I3DIMENSIONS' NGRAIN® TECHNOLOGY WINS GOLD EXCELLENCE IN E-LEARNING AWARD

September 23, 2002 — i3Dimensions Inc, an emerging leader in interactive 3D visualization and simulation software tools, announced today that its INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY, NGRAIN has received a GOLD Excellence in E-Learning Award for its entry entitled, “NGRAIN: Enabling Interactive, 3D e-Learning.”

Designed specifically for non-technical users with little or no 3D knowledge or experience, NGRAIN is the first technology platform to enable full interaction with complex 3D models on standard PCs or laptops. Based on this foundational technology, i3Dimensions has created three products:

• The NGRAIN Transformer helps organizations realize economies of scale by enabling the re-purposing of existing 3D content – such as CAD files – for use in e-Learning courses, interactive electronic technical manuals, and other product support materials.
• The NGRAIN Knowledge Module then enables these 3D models to be quickly and easily enhanced with procedural animation, disassembly logic, parts explosion animation, and hyperlinking.
• The NGRAIN Mobilizer enables learners on common desktop and laptop computers to rotate, move, disassemble and reassemble, and draw on complex 3D models. Learners can easily clip into models to experience their true depth and study internal elements. In addition, learners can trigger and interact with step-through procedural animations, read associated text, or listen to associated audio files.

NGRAIN is initially targeted at organizations that need to train employees on highly complex equipment, such as aircraft, vehicles, and other assemblies. By incorporating engaging, highly interactive 3D visualizations into their e-learning and training applications, NGRAIN enables such organizations to realize significant returns in training dollar investment by reusing existing 3D models, reducing training times, equipment costs and employee out-of-office time, while improving knowledge retention and course completion rates.

“We're thrilled to have received the Excellence in E-Learning award and the industry endorsement that comes with it,” said Josie Simpson, e-Learning Product Manager, i3Dimensions Inc. “Prior to NGRAIN, the high-end workstations and programming expertise required to create 3D models made it extremely expensive and difficult to incorporate 3D content in e-Learning programs. By enabling organizations to train employees with interactive 3D anytime, anywhere on a common computer, we believe NGRAIN makes 3D an highly efficient, engaging, and cost effective training tool for the mass e-Learning market.”

As part of its Excellence in E-Learning award application, NGRAIN demonstrated an innovative, interactive 3D e-Learning course it created for the Canadian Forces School for Military Engineering (CFSME) for its medium girder bridge – a portable, modular bridge that can be rapidly assembled during combat. Soldiers taking the course used the application to become familiar with the bridge parts and construction methods, prior to on-site training. This significantly reduced on-site training costs and potential harm to learners or equipment.

“We immediately found the NGRAIN-based courseware easy to use and deploy without any specialized knowledge or training in 3D ? a great benefit given our tight resources,” said Warrant Officer Kevin Ellis, the senior project manager for distributed learning at CFSME. “Our students commented that the technology delivered a realistic, interactive training environment far more stimulating and effective than reading text and watching videos.

“CFSME has found that using i3Dimensions' NGRAIN technology as the foundation for distributed learning courses delivers significant cost and productivity advantages and we plan to continue its integration into other courses in the future.”

The Excellence in E-Learning Awards are presented by brandon-hall.com, the e-Learning industry's leading research and consulting firm, and Online Learning Magazine. Now in its sixth year (formerly the Brandon Hall of Fame Awards), the awards program showcases exceptional work in the e-Learning industry by providing feedback and benchmarking to entrants in an overall effort to help advance the e-Learning industry.

"As they have each year, the winning entries have raised the bar higher than the year before to propel the industry forward," says Brandon Hall, Ph.D., CEO of brandon-hall.com and chairman of the Excellence in E-Learning Awards program. “In particular, simulation-based training is the best instructional use for online learning,” he adds. “It allows for the greatest engagement of the user and often the greatest amount of learning.”

NGRAIN was recognized during an awards ceremony dinner held on Sunday, September 22, 2002 in Anaheim, Calif., as a kick-off for the Online Learning 2002 Conference & Expo held September 23-25. NGRAIN was among the featured entries on display at the trade show. Winners are listed at www.brandon-hall.com.

This year, 136 entries were submitted in four categories. Three existing categories - Custom Content, Innovative Technology, and Performance-Centered Design Outcomes and Design Tools were joined by one new category —Internal E-Learning Practices. Entries were evaluated by 99 judges with expertise in instructional design and online or multimedia training and internal organizational e-Learning.

There were 3 Gold awards, 3 Silver awards, and 4 Bronze awards selected from the 53 Custom Content entries. In the Innovative Technology category, 3 Gold awards, 3 Silver awards, and 3 Bronze awards were selected from 34 entries. Within the category of Performance-Centered Design Outcomes and Design Tools, there were 2 winners in the Outcomes sub-category and 1 award given in the Design Tools sub-category. Award recipients in the category of Best Practices for Internal E-Learning included 5 Gold award winners, 5 Silver award winners, and 5 Bronze award winners, which were selected from 43 entries.

"The inclusion of this new category in the Excellence in E-Learning Awards program mirrors the continuing growth, diversity and innovation of the entire e-Learning industry," says Hall. "It's our goal to celebrate and share these ground-breaking efforts and best practices to enlighten the industry as a whole."

About i3Dimensions
i3Dimensions develops visualization and simulation solutions that enable the modification and manipulation of complex 3D data in real-time on common PCs and other computing platforms. i3Dimensions' NGRAIN technology adds new capabilities to interactive 3D visualization for entertainment, medical, government institutions, education, defense and manufacturing. More information is available online at www.ngrain.com. For inquires on becoming a NGRAIN beta partner, email beta@ngrain.com.

About brandon-hall.com
The Excellence in E-Learning Awards program is chaired by the leading authority on e-Learning, Brandon Hall, Ph.D. Dr. Hall is the CEO of brandon-hall.com and author of the groundbreaking Web-Based Training Cookbook. Since 1992, brandon-hall.com has been providing independent expert advice in the form of published reports on the tools of e-Learning: LMS, LCMS, authoring tools, content providers, and any other tool that helps organizations develop successful e-Learning solutions. Dr. Hall participates regularly as a featured speaker in conferences such as ASTD and the Online Learning Conference & Expo. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology and has served on the faculty of San Francisco State University's Multimedia Studies Program.

About VNU Business Media and VNU, N.V.
The OnLine Learning 2002 Conference & Expo is produced by VNU Business Media and VNU Expositions and is presented by Online Learning Magazine, Training magazine, Presentations magazine, Creative Training Techniques newsletter, and OnLine Learning News and OnLine Learning Reviews e-newsletters.