Dr. James M. Bower Ph.D. is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Numedeon Inc. which in 1999 launched Whyville.net as an online gaming and simulation-based virtual learning community. He has served as an educational consultant for a number of companies including Dell, Microsoft, Knowledge Adventure Inc, and the Internet incubator, Idealab. Dr. Bower has also served on scientific and educational advisory committees for numerous organizations including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Society for Neuroscience. Academically, Dr. Bower is a computational neurobiologist at the Research Imaging Center of the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio , and is one of the founders of the field of Computational Biology.

Whyville.net was built as an interactive virtual learning space for children on the Internet without any relationship to traditional media. It has reached 6.4 million registered users virally, with no media-based marketing. Discussions are currently underway with the U.S. Public Broadcasting System and others about ways to link Whyville to traditional broadcast media. Dr. Bower will discuss challenges and opportunities in linking an existing successful web-based property to more traditional media.

Numedeon, Inc. is widely regarded as one of the most innovative companies in the virtual world industry. Founded in 1999, Numedeon has the most experience of any company specializing in the use of virtual world technology for learning, education and engagement. Numedeon proprietary platform for supporting virtual learning communities, the Numedeon Interactive Community Engine (NICE) has been used to deploy a number of virtual worlds serving children as well as adults. Numedeon has existing relationships with a wide range of public and private organizations including for example: Toyota, Dell Computer, The Getty Museum, Chicago’s Field Museum, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, The National Science Foundation, Disney, and Scholastic Publishing.

Learn more about Whyville on : www.whyville.net
Learn more about Numedeon Inc. on : www.numedeon.com