Jesse Damiani is a curator, writer, and advisor in new media art and emerging technologies. He is the founder of Postreality Labs, a strategic sensemaking studio based in Los Angeles, CA. He is Arts and Culture Advisor for Protocol Labs; Senior Curator and Director of Simulation Literacies at Nxt Museum; and the Host of Adobe’s Taking Shape, a hub for 3D art and design. An Affiliate of the metaLAB at Harvard and Institute for the Future, his writing appears in Adweek, Big Think, Billboard, Entrepreneur, HuffPost, IndieWire, NBC News, Quartz, The Verge, and WIRED. Recent curated exhibitions include PROOF OF ART at Francisco Carolinum Linz, the first museum retrospective on the history of NFTs; Synthetic Wilderness at Honor Fraser Gallery; and Simulation Sketchbook: Works in Process at Feral File/Vellum LA. He has served as a mentor in the YouTube VR Creator Lab and worked with both Google and Meta in their initiatives to develop educational content for the XR industry. He is Founder of Best American Experimental Writing, and formerly served as Editor-at-Large of VRScout; Curator of XR For Change, the extended reality summit at the Games for Change Festival; and Director of Emerging Technology and Insight at Southern New Hampshire University, where he led the Future of Work initiative.

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Gabo Arora is a world renowned multi-award winning immersive artist, professor, entrepreneur and former UN diplomat who works with the most cutting-edge emerging technologies, including virtual and augmented reality, to tell some of the most important stories of our time. Widely recognized as a pioneer of new documentary formats, his work, part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), has been described by the BBC and LA Times, amongst many others, as “game changing”, “powerful, moving and without precedent”, and “transcending all the typical barriers of rectangular cinema.”

Akbar Hamid is a Forbes Next 1,000 honoree who has established a reputation as a visionary marketing and communications thought leader in a digital-first world. Hamid guides many of the world's largest brands as they enter into and navigate the web3 era and emerging metaverse worlds, while helping to shape and influence the new creator economy. He has served as an expert commentator for Vogue Business, Business of Fashion, CoinTelegraph, CoinDesk, Barron’s, Cheddar TV, Forbes and AdAge, as well as a featured speaker at the World Economic Forum, Web Summit, NFT NYC, Advertising Week, SXSW and more. As Founder & CEO of leading creative communications consultancy The 5th Column (5C) and 5Crypto, as well as Co-Founder of People of Crypto Innovation Lab (POC Lab), Hamid focuses on bringing diverse and inclusive cultural storytelling to the web3 and metaverse space, enabling brands to bridge the gap between consumer and web3. He operates at the intersection of business and culture to deliver transformational work to global clients such as Birkenstock, Dwayne Johnon’s ZOA Energy, Virgin Hotels, The Dalmore Whisky, Champagne Bollinger, Belvedere Vodka and Van Cleef & Arpels, and web3 & metaverse leaders including Doodles,
L’Oreal, The Sandbox, WAX & William Quigley, Arianee, and BlockBar. Hamid has also served as strategic advisor and thought leadership partner to global consultancies Publicis Sapient & R/GA.

Hamid’s work often includes educating brand leaders on how to tap into emerging technologies with creativity, relevance and impact. In 2022, he helped bring Pride Month into the metaverse for the first time via an award-winning program with POC Lab, backed by Animoca, L’Oreal Groups’ NYX Cosmetics and The Sandbox. The campaign enabled a universal audience to come together and celebrate diversity, equity & inclusivity and served as a case model showcasing how brands can build community, trust and loyalty by leveraging authentic storytelling and inclusive gaming experien

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Amy is Strategic Alliances Director at Ubisoft, the leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide. She is based in Paris.

Amy brings 20 years’ experience to imagine and implement pioneering partnerships “beyond video games” to bring Ubisoft’s brands to wider audiences. She works in particular through alliances with Culture and Education, but also Live & Location-Based Entertainment, Health and industry.

