Ecute   (Education in Cultural Understanding Technology-Enhanced) was an European funded (FP7- 257666) research project exploring innovative technologically-enhanced learning approaches in cultural understanding that will help to deal with intercultural
problems. This project will develop and apply virtual world simulations with intelligent interactive graphical characters embodying models of culturally-specific behaviour and interaction in scenarios developed via a user-centered design process. The consortium was composed by eight partners, including two Japanese Universities, and the coordinator is Prof. Ruth Aylett, from the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.