When Ohio University students return to Athens in the fall, Court Street will be more than a road between the new Baker Center and East Carpenter Street -it will also be a gateway to fantasy worlds, race tracks and the future.
Scheduled to open in September in the business complex at 5 N. Court St., the Games Research and Immersive Design Lab will allow students to research, develop and play video and computer games, said John Bowditch, the project's associate director and an OU graduate student.
After several years of planning, OU's College of Communication partnered with the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and the Information Technology Alliance of Appalachian Ohio to apply for a nearly $250,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, said Karen Riggs, GRID Lab director and director of the School of Telecommunications.
In combination with $62,000 from the College of Communication and $100,000 in anticipated private donations, the ARC funds will help to pay for $60,000 in site renovation and sustain the project through its first two years, Riggs said. The exact cost of installation of the lab has not yet been determined.
The ARC grant also initially will cover the cost of employing at least three graduate students to monitor the facility, she said.
Additionally, the Ohio Board of Regents has contributed $100,000 to fund the lab's first project, an augmented reality homeland security application to be created in partnership the Homeland Security Administration and another college, Riggs said.
Despite the high cost, the creation of the GRID Lab will benefit students and area residents in invaluable ways, said Bill Sams, chief information officer for the office of the provost and a self-proclaimed supporter of interactive digital technology.
Students will be better prepared for future careers because gaming technology is driving the computer industry ... The skills involved in making computer games are the enabling skills of the industries' yet-to-be-invented knowledge economy
Sams said.
The lab will supplement the Athens economy and entertainment market by offering residents, especially high school students, a place to play and develop games for an hourly fee, said Bowditch.
We're going to give them a reason to come an alternative to bars and fast food Uptown he said. The lab will include personal computers and Macintosh stations, as well as the most popular video gaming consoles.
Such a center not only provides recreational and educational opportunities, but also will help to create sustainable business opportunities, said Jennifer Simon, Athens Area Chamber of Commerce president.
Having a center like that in our community helps build on the technology skills that young people have here
she said.
The GRID Lab is scheduled to open in September, but Athens will have to wait for the long-term benefits of the increased technology. It will be a process that will take long to build. Industries are not built over night
Simon said.
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