The foundation of the Hellenic World (FHW), is a non-profit, private organisation founded by a legislative act of the Greek Parliament in 1993. FHW has already established a solid reputation for its work (strongly dependent upon IT, the use of advanced digital publication, data collection and virtual reality) in developing historical understanding through the exploration of state of the art technology. The primary goals of the foundation are the presentation of Hellenic history and cultural influence, based on the principle that study and interpretative presentation of the past promotes understanding and the preservation of collective memory. Its staff includes archaeologists, historians, museologists, computer scientists, graphic designers, 3-D animation modelers and virtual reality engineers.

Key Personnel

George Giannoulis - Giannoulopoulos has a degree in Economic Sciences (University of Athens -1989) and a Diplome d' Etudes Approfondies (Master Degree) in the organization and management of development programs, local development cultural institutions and tourism (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Grande Ecole, Paris). He has conducted research on the organisation of museums, festivals, international educational exchanges and cultural tourism (Universite Paris V) and has attended professional seminars on theatre, Spanish culture and civilisation. He has published various articles on cinema and theatre in reviews in Athens and Paris. He has taught economics for several years.

George S. Kamarinos is responsible for the Internet Department at the Foundation of the Hellenic World. Previously, since 1997, he held the position of Internet programmer at FHW where he was actively involved with Internet programming for cultural content. He received a B.Sc. degree in Physics from the University of Athens, in 1993 and a M.Sc. degree in Computing Science from Birkbeck College, University of London, U.K., in 1996.

Maira Papaspyrou is a Graphic Designer. As a member of the Internet Applications sector of the Foundation of the Hellenic World she is responsible for the creation and design of internet projects, in coordination with researchers and programmers. She received a degree in Graphic Design in 1992.

Maria Roussou is Head of the Virtual Reality department at the Foundation of the Hellenic World, a cultural institution based in Athens, Greece. She received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Electronic Visualization from the School of Art and Design, UIC and a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Since 1992, her publications and research have focused on the design and evaluation of virtual environments for education, primarily with immersive Virtual Reality systems such as the CAVEŽ. She has also worked on the application of digital media in the representation of cultural information and collaborated with contemporary art museums such as the Walker Art Center to design and create interactive art education material for the Internet (ArtsConnectEd).