Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 22 | Page 12

NEWS EON Reality and University of Bologna announce degree in innovation and immersive technologies E ON Reality, a world leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality- based knowledge transfer for industry and education, together with the University of Bologna, Italy, has announced the world’s first fully-accredited Masters degree in both Innovation studies and Extended Realities (XR). “The aim of MIXR is to provide students with the knowledge required to engineer XR experiences, specialising such skills in four high- potential domains: design, architecture, fashion and medicine,” said Gustavo Marfia, Director, Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna. The ‘MIXR’ Masters (with Honours) degree is the first in the world to combine digital leadership across several industry sectors, including practice-based studies in XR, and encompassing both AR and VR theory and app development. The MIXR educational programme will be taught in two phases followed by an industry internship provided by EON Reality. This internship will provide students with application ideation, incubation and development across a plethora of hardware systems. These systems run the gamut from mobile devices and Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and others, to research-specific spaces likes Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVEs). This new degree has been created in response to Industry 4.0, the vastly changing landscape of tech-based education, and the expansion of skills required to fit the talent needs of modern global businesses. “This is the first programme like this on a global level and it shows how far EON Reality has progressed as a true leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality education,” said Marcin Kasica, Director of Global Education and Training, EON Reality. The MIXR Degree, taught by the University of Bologna in collaboration with EON Reality, launches this November for the start of the academic year. ////////////////// Wirecard to partner with leading global retailer for digital payments W irecard, a global innovation leader for digital financial technology, is collaborating with WHSmith, a leading global retailer in news, books and convenience for the world’s travelling customer.The two companies are working together to expand WHSmith’s digital payment acceptance capabilities for e-commerce as well as at the POS, thus furthering the retailer’s digital journey. facing merchants and the retail sector as a whole, as well as significantly expanding our footprint in the UK market. We look forward to a successful cooperation with WHSmith.” With over 1,600 stores across the world in airports, hospitals, train stations and highway service areas, as well as on most UK high streets, WHSmith is a globally recognised brand for the world’s travelling customer. The company also has a flourishing e-commerce business which includes click & collect and ‘Buy Online Return in Store’ (BORIS) options for a flexible customer experience. Thanks to the collaboration with Wirecard, WHSmith is further improving its service to consumers both nationally and internationally by enabling smooth and flexible payment acceptance and processing. “We are happy to collaborate with WHSmith to process its digital payments,” commented Fredrik Neumann, VP Sales Retail at Wirecard. “Through this cooperation with yet another major retailer, we are proving our ability to understand the needs of internationally- 12 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com