Dr. Maria Roussou is an Associate Professor (tenured) in Interactive Systems (i.e. Human-Computer Interaction, Virtual Reality, Computer Games) at the Department of Informatics & Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
She has been involved for the past ~20 years in projects that combine interactive technologies with education and culture. She founded in 2003 and co-directed makebelieve, an experience design and consulting company. Previously, she established (in 1998) and directed (1998-2003) the Virtual Reality Department at the Foundation of the Hellenic World (FHW), a cultural heritage institution based in Athens, Greece. At FHW, she was responsible for recruiting a team of artists and programmers, setting up the VR exhibits & infrastructure, and managing the research, design, and development of the VR programs and related visitor experiences. For most of the nineties (1993-1997), during her extensive work with the CAVE® at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory in Chicago, she focused on designing, applying, and evaluating virtual and digital media environments for education and representing cultural information. She has also collaborated with many museums, including contemporary art museums such as the Walker Art Center, to design and create interactive art education material for the Internet.
Maria's projects and collaborations have been featured internationally at events such as ACM SIGGRAPH (1993-2002) and the Ars Electronica festival (in the 90s, with her artwork as part of the permanent collection of the AEC).