideas coming out of the Department of Visualization that will impact the way we work, play and live,” said André Thomas, CEO of Triseum, which creates immersive educational games. “We commend its leaders and faculty for engaging learners, motivating them to be imaginative and resourceful, and preparing them to succeed professionally. Together, we hope to further the incredible work and talent they are producing.”   “The Triseum Chair establishes a permanent partnership between academia and industry aimed at benefiting future generations of students,” said Jorge Vanegas, dean of the College of Architecture. “It exemplifies what happens at the intersections of vision and action, learning and teaching, research and scholarship, academia and industry, and creativity, innovation, design and entrepreneurship.”   The Texas A&M Foundation will use the endowment to establish the Triseum Endowed Chair in Visualization Fund. Triseum was founded out of the Department of Visualization’s Learning Interactive Visualization Experience (LIVE) Lab, which incorporates game technology and methodologies into the classroom experience and within educational research. Thomas is the LIVE Lab Director and teaches game design, game development and interactive graphics techniques.   “Triseum’s donation represents a significant investment in the future of the Department of Visualization.  With this endowment we will be in a great position, when the time comes, to attract outstanding candidates who want to be the next department head,” said Tim McLaughlin, Department Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Visualization, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University. “The Triseum Endowed Chair allows us to communicate the importance we place on leadership – which isn’t surprising given the speed with which they’ve demonstrated vision and leadership in the educational game world.”   The Department of Visualization brings faculty expertise in fields such as Computer Graphics, Visualization and Interaction, Art, and Design. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs that inspire the creation, design and development of impactful visual and technological experiences to entertain, inform and motivate. Its academic programs produce leaders in the fields where art and science merge.  

Bryan, TX and Austin, TX – January 25, 2017 — Triseum has been selected as a finalist in the Entertainment and Content Technologies  category for the ninth annual SXSW Accelerator competition. The Accelerator is the marquee event of South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals (March 10-19, 2017) Startup Village®, where leading startups from around the world showcase some of the most impressive new tech innovations to a panel of hand-picked judges and a live audience. Out of the more than 500 companies who applied to present at SXSW Accelerator, Triseum was selected out of 50 finalists in ten different categories.   The two-day event will be held the first weekend of SXSW Conference and Festivals, Saturday, March 11 through Sunday, March 12, on the third floor of the Downtown Austin Hilton. The pitch competition will then culminate with the SXSW Accelerator Awards Ceremony on Sunday evening, March 12, where winning startups from each category will be announced and honored. The Accelerator competition will feature finalists across the following ten categories: Augmented and Virtual Reality, Enterprise and Smart Data, Entertainment and Content, Health and Wearables, Innovative World, Payment and FinTech, Security and Privacy, Social and Culture, Sports, and Transportation.   “Being named a finalist among so many forward thinking companies from around the world is not only an honor, but also testament to the incredible work our team is producing – it’s innovative, imaginative, and truly pushing the boundaries of what game-based learning can be. We are committed to transforming the teaching and learning experience, and I’m both proud and grateful to be part of it,” said André Thomas, CEO of Triseum.   Triseum creates high-quality learning video games, empowering players to learn through fun, engaging and immersive experiences. Games are meticulously handcrafted, fully tested and evaluated to provide the ultimate educational experience. The company has produced ARTé: Mecenas, an art history game that transports students into the Renaissance era, and Variant: Limits, a calculus game where students apply theories and formulas to advance through a high-stakes 3D adventure.   “SXSW Accelerator has hosted some of the most innovative startups over the eight years we’ve held our competition. These companies have gone on to capture the attention of investors and leading technology companies worldwide. Seventy-one percent have received funding in excess of $3.1 billion, while 14 percent were acquired,” said SXSW Accelerator Event Producer Chris Valentine. “Out of the hundreds of applicants, we have identified 50 finalists to present. Everyone with SXSW Accelerator is proud to support startups that are on the forefront of solving some of today’s biggest challenges through technology.”   For more information about SXSW Accelerator and to view the complete list of finalists, visit the following site: https://www.sxsw.com/interactive/awards/accelerator. 

January 10, 2017 – Bryan, TX – Triseum today announced a pilot program for educators to bring the ultimate in game-based learning experiences to calculus students. Variant: Limits, Triseum’s immersive calculus game, connects game play and mathematics through a high stakes adventure where students apply complex calculus theories and formulas to advance through a 3-D world. Schools that are interested in piloting the calculus game can apply through the Variant page.   Preliminary testing results found that 79 percent of students playing Variant: Limits agreed that the game increased their knowledge of limits, and 76 percent of students playing Variant: Limits said the game was fun and engaging. The game also has been called “awesome” and “a calculus dream” by those who have experienced it first-hand.   “Rigorous standards, research and testing are core to everything we do,” said Triseum CEO André Thomas. “We have made a conscious effort to integrate students and faculty into our design, development and testing process to ensure our games not only meet a need, but do so in a way that is meaningful to users. Variant: Limits has been thoroughly vetted and now we are looking forward to gathering additional data through our pilot program, where our goal is not only to understand how the game resonates with students, but to help more students succeed through this powerful medium.”   Variant: Limits provides students an opportunity to take a more active role in the learning process, engaging and motivating them like no other learning tool.  The game’s learning objectives help students understand, apply and remember finite limits, continuity and infinite limits.   Interested faculty and students can experience the game in action through the trailer. Those involved in the pilot program will be asked to share their feedback on the game in a short survey. The pilot program is open for the Spring 2017 term to qualifying institutions in the United States and Canada.

January 4, 2017 – Bryan, TX and Atlanta, GA – The annual Joint Mathematics Meeting, hosted by the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematics Society, kicks off today in Atlanta and Triseum will be on site showing educators how they can better engage and motivate calculus students through the power of game-based learning. Triseum’s calculus game, Variant: Limits, has earned rave reviews since its market debut last fall and is available for this spring term.   According to the Mathematical Association of America, national failure rates within Calculus I courses are reaching 38 percent. With the expansion of STEM programs, in which calculus remains a core requirement, Triseum recognized the need for more dynamic learning tools that can help students better understand complex calculus concepts so they can stay engaged and retained.   “The industry has come a long way in advancing STEM programs, but there is still so much we can do to support students through even more effective curriculum and assessment,” said Triseum CEO André Thomas. “Merging mathematics and game play not only modernizes the way students learn and makes content more relatable, but the medium itself presents an opportunity to enhance technical skills in the process.  We are looking forward to the opportunity to share our calculus game with thought leaders as we collectively strive to help more students succeed in mathematical sciences.”   Variant: Limits, which will be on display in Triseum’s booth, puts students at the center of a high-stakes adventure where they take a more active role in the learning process and apply complex calculus theories and formulas to advance through the 3-D world. Students gain timely feedback, which motivates them to continue practicing to achieve the game’s learning goals, and faculty can view analytics that show exactly how students are progressing.   The Joint Mathematics Meeting is the largest annual mathematics meeting in the world, drawing a crowd of college and high school faculty, students, mathematicians, computer scientists, statisticians, and more. The last day of event features Mathemati-Con, a day of fun and free math events open to the public. The Mathematical Association of Americais the leading professional association in collegiate mathematics and the number one provider of resources for teaching and learning.