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Brittan Heller works at the intersection of technology, human rights and the law. She is currently a lecturer at Stanford University and a Senior Non-Residential Fellow at the Atlantic Council, with the Digital Forensics Research Lab, examining XR's connection to society, human rights, privacy, and security. Heller is on the steering committee for the World Economic Forum's Metaverse Governance initiative and studied content moderation in XR as an inaugural AI and Tech Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights. She is a visiting fellow at the Yale Information Society Project and an affiliate at the Stanford Program on Democracy and the Internet.

Chase is an MFA Game Design student at DePaul University's School of Computing and Digital Media. They also serve as a VR Technical Lead at PUSH Studio and Matters at Play. Chase has a passion for creating games that utilize alternative modes of control and challenge players to reflect on their relationships with others. Their research focuses on the gamification of real-life scenarios and the potential of game mechanics to explore modern queer experiences.

Chryselle Rego is a PhD candidate at DePaul University's School of Computing & Digital Media. She is the project manager and User Experience Researcher at the Push Studios and Matters at Play Lab. She has a background in Digital Media and Advertising and specializes in the use of emerging technology to address modern challenges, with a focus on ethics, equity, and positive human impact.

An experienced founder and content creator, Cortney Harding is an in-demand expert as one of the few people who can not only translate the impact of the digital revolution from Web2 to Web3 and its impact on businesses, but also how the metaverse can become the new frontier to create better and more accepting communities. As the founder of the award-winning agency Friends With Holograms, she was a pioneer who created VR training pieces around topics like child abuse, workplace exclusion, mental health, Black maternal mortality, and racial bias for companies like Lowe’s, Walmart, PWC, Amazon, Target, and more.

David Lobser is an XR developer and 3D animation director with a background in visual effects. He co-founded New York's first digital spa, "Luxury Escapism," and develops XR projects for brands and startups while also teaching code for artists at various institutions. His recent focus is on therapeutic uses for VR.

Dr. Brandy McNeil is an innovative leader who has transformed adult education programs in NYC. As the Deputy Director of Branch Programs and Services at the New York Public Library, she has established successful partnerships with tech giants like Apple and Google to create the highly successful TechConnect program. Dr. McNeil's vision and dedication to community empowerment have earned her many accolades, including the 2017 Library Journal Mover & Shaker Award. She is also a contributing writer, consultant, and motivational speaker, with a Doctorate in Business and an M.B.A. in Entrepreneurship. Dr. McNeil's innovative approach has changed lives and her legacy will inspire future generations of educators and entrepreneurs.

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Dr. Joanneke Weerdmeester is a behavioural scientist with a passion for creating and validating digital experiences that help us understand and manage our wellbeing in a playful and meaningful way. Her doctoral research focused on the potential of game-based biofeedback interventions for anxiety regulation. Currently, she works as a university teacher and as a freelance consultant to bridge the fields of science, health care, and game design.

CEO and co-founder of Gold Bug Interactive and a veteran educational video game developer. With more than 23 titles for organizations such as the United Nations UNODC, GIZ, InterAction, Mc Gill, FES, MUAC, St Georges Vancouver, Philharmonic Orchestra UNAM, etc. Convinced of the power of games to support unprivileged contexts through collaborative learning. Received several national grants in Mexico (Fonca, Procine, Prosoft). Currently, developing Sabz, a highly realistic reforestation simulator for Afghanistan, and a VR interactive short film to create awareness on health risks for Waste Pickers in Mexico. MA from the Institute of Education at UCL, UK.

Helene Imperiale is the Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Call of Duty Endowment Marketing. Helene brings more than a decade of experience leading marketing and communications strategies across the nonprofit, government, and private sectors. Previously, Helene worked at Propper Daley, the social impact agency behind the world’s leading changemakers, where she oversaw the Digital & New Media Strategy department. Helene also worked at Global Philanthropy Group, a philanthropic consulting firm, where she led the agency’s digital practice to create and implement global cause marketing campaigns.

