Jacques Ekmekji (JE) is a graduate of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Civil Engineering class of 1971. Spent over 32 years with Khatib & Alami consulting Firm of Lebanon as partner in charge of several divisions and sister companies including the Geographic Information System (GIS) services division, which he headed from 1989 to December 31, 2003.
Since 2004, Ekmekji is a special advisor to multi-national companies, the founder of seeCOSM Holding (SAL) and deviser-realizer-publisher-operator of PROFESsee social portal.
Intrigued by the above, BUSINESS LIFE invited Engineer Jacques Ekmekji for an exclusive interview, which illustrates the importance of his unique project and his breathtaking product PROFESsee Social portal and PROFESsee Academy.
BL: When asked about the two truly attractive and intriguing names seeCOSM and PROFESsee, listen to his response:
JE: You are asking me why seeCOSM? Well, for some time, I have been puzzled by the Electronic, the “e” in modern web terminology. While phonetically it sounds right yet it seems to lack a sense of purpose, function, and direction. Undoubtedly, it has lately gained great impetus and linked itself to all those “eThings”: businesses, governments, economy, commerce, education and almost every other sector of development and human endeavor. But the “e” remains devoid of human flair, a much-needed component, in this age of uncertainties and rapid changes driven by automation, information and communication technologies.
One would rather “seeThings” than “eThings”, and all it takes is to Spatially Enable the e. What a better place to start than the body, the earth and the universe. Points in case:
Medical doctors can see inside the brain prior operating and see beyond an epidemic to divulge trends and patterns; Drivers can see beyond the windshields of their cars; City Planners can see their cities digitally long before they are physically developed; and astronomers can see deep into the skies and the universe. And the stand alone e- is driven by see- weaving visualization in cyberspace.
BL: What about PROFESsee then?
JE: When seeCOSM was established, I asked myself so where the start should be? Hence, the first product of seeCOSM was conceived, PROFESsee, which is a cross-media Social Portal with an Academy at it’s core. The academy allows the public at large to (a) participate in the development of their own episodes to enrich the online game-driven library of books summaries and (b) to support the PROFESsee offerings namely the: Online game; TV Game show; Reality show; 3D avatar based game; and Facebook Version of individual challenges.
PROFESsee™ game is a new genre. It is a Cyber-Rally game, which, by means of web and spatial technologies and creative compositions, embarks the player on an awesome journey of edutainment and eduventure in the three COSMs: Micro (body), meso (earth) and macro (universe)
BL: So what triggered PROFESsee then?
JE: PROFESsee was a flash back into the past, when the host shouted “You win, you win, you win” over three consecutive weeks. The year is 1964 and the place is the local Lebanese TV station in Beirut. Three classmates, from the Armenian Evangelical College (AEC), had just won the interschool Britannica contests of the season, thus earning their school, and each a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Decades later, the world had changed. We are now in the age of the semantic web, 3D intelligent Visualization, simulation, Artificial Intelligence, advanced spatial information, imagery, communication technologies undergoing a paradigm shift into the knowledge and wisdom based society while just starting to dress for the web.
Coming back to PROFESsee, it is conceived for the new age and is modeled around the “Great Chain of Being” namely the body (micro COSM), earth (meso COSM) and universe (macro COSM). Armed with the spirit of the young generation of the web age and inspired by their zeal for entrepreneurship and creativity, I set out to gather a community, of all ages, genders and races, from across the world, that is passionate and curious in participating in cyber quests to seek the history and the existing knowledge of the COSMOS.
Thus, PROFESsee™ the portal is devised by seeCOSM™ the Company. Here, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the technical team leader/partner Mr. Hrag Ghougassian.
For this purpose, a new word is coined. Mind you, PROFESsee is not an English word. PROFESsee is derived from Professor. If licensor breeds licensee then there is no reason why professor cannot breed PROFESsee.
My PROFESsee is the perpetual learner in pursuit of knowledge, wisdom and truth. So far ten (10) episodes are up and running on the portal. These are manually produced and uploaded over the last 10 years, (see www.PROFESsee.com http://PROFESsee.com/About/Main-Offerings.aspx ).
However, to reach this stage, we faced many hurdles. Several migrations were necessary to get aligned with the latest technological advancement. To mention a few: 100+ challenges underwent migration from CS3 to CS5 to HTML5; Earth browser, replaced with Google map, Google earth API and back to Google map; Pads, mobiles, and PCs necessitated several upgrades and portal revamps.
Episode production starts with the production of three paper formats, which depict the sequence of a full episode. The first one is the body, which starts with developing a storyline, then four related challenges are devised (assemble, search, zoom and identify). Next clues for each challenge are produced using search engines. Using search engines is not cheating in this case. Players are encouraged to use them. Earth follows the same sequence but includes eight challenges (assemble, search, zoom, identify, trace, play, buffer and locate). Likewise, the universe but has four challenges (assemble, search, zoom and identify). The final score of an episode is the sum total of the time left for solving each challenge plus the bonus associated with it.
In developing the game, we have used several game plays. Users authoring their own episodes may opt for other types of gameplay in developing the challenges.
Fifty years later, through interactive audiovisuals, a cyberspace community - The PROFESsee™ Academy - is brought together, in which each participant can author, compose, play, innovate, develop episodes and compete to become the PROFESsee™ of an episode or the Grand PROFESsee™ of three consecutive wins of different episodes. This undertaking is a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort suitable for schools and universities.
