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In 1997, Spiegel and Hoinkes set up Immersion Studios, predecessor to the recently renamed I-mmersion. Today, the company employs more than 35 people, is headquartered in a unique historic building on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, and has a European office in London. I-mmersion works internationally with governments, museums and private companies designing and implementing unique group-based interactive experiences.

"We have a company that is as innovative creatively as it is technically," says Spiegel "and our mission is to establish new communication environments for people to work, learn and play together. I see these as parallel worlds to ours that connect people to each other and to real world issues while being immersed in rich media content."

Spiegel is also a sought-after expert and spokesman in the areas of social computing, interactive entertainment and education, speaking frequently at conferences such as ECSITE, E3, University of Southern California Games Summit, and many others.

He was recently a creative principal on the design of the Canada Pavilion at Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan, which includes a ground-breaking interactive experience called Virtual Canada. Arguably the world's first virtual country designed by a real government, Virtual Canada uses a 3D massively multiplayer game world to bring Canadians and others together in an open dialogue, in three languages, on the theme of cultural diversity. Currently Spiegel is continuing to develop on-line communities based on the success of Virtual Canada.

As president and creative lead for I-mmersion, Spiegel is responsible for the overall creative experience of all the company's interactive products and productions. He brings his passion for building social connections through technology to I-mmersion projects.

At the end of the day, Spiegel still remains a visual artist. His works, both media-based and sculptural, are housed in the permanent collections of many museums including the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario. His public art commissions can be seen in Toronto at One Financial Place, Living Arts Center, Eaton Centre and the Yonge-Sheppard subway station.

Stacey Spiegel divides his time between virtual worlds in Toronto and the tangible wilds of Georgian Bay, Ontario, where he keeps an historic but wired farmhouse and his favourite escape vehicle: a sailboat.

Please refer to the homepage of I-mmersion for additional information.

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