"Interactive Technology" Lecture

Today I gave what has become an annual lecture at Scarborough Campus of the University of Hull. It is part of the Interactive Technology course and involves looking at some of the real-world applications of this technology that I have been involved with.

'Me, Myself and MRI' kicks off!

The 'Me, Myself and MRI' project kicked off today with the introductory lecture at Archbishops Holgate School in York. Myself, Kirsty and Damian from Geodesic Arts presented a pack hour long session covering everything from basic magnetics to Da Vinci, the Nobel Prize to artistic installations.

The main project kicks off next year. You can find out more details on the Geodesic Arts website at: http://www.geodesicarts.org.uk/

Work with NYBEP

Apollo tries to work closely with education providers and trainers to help young people who might want to work in the Creative Industries. This includes providing work placements, year in industry opportunities and supporting other learning initiatives.

Today I was working with Jacki Dealtry from NYBEP, who is working with interactive sound and light equipment. She uses this as part of NYBEP's work to engage young people with science and technology as part of the STEM programme.

Sensory Room at York University

Today I was working in the Multi-Sensory Room at the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York. This is a room used for training and research, forming part of the 'mock ward' in the building.

Apollo is working with the Department to upgrade the room and provide training to staff on the use of this flexible resource.

Gordon Parry Update

I visited the Gordon Parry Centre today to provide a software update to the Apollo Controller installed in the room. It also gave me the opportunity to provide some basic training to the staff at the Centre.

The gradual development of this space has allowed the staff to get use to each element, before adding another to the space.

New Apollo Creative blog

Creative Director Mark Hildred today launched a new blog to keep everyone up-to-date with work on Apollo Creative's exciting range of projects.

A blog is rather like an online diary, written more informally than a standard webpage. It features photos, videos, music and text. The Apollo blog will mainly track work on projects and consultancy work undertaken by the company.

"This blog provides us with a way of sharing some of the exciting work we are undertaking with a wide range of clients", said Mark Hildred."The structure of the blog means that visitors can keep up to date with work as it progresses, rather than awaiting completion. It also helps to hilight the wide range of services we can offer outside of our core product line."

You can visit the blog at: http://apollocreative.blogspot.com

Fountaineers Workshop

Last Monday and Tuesday (15th & 16th October) I spent all day at Luckwell Primary School in Bristol as part of the Futurelab Fountaineers Project.

I was invited by Futurelab to follow up sessions I carried out earlier in the year, where I worked with the children on their design for an interactive fountain. As the projects 'fountain expert' I've been answering questions and help the children shape the ideas for what the fountain might look like, where it will be sighted and what it will do.

The fountain is now under construction by a local firm in Bristol and is due to go into the school during December. Since my last visit in the Summer term, the fountain has changed design and position. There has also been a long break for the Summer holidays and the beginning of the new school year.

This visit formed part of the schools 'Talk' week, with the emphasis being on reminding the children about the fountain and getting them engaged with the project. Other experts from Futurelab came into the school to cover maintenance and programming of the fountain witgh the older years. My work was with years 2,3,4 and 5, running a basic refresher course and getting some actual water jets running again.

I used a beta test version of the new Apollo Controller software, to link a number of pressure pads and sensors to a couple of water jets (via a DMX dimmer pack). By programming various scenarios into the Apollo, I was able to demonstrate the various behaviours the fountain might have. Specifically ACT, REACT and INTERACT.

The workshops went well and we all seemed to have a good time. My thanks go to Rose who helped me with all the sessions.

News: Creative interactive light and sound company launches website

Knaresborough based Apollo Creative has just announced the launch of their new website: www.apollocreative.co.uk.

The company, based on the Knaresborough Technology Park, is a dedicated division of GSPK Design Ltd and has been specifically set up to specialise in the innovative design, development and manufacture of interactive light and sound products.

Although newly incorporated, Apollo Creative is benefiting from the skills and expertise brought by Mark Hