Abstract.Within education, concepts such as distance learning, and open universities, are now becoming more widely used for teaching and learning. However, due to the nature of the subject domain, the teaching of Science, Technology, and Engineering are still relatively behind when using new technological approaches (particularly for online distance learning). The reason for this discrepancy lies in the fact that these fields often require laboratory exercises to provide effective skill acquisition and hands-on experience. Often it is difficult to make these laboratories accessible for online access. Either the real lab needs to be enabled for remote access or it needs to be replicated as a fully software-based virtual lab. We argue for the latter concept since it offers some advantages over remotely controlled real labs, which will be elaborated further in this paper.We are now seeing new emerging technologies that can overcome some of the potential difficulties in this area. These include: computer graphics, augmented reality, computational dynamics, and virtual worlds. This paper summarizes the state of the art in virtual laboratories and virtual worlds in the fields of science, technology, and engineering. The main research activity in these fields is discussed but special emphasis is put on the field of robotics due to the maturity of this area within the virtual-education community. This is not a coincidence; starting from its widely multidisciplinary character, robotics is a perfect example where all the other fields of engineering and physics can contribute. Thus, the use of virtual labs for other scientific and non-robotic engineering uses can be seen to share many of the same learning processes. This can include supporting the introduction of new concepts as part of learning about science and technology, and introducing more general engineering knowledge, through to supporting more constructive (and collaborative) education and training activities in a more complex engineering topic such as robotics. The objective of this paper is to outline this problem space in more detail and to create a valuable source of information that can help to define the starting position for future research.Key words: virtual laboratory, dynamics based virtual reality, virtual world, distance learning for engineering/STEM education, immersive education IntroductionRecently we have seen a number of new ideas appearing in the literature concerned with the future of education and in particular for the teaching of Science, Technology, and Engineering (STE 1 ). Some of these notions are novel while others are a re-imagining of existing ideas but in a new context. Technological examples most relevant for this study are: distance learning, elearning, virtual laboratories, virtual reality and virtual worlds, avatars, dynamics-based virtual systems, and the overall new concept of immersive education that integrates many of these ideas together. Many highly reputable institutions 2 have gathered around this challenging concept, withi...

We explain basic features of an emerging area called Intelligent Environments. We give a short overview on how it has developed, what is the current state of the art and what are the challenges laying ahead. The aim of the article is to make aware the Computer Science community of this new development, the differences with previous dominant paradigms and the opportunities that this area offers to the scientific community and society. Basic conceptsHere we explain how the area of Intelligent Environments (IE) has developed, what its core values are and how it differs from other areas. By "Environment" we refer here to any space in our surroundings. Although some people may also consider virtual environments here we mostly refer to Physical spaces, in all its diversity, e.g., house, building, street, a field, an area in the sea or space, etc. Our use of the word "Intelligent" applied to Environments mostly refers to Artificial Intelligence, as defined in [1]. An Intelligent Environment is one in which the actions of numerous networked controllers (controlling different aspects of an environment) is orchestrated by self-programming pre-emptive processes (e.g., intelligent software agents) in such a way as to create an interactive holistic functionality that enhances occupants experiences. Historical development of the areaFor centuries humans have witnessed scientific and technological leaps that changed the lives of their generation, and those to come, forever. We are no exception. In fact many of those advances are occurring now, in a more or less unperceivable way. Slowly and silently technology is becoming interwoven in our lives in the form of a variety of devices which are starting to be used by people of all ages and as part of their daily routine. As predicted by M. Weiser [2], this technology is gradually disappearing from our cognitive front, as we increasingly take for granted its existence. But this fact alone could not justify a paradigm shift, as we claim in this manifesto.The emergence of a new paradigm requires the convergence of various domains of human activity, many of which are not technological. It is true that numerous technological advances have taken place during the past two decades worldwide, mainly due to persistent efforts by researchers and systematic funding by governments and markets. Among these advances one could site:

A mbient intelligence is an exciting new information technology paradigm in which people are empowered through a digital environment that is aware of their presence and context and is sensitive, adaptive, and responsive to their needs. 1 Ambient-intelligence environments are characterized by their ubiquity, transparency, and intelligence. In these environments, a multitude of interconnected, invisible embedded systems, seamlessly integrated into the background, surround the user. The system recognizes the people that live in it and programs itself to meet their needs by learning from their behavior. 1 To realize the ambient-intelligence vision, people must be able to seamlessly and unobtrusively use and configure the computer-based artifacts and systems in their ubiquitous-computing environments without being cognitively overloaded. 1 The user shouldn't have to program each device or connect them together to achieve the required functionality. The complexity associated with the number, varieties, and uses of computer-based artifacts requires that we design a system that lets intelligence disappear into the infrastructure of active spaces (such as buildings, shopping malls, theaters, and homes), 2 automatically learning to carry out everyday tasks based on the users' habitual behavior.Our work focuses on developing learning and adaptation techniques for embedded agents. We seek to provide online, lifelong, personalized learning of anticipatory adaptive control to realize the ambientintelligence vision in ubiquitous-computing environments. We developed the Essex intelligent dormitory, or iDorm, as a test bed for this work and an exemplar of this approach.

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