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Mentored by David Bowie, awakening public consciousness, shifting cultural attitudes, and transforming behavior through impactful films, marketing, education, and advocacy, Indrani builds transformative influence, scales impact organizations and mobilizes social movements, for a more just, equitable, and regenerative world.

Known by a single name, Indrani is a Tribeca Film Festival Disruptive Innovation awarded multidisciplinary artist, a TEDx speaker, XPRIZE Rainforest Semifinalist, and advocate for ecological regeneration, equality, and neurodiverse gamified education. Recognized by the United Nations as a Women’s Entrepreneurship Distinguished Fellow, Co-Host of the Global People’s Summit, and a Max Mark-Cranbrook Global Peacemaker.

Instrumental in launching Beyonce and Lady Gaga, as founder and CEO of DXStudios impact marketing and productions, Indrani has shaped over 300 global brands, including Pepsi, Nike, and L’Oreal. Her work has won 40 awards including two Cannes Gold Lions, a CNN Expose award, is featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, VICE, at the Lincoln Center, Center Pompidou, and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

She is also Executive Director and co-founder of Shakti Regeneration Institute, providing regenerative empowerment education for at-risk women and children in India, co-founder and CMO of Open Origin indigenous-led green energy, Chief Vision and Chief Marketing Officer of Neuralign, empowering the neurodiverse community with advanced auditory and visual techniques to develop evidence-based neuroscience and neural plasticity video games. She is also a Princeton University anthropologist and Visiting Lecturer.

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Dr. Jan L. Plass is a Professor at New York University and Paulette Goddard Chair in Digital Media and Learning Sciences. He is the founding director of the CREATE Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technology in Education and co-director of the Games for Learning Institute. Dr. Plass’ draws from cognitive science, learning sciences, computer science, and design to envision, design, and study the future of learning with digital technologies, especially for underserved communities. He is the author of over 120 journal articles, chapters, and conference proceedings, has given more than 200 presentations, and is the lead editor of Cognitive Load Theory (Cambridge University Press, 2011) and of the Handbook of Game-based Learning (MIT Press, 2020). Dr. Plass is a frequent national and international keynote speaker and advisor, helping governments and corporations increase the human capacity in an ecology of lifelong learning.

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Jason Parks, a visionary entrepreneur, serves as the CEO and founder of ROTU.com, a gaming and Virtual Art Department (VAD) studio focused on the next generation of interactive storytelling. Parks has spent over a decade creating entertainment experiences for immersive performances, philanthropic music videos, VAD services for film, and award-winning virtual reality games.

Julia A. Scott, PhD leads the Brain and Memory Care Lab at Santa Clara University and is cofounder of Gambit Labs. Her research integrates neurotechnology into virtual reality platforms in order to enhance biofeedback experiences that promote well-being and train cognitive skills. She also leads the medical council of XRSI which develops and advises on privacy and safety standards for extended reality usage in healthcare settings.

"Dr. Julien Weissenberg is an AI Expert and founder of Deep Tech Experts, an advisory gathering world-class experts in AI, Encryption, Quantum Computing and Biotechnology.

With 13+ years of experience in Computer Vision and Machine Learning, Julien works alongside investors to evaluate AI startups and is an expert for Innosuisse, the Swiss Federal Agency for Innovation.

Julien completed a PhD and Postdoc at ETH Zurich, an MSc at Imperial College London and was named a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum."

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"Kenneth Wesley Norwood is a Postgraduate research student within Film at the University of Southampton.
2014-2017 – MA Media Studies, Long Island University Brooklyn Campus
2008-2013 – BA Mass Communications, Xavier University of New Orleans

