Funded – Official Projects
Current Projects
VRTEACHER
Virtual reality-based training to improve digital competences of teachers
Empowering the personal and professional development of educators/teachers through a novel Virtual Reality (VR) based approach and tool.
Website: vrteacher.eu
Partners: Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), Cyprus; University of Aegean (UAegean), Greece; University Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M), Spain; Future In Perspective Limited (FIPL), Ireland; Fundación Siglo22 (Siglo22), Spain; The Commonwealth Centre for Connected Learning (3CL), Malta
Funding Sources: Erasmus+
Duration: 2021-2023 (24 months)
OTHELLOS – Stage 2
Bringing Historic Famagusta to Life for School-Aged Children – Stage 2
Project of VR for Well-Being MRG – CYENS CoE
Othellos-Stage 2 is an extension of the Othellos project, adding new features to the educational game including a new online and multiplayer version.
Partners: CYENS Centre of Excellence
Funding Sources: EU/UNDP
Role: Scientific Coordinator
Funding Amount: 22K EUR – external funding
Duration: 2021
RISE – Phase 2
Research centre in Interactive media, Smart systems and Emerging technologies
Establishment and operation of the RISE Research centre on Interactive media, Smart systems and Emerging technologies, operating at internationally-high standards.
Website: rise.org.cy
Partners: RISE Centre of Excellence, Cyprus; Nicosia Municipality, Cyprus (coordinator); Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus; University of Cyprus, Cyprus; Open University Cyprus, Cyprus; Max Planck Institute for Informatics (MPI), Germany; University College London (UCL), UK.
Funding Sources: EC H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-Teaming Phase 2; Cyprus Government through the Directorate General for European Programmes, Coordination and Development; the European Structural and Investment Funds; multiple other resources including partners’ contributions.
Role: Deputy scientific coordinator & principal investigator
Funding Amount: ∼50M EUR (∼35M cash + ∼15M in-kind) – external funding
Duration: 2017 – 2024 (84 months)
Completed Projects
OTHELLOS
Bringing Historic Famagusta to Life for School-Aged Children
Project of VR for Well-Being MRG – RISE CoE
Development of an educational game for the increase of awareness and appreciation for EU-renovated sites, in the historic walled city of Famagusta.
Partners: RISE Centre of Excellence; Cyprus Institute
Funding Sources: EU/UNDP
Role: Work Packages Leader
Funding Amount: 120K EUR (∼83K cash + ∼37 in-kind) – external funding; 25K EUR cash for the author
Duration: 2020-2021
BrailleBoard
Prototyping a Mid-air Haptics (Braille) Keyboard for Blind People
Project of VR for Well-Being MRG – RISE CoE
Exploration of the mid-air Ultrahaptics device for the development of innovative applications.
Partners: RISE Centre of Excellence
Funding Sources: ULTRALEAP
Role: Coordinator
Funding Amount: 6K EUR in-kind (3 Mid-Air devices) – external funding
Duration: 2019-2020
INTELed
Innovative Training via Embodied Learning and Multi-sensory Techniques for Inclusive Education
Support for special and general education teachers in acquiring knowledge and skills for the use of multi-sensory technology for learning, assessment, and addressing the needs of children in inclusive educational contexts.
Partners: Cyprus University of Technology-Social Computing Research Center, Cyprus; University of Piraeus Research Center, Greece; CESIE, Italy; University of Valladolid, Spain.
Founding Source: EC-ERASMUS+ KA201 – Strategic Partnerships
Role: Consortium member
Funding Amount: 154K EUR for all partners – external funding
Duration: 2017 – 2019 (24 months)
CSRC – Phase 1
Cyprus Science Research Center
Business plan preparation for a Science and Research Center in Cyprus focusing on STEAM.
Partners: University of Cyprus, Cyprus University of Technology, Open University Cyprus, University of Nicosia, European University Cyprus, UCLan Cyprus, Neapolis University, Frederick University of Technology, Etablissement Public Du Palais De La Decouverte et de la Cite Des Sciences Et De l’Indisutrie, France; Fondazione IDIS-Citta della Scienza, Italy; Kobenhavns Universitet, Denmark; Leibniz-Institut Fur Die Padagogikder Naturwissenschaften Und Mathematik An Der Universitat Kiel, Germany; University College London, UK; Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Greece.
Funding Source: WIDESPREAD-04-2017: Teaming Phase 1
Role: Consortium member
Funding Amount: 476K EUR for all partners (60K EUR) external funding
Duration: 2017 – 2018 (12 months)
NOTRE
Network for Social Computing Research
Develop a network to strengthen and enhance the research and innovation potential and capability of the Social Computing Research Centre at the Cyprus University of Technology.
Website: notre.socialcomputing.eu
Partners: Cyprus University of Tehnology-Social Computing Research Centre, Cyprus; Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Greece; IMDEA Networks Institute, Spain; MIRALab-Universite De Geneve, Switzerland; University of Dusseldorf, Germany.