The aim of the Academy is to build an online game-driven library of books’ summaries in a twofold automation process: (i) Authoring (gamification) and (ii) Playing (game-based learning).
BL: What is an episode?
JE: It is a summary of a book in three different rounds. We pick a book, read it carefully, and then we separate the elements of body, earth and universe. After that, we develop challenges related to body, earth and universe in a sequential manner. The journey starts from the body moves to earth then transcend to the universe, and by the time the journey is over, the player is familiarized with the book.
I have received numerous encouraging comments which I have documented in my book. However, the most recent comment from a senior executive officer of media and entertainment agency was “I just love the PROFESsee academy idea… It is amazing, and this is the future”.
BL: How did you develop this hobby?
JE: In parallel to my advising business and my flash back to my school times in the early sixties, I embarked on a research work of TV game shows and online game. I found out that PROFESsee is unique and can be a trend breaker. What encouraged me to continue is what I have been told at Sony and others : “Jeopardy! for us is an upscale TV game show, it was first aired in mid sixties for one season, it hibernated for several years, was aired again in 1982 and hasn’t stopped since. Today, it is amongst the most successful TV game shows. Therefore, you should be encouraged, the time will come. But you have to stay on top of the technology and you have to continue with sweat and patience capital in mind”. Consequently, I continued to catch up with the new technologies and worked hard on different episodes to generate content. It has been done at the expense of my own time and finances and that of my family. Here, I would like to give a big hug to my wonderful wife Arda and my daughter Karma for their efforts, patience and continuous moral and professional support. PROFESsee for me is not a hit and run venture or game, it’s a dream come true, it’s music to my ear and a labor of love. It is meant to be a classic that lasts for generations as it’s woven into the educational and media systems. It is a process that involves holistic thinking. We can always find the right elements to jump from body to earth, to universe. it’s not easy to play or to make.
BL: Did you create a product that is related to civil engineering?
JE: No, because it requires a different mindset and skills. Today, engineers are adopting gaming in development of all types of engineering models.
BL: What are your dreams and challenges?
JE: The challenge that I have now is to find a champion who can see the real value of PROFESsee and fly with it, because I know that there is a latent market ready for tapping. I also want to popularize, monetize and make a success story out of it. I’ve done what I can with my own resources. Many people are working with me closely and remotely. We still have to tag to the regional universities and schools because PROFESsee needs a larger audience. We are looking to partnering with accelerators who can provide the correct education, mentorship and finances to take PROFESsee to market faster.
BL: How many episodes have you developed?
JE: So far, ten episodes are up and running on the portal. Now we are in the process of automating the whole process. So far, it is produced manually. Each episode is taking 7-8 months while with automation the process can save time and cost. We are looking forward to hitting a larger audience and why not going viral.
BL: What are your present needs since your project is ready?
JE: A partner who values the work done to-date and is willing to invest in it to take it to higher levels.
BL: When did you contact Sony and what was the outcome from meeting Sony officials?
JE: This was back in 2005. A friend of mine, Nigol Bezjian, a producer and filmographer at future TV, knew of PROFESsee and volunteered to introduce me to SONY Pictures International (SPI)? So, he made me an appointment with Chris Pie in London, one of SPI worldwide producers. We went for one day, explained the idea, showed him the paper format, did few challenges. The first thing he said: "This is a great title and idea." He next asked Nigol to prepare a ten-minutes trailer.
Six months later, with the help of Nigol Bezjian and Samer Dadanian, game director, the trailer was ready. On June 13, 2005 together with my daughter Karma and my friend Basim Sayigh the trailer was presented to Paul Gilbert SVP at SPTI. The trailer is circulated to SPTI’s worldwide producers for comment. “They like it, but have concerns about the ability to sell it on the air in today’s market”.
In 2009, PROFESsee received two recognitions for the VR version of PROFESsee. The first was from Dassault Systèmes (DS) and the second from Laval Virtual.
BL: When is the right timing of your products?
JE: Honestly, I do not know. It depends on the audience, the players and many other variables. But one thing I know, when the opportunity comes we will be ready. It could very well be after this interview!!. In this respect PROFESsee Academy is our best entry point for a breakthrough.
This is why recently we have been more inclined to promote the academy to schools and universities and get their feedbacks.
Back in 2009, we had 25 students from Haigazian University playing the game while we monitored them. We told them that we are going to screen record their moves. They also filled a 25 questions survey form and were compensated for their efforts.
We benefited a lot from that group playing in terms of colors; speed, movement of the curser and of course in terms of what they thought about the complexity of the challenges.
The AUB three episodes series that developed on the occasion of AUB’s 150th anniversary was a great undertaking. It proved timing is very important but it will surely come.
BL: What about " PROFESsee Academy"?
JE: " PROFESsee Academy" is at the core of the portal. It is the physical and virtual academy because it has to have a physical location on the one side and the virtual on the other side. It is important because this is the educational arm of PROFESsee portal. It lets thinking holistically through the great chain of being. This might sound philosophical and transcendental, but it can particularly appeal to a great number of students and young adults in the 8-25 age group and very likely beyond in pursuit of knowledge, wisdom and truth.
