The new OU Access Bus, made possible by a donation of £43000 from the Halifax and designed to take enabling technologies into communities for on-site assessment of disabled students’ IT needs, arrived on-site on Tuesday. At present the assistive technology needs of students either being supported through the Access Technology Loan Scheme (ATLS) and now…
Today sees the launch of the new Centre for Intelligent Systems and their Applications (CISA) at the University of Edinburgh assisted by some of our technology. Working with Austin Tate of CISA Trevor Collins and John Domingue have set up an initial CISA Newsletter using KMi’s Planet Technology. The newsletter is initially being hosted at…
Meeting at KMi, a group of innovators piloted Open Book as the new communications medium to facilitate the Central Innovation Network – a virtual community linking Cambridge and Oxford regions. The need for an active centre for the economic powerhouse of our region, is currently exercising the Open University, Cranfield, Rowsell Research and Oxford Innovation….
The KMi has provided a real-time link for the past week between a stand at the Earls Court Tomorrows World show and a wind tunnel experiment, set up as part of Peter Whalley’s WEBLAB project at the Open University. The developers of the revolutionary FanWing aeroplane first contacted the KMi for help from designer Jon…
The OU’s first ever Virtual Degree Ceremony, featuring an Honourary Degree Award to ‘Father of the Web’ Tim Berners-Lee, is available for replay from the KMi Stadium website. But don’t expect to see a conventional ‘webcast’. On the contrary, the Virtual Degree Ceremony, as conceived by KMi’s Dr. Peter Scott, incorporates an engaging wholistic environment…
Forget about reading news on your WAP phone. Roving KMi reporters can now phone their stories directly to Planet, thanks to a custom gateway built by John Domingue and Peter Scott. This means that breaking news can be dictated straight down the phone line, whereupon it is formatted for KMi Planet and made available instantly…
Digital Recording of Educational Audio Media (DREAM) achieved its first target last week with the completion of master tapes for two set books. The team is lead by Mary Taylor from the Multimedia Enabling Technologies group (METg). Chris Valentine, also from METg, was responsible for turning the concept into the first working prototype, with contributions…
In response to the needs of students unable to use printed study materials such as course units (nearly 1000 OU undergraduates), the Multimedia Enabling Technologies Group has been developing new methods of producing and accessing alternatives to print. In 1999, CD-ROM versions of the first courses to be transformed into alternative media were handed over…
The Digital Document Discourse Environment (D3E) is now being used across the US to support meteorological data analysis. D3E provides an important link between Unidata UCAR where developers are building 3D scientific visualization and analysis tools, and the university researchers who use them. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) is a consortium of universities…
Lyceum, the OU’s voice-conferencing groupware system not only helps students and tutors communicate, but OU staff. It’s 6.45am, Palo Alto, California, and I’ve just had an unplanned chat with Dave Gosnell on the Lyceum team in ACS. What do I do? Just talk to my laptop mic, listen to Dave, with the additional option of…