Funding Source: HORIZON 2020 – TWINNING – 2015
Role: Work Package Leader
Funding Amount: 1M EUR for all partners (0.5M EUR for CUT) – external funding
Duration: 2015 – 2018
RISE – Phase 1
Research centre in Interactive media, Smart systems and Emerging technologies
Business Plan preparation for the RISE Research centre on Interactive media, Smart systems and Emerging technologies.
Website: phase1.rise.org.cy
Partners: Nicosia Municipality, Cyprus (coordinator); Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus; University of Cyprus, Cyprus; Open University Cyprus, Cyprus; Max Planck Institute for Informatics (MPI), Germany; University College London (UCL), UK.
Funding Source: HORIZON 2020 – WIDESPREAD-2014-1 – TEAMING
Role: Principal Investigator & Overall Deputy Scientific Coordinator
Funding Amount: 476K EUR for all partners (60K EUR for the author) external funding
Duration: 2015 – 2016 (12 months)
Starting Grant
Starting grant provided to newly elected academic staff of the University to facilitate their research activities. The funding of this resource has been exploited to conduct research on VR experiments and 3D simulators.
Partners: GET Lab, Cyprus University of Technology
Funding source: Cyprus University of Technology
Funding: 40K EUR – internal funding
Duration: 2013-2014 (24 months)
This starting grant has funded or partially funded:
Microsoft Sponsorship
Establishment and equipped of a research lab conducting research on Computer Graphics.
Partners: Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus
Funding source: Microsoft Cyprus
Funding: 20K EUR – external funding
Establishment: 2012
Other Projects
Hands On App / Virtual Touch Toolkit
collaborators: Bundeswehr University, Cyprus University of Technology & RISE CoE, Liverpool John Moores University and University of Barcelona
Cyprus University of Technology & RISE CoE team:
coordinator: Despina Michael-Grigoriou
researchers: Ali Najm and Christos Hadjipanayi
duration: 2020 (ongoing)
VR Depression
supervisor: Despina Michael-Grigoriou
researcher: Chistos Hadjipanayi
duration: 2019-2020
VR Aspenger’s Syndrome
supervisor: Despina Michael-Grigoriou
researcher: Chistos Hadjipanayi
duration: 2019-2020
Full Body Motion Capture Demo
supervisor: Despina Michael-Grigoriou
researchers: Christos Kyrlitsias, Maria Christofi, Christos Gkoumas and Panayiotis Corneliou
duration: 2019
Virtual Buzzwire Rehab Game
coordinator: Despina Michael-Grigoriou
researcher: Chris Christou
duration: 2018
VR Choirokoitia
supervisor: Despina Michael-Grigoriou
researchers: Maria Christofi, Christos, Zoe Anastasiadou, Maria Michaelidou, Ioanna Papamichael and Katerina Pieri
duration: 2016-2018
Run4All Game
supervisor: Despina Grigoriou (Michael)
students: Christos Kyrlitsias and Maria Christofi
duration: 2017
VR Human Anatomy
supervisor: Despina Grigoriou (Michael)
student: Panayiotis Yiannakou
duration: 2016
Christmas Game
supervisor: Despina Grigoriou (Michael)
student: Christos Kyrlitsias and Maria Christofi
duration: 2016
VR Claustrophobia
Towards designing virtual environments suitable for the treatment of claustrophobia
supervisor: Despina Michael
researcher: Maria Christofi
duration: 2015
Notice Me Detective
Video Game
supervisor: Despina Michael
students: Valentina Chrysostomou, Maria Christofi and Kyriakos Georgiou
duration: 2015
VR Ethical Dilemma
coordinator: Despina Michael
researchers: Marios Kleanthous and Marinos Savva
duration: 2013-2014
Aliens VS Humans
Do avatars make a difference in how we play the game?
researchers: Chris Christou and Despina Michael
duration: 2013-2014
VS-Games 2014 – Best Paper Award
Augmented Reality Book
Learning through AR Books and Mobile Devices
student: Konstantinos Koumi (BA thesis)
supervisor: Despina Michael
duration: 2013-2014
3D Diving Simulator for Zenobia Wreck
student: Kalia Aristidou (MSc thesis)
supervisor: Despina Michael
duration: 2013-2014
Microsoft Imagine Cup 2014 – Local Finals Winner
VR Astronomy
Virtual Tour in our Solar System
student: Marios Kleanthous (BA thesis)
supervisor: Despina Michael
duration: 2013-2014
Aerophobia and Chromatotherapy through Virtual Reality
student: Marinos Savva (BA thesis)
supervisor: Despina Michael
duration: 2013-2014
3D Driving Simulator
City Reconstruction, Real-time Interactivity, VR Integration
coordinator: Despina Michael
researchers: Smaragda Christodoulou, Marios Kleanthous and Marinos Savva
duration: 2012-2013
‘Kalikantzaros’
A Game to Promote Cypriot Tradition
supervisor: Despina Michael
researchers: Marios Kleanthous, Konstantinos Koumi, Andreas Pavlou and Marinos Savva
duration: 2013
Microsoft Imagine Cup 2013 – Local Finals