Kenneth (Rico) Wesley Norwood PhD is an American researcher, who currently resides in Berlin.  They are the Lead Researcher of Creative Technologies for Tales of Us gmbh a multimedia non profit storytelling intuitive. They have also acted as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Potsdam’s Institute for Arts and Media were they developed and delivered the Black and Quare Video Games Studies Seminar in 2022-2023. They have participated and been featured in TechRadar, Wired Magazine, The Metro, PinkNews, Amaze Arthouse Video Game fest, the British Film Institute,  and various other outlets for their work regarding media and video games, race, and Quareness. They also aid in producing and hosting the Twitch program Tales Unlocked: Imagining green futures, marginalised narratives and mythologies in video games.
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LeAnne Wagner is a professor and designer, based in Chicago, IL. She teaches in DePaul University’s School of Design, primarily in the Experience Design and Digital Communication and Media Arts graduate programs. She is also the director of DePaul’s PUSH Studio, an interdisciplinary human centered design studio focused on fostering equitable and ethical futures using emerging technology.

M Charity (they/them) is a PhD student at NYU Tandon in the Game Innovation Lab studying under Dr. Julian Togelius. Their main research focus is in online collaborative creative content generation; they make tools and web interfaces anyone can use to generate creative content (such as sprites or game levels) with the help of an AI assistant. Much of their work involves procedural content generation, quality-diversity search algorithms, and evolutionary algorithms.

Mahrinah Shije is an Indigenous Futurist and Founding General Partner of Endemic Venture Capital, investing in Indigenous-led Climate Tech and the Future of Tribal Gaming. Ms Shije began her career as an Investment Analyst with UBS and has spent two decades in high tech startups with a specialization in Web3 technologies, cybersecurity and digital assets. She holds an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School and a BA/MS in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Ms. Shije is a Partner at Zia Impact, through which she works with clients on impact strategy and tribal infrastructure development and CEO and Board Chair of Pueblo Development Commission, an NGO in United Nations consultative status where she is a member of the Indigenous Peoples’ Major Working Group, the UN Counterterrorism Executive Directorate (UNCTED) and several Blockchain Commissions. Additionally, she served as an appointed member of the US Greenbuilding Council, All Pueblo Council of Governors' Legislative Committee from 2019-2022, a Digital Assets Expert Speaker for the Indian Gaming Association 2021-Present and a Special Advisor to NCAI President Fawn Sharp at the World Economic Forum (2023). She is Tewa and Sefardi Jewish and married into the Pueblo of Zia. Ms. Shije is a 2023 Fellow at Leadership New Mexico, VC Lab in Palo Alto, Climate Vine Global Network and the Nahum Goldmann International Fellowship, Treasurer of Panim Hadashot and a steering committee member with Israel Policy Forum with many previous appointments and fellowships. She lives and works in New Mexico and New York.

Martina is the Founding Managing Partner at Goldenrod Ventures, an early stage fund investing in women-led emerging tech companies. She's also the Co-founder and Managing Partner at the WXR Fund. Before moving into venture capital, Martina founded two tech startups in mobile gaming and virtual reality. She serves on several startup boards and nonprofit advisory groups.

Matt Golino is the founder and CEO of ZenVR. With two degrees from Georgia Tech, a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering and a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction focused on Virtual Reality UX design, Matt has walked a path between many fields branching between technical, design, research, and leadership. ZenVR began as Matt’s master’s thesis project, but he has always been an avid meditator and an advocate for mental health and sharing the meditative practice with as many people as possible.

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Meriko Borogove is a technology & design executive, professor, and photographer who also created the iPhone cameras. meriko is an executive at ScanLAB Projects, a pioneering and award-winning creative practice where our primary medium is 3D scanning, a form of machine vision we believe is the future of photography & cinematography. Our work has exhibited at LACMA, La Biennale, The Louisianna, The New Museum NYC, PHI Centre, SXSW, CPH:DOX, STRP, The Barbican, & the Berliner Ensemble with the KOB.

Michaela Ternasky-Holland is an Emmy and Webby award-winning XR/metaverse storyteller. Named as one of the 100 Original Voices of XR, she creates non-fiction and socially impactful stories by using immersive and interactive technology. She focuses on the impact of the projects to move beyond the project itself. When she isn't creating her own original projects, she consults for socially conscious companies and non-profit organizations on creative strategy and impact production.

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Niki Smit is co-founder and Director at Monobanda, where he explores and expands the boundaries of play and embodied interaction. Additionally, he co-founded ExploreDEEP, where he creates meditative breath controlled VR experiences His work focuses on researching and developing new forms of play. His passion lies in creating projects that connect the human body, physical, and virtual space in surprising ways, creating meaningful play that fills the space between art, science and education.

An award winning director and producer of feature length fiction and non-fiction films.  A veteran executive producer at Blimey and HCXR of international co-productions and a pioneer of the first completely integrated virtual reality studio in Israel. Two Lumiere Awards laureate, XR for Change laureate and with a rich background in fiction and non-fiction productions, and more recently XR productions, Nimrod has stood at the forefront of international XR co-productions since 2015. Known recently for the Canadian Screen Awards nomination for “The Holy City” and for winning the best immersive experience award for “Once Upon a Sea” at VRE festival in Rome, Italy. Currently producing “WinterOver”, “DoX”, “The Cave”, “Labelled Black” and “Niall’s Apprentice”.

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Top 25 Women in the Metaverse, Paige Dansinger is the founder of Better World Museum, Horizon Art Museum, and Women in Horizon. Our programs empower members through world building, summits, and community events. She prioritizes women, diversity, initiatives for good in the metaverse.

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Rachel Joy Victor is an independent designer, strategist and worldbuilder, working with emergent technologies and mediums (XR/AI/web3) to create cohesive narrative, brand, and product experiences. She designs for a range of applications: from multiplatform narratives and immersive experiences, to tools and platforms, to spaces and cities. Rachel draws from her education in computational neuroscience and spatial economics to facilitate the creation of data-informed emergent experience where world affordances and individual agency intersect.Her clients have included Disney, HBO, Vans, Ford, Nike, Havas, Meow Wolf, Niantic, and more. Rachel is passionate about offering a more complete picture of the considerations of design for our new reality, and has led executive education sessions at Activision, Unilever Prestige, WB/Sony/NBCU, Technicolor, UGGs, Crocs, and Red Bull, and been a speaker at Infinity Festival, NAB Show, Future of Film Fest, Atos + SAP DEI Summit, AI on the Lot, The Next Stage Summit, and more.

Under the leadership of Randy Pitchford, Gearbox is an award-winner developer and publisher of interactive entertainment.

The company has become known for developing successful game franchises, including Borderlands, Brothers in Arms, and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.

Randy’s commitment to bringing joy to the lives of others is manifest in more than video games. Randy recently founded Gearbox Gives with the mission to harness the power of entertainment to educate, inspire, and create.

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As President and COO, Rebecca ensures that JED is serving its mission to to preventing suicide and protecting the emotional health of our nation’s youth and young adults. Rebecca has also spearheaded the launch of several multimillion-dollar philanthropic organizations, including the Child Mind Institute, the Seleni Institute, and the New Space for Women’s Health. Rebecca is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and holds an AB in public policy from The University of Chicago.

Samantha G. Wolfe is the Founder and CEO of PitchFWD, an award-winning strategic consultancy focused on creating and expanding new market opportunities for emerging technology products and services. She is known as an innovation adoption accelerator and a bleeding edge tech translator. Sam is sought after for her in-depth knowledge of over 25 industry verticals and her extensive network of the most influential executives within the metaverse, virtual reality, and augmented reality ecosystem. As an Adjunct Professor at NYU's Steinhardt School, she has created four original classes in the past three years: 'The Business of the Metaverse,' 'Avatars and Virtual Humans,' 'Marketing Emerging Technologies,' and 'The Business of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.' In addition, Sam has co-authored 2 books, including Marketing New Realities and Metaversed: See Beyond The Hype (Wiley, 2023).

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Sarah is a multidisciplinary entrepreneur working at the intersection of XR healthcare and the art. She produces XR experiences through her various roles as a founder and producer with Hatsumi, Explore Deep and Lemonade. She is also the co-founder XR Health Alliance who authored The Growing Value of XR in Healthcare Report, and continues to support the strategic adoption of XR in the UK. She has won numerous awards including the Unity for Humanity grant in 2023, and International VR Health Association's Hero Award in 2022. In her spare time is an End of Life Doula in training.

Dr. Sian Proctor is a geoscientist, explorer, artist, and astronaut. She was the mission pilot for Inspiration4: the first all civilian mission to orbit the Earth for 3 days. She is an Afrofuturism artist. She uses a collage art style to combine real-world concepts with future-driven themes and technology. She is the artist and explorer in residence at Arizona State University (ASU) and an XRts Fellow at the ASU Mix Center.

Tainá Moreno is a creative producer dedicated to participatory artistic practices that promote positive social change. She is currently leading the strategies for co-creation and research for WoU (World of Us), an upcoming immersive game experience focused on ecological education for kids through mythologies of regions in Brazil, Congo, India and Romania - which is set to launch in the second half of 2024. WoU is the main endeavour of TALES, a multi-media and non-profit publishing initiative.

Tony Parisi is a Metaverse and virtual reality pioneer, entrepreneur and investor. He has co-created several international 3D graphics standards, including VRML, X3D, and glTF. Tony is the author of O’Reilly Media’s foundational books on 3D graphics and Virtual Reality. Tony is currently Chief Product Officer at Lamina1, a layer 1 blockchain for the Metaverse. He is also an advisor and limited partner in early stage venture firms focused on the creator economy. Previously, Tony was Head of XR Ads and E-Commerce at Unity, where he oversaw strategy and product for the company’s real-time 3D brand advertising and commerce solutions. Tony is also a musician and composer and is currently finishing the cast recording for Judgment Day, a full- length original musical.

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Director, Creative Partnerships for the ONX Studio, an NYC hybrid production and exhibition space for immersive and XR artists. From 2019-2021, Artistic Executive Director of the Onassis Foundation USA, an innovative programming foundation based in Athens with satellites in New York and Los Angeles. Artistic Director of Performance Space 122 (now Performance Space New York) from 2005-2017 and a consulting curator for BAM (Brooklyn) and Theater de Welt (Dusseldorf), and the Dublin Fringe Festival (2002-2004).  For 20 years, working across live performance in all disciplines, cinema, design and hospitality Gantner has sought innovative artists, work, and ideas building new experience and forms of communication for audiences.

Yavuz Samur – Bio EN
Dr. Samur, graduated from Instructional Design and Technology, Department of Learning Sciences and Technologies at Virginia Tech with the Fulbright Scholarship, works as an Associate Professor at Bahçeşehir University, Faculty of Educational Sciences in the department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT) (@bauceit), and also leaded the CEIT department. He was the coordinator of Educational Technology (TR/EN, Thesis/Project) master’s and doctoral programme (@bauegitek). He is also the president of YEGAM (@yegam_egitim). Dr. Samur is also rewarded as the “Academician of the Year of 2022” (@hempacocuk).
His research interests are on using educational games for learning and instruction (@oyuntasarimi), gamification in education, educational game design, digital game design, multimedia design, technology/social media/game addiction and (digital) game based learning (@EgitimveOyun). He is also the founder of GameFriendlySchool, GameFriendlyTeacher, GameFriendlyParent, GameFriendlyMunicipal projects (@OyunDostuOkul).
His books, of which he has more than 20 authors in the mentioned fields, have been published more than 100 thousand, and more than 15 indexed publications in international refereed journals have received more than 500 citations. Dr. Samur has supervised more than 70 master and doctoral dissertations in the field of Educational Technologies.
He also designs physical, board and digital educational games for students and he is the co- owber of a company producing digital educational games titled as Ugur Games (www.ugurgames.com) and also serves as an advisor to many other educational game companies (@buckedgames ve @mentalup). Dr. Samur also leads in government and company funded educational game projects, educational digital content and software/game design and development projects. He has been giving consultancy to many government and private companies and institutions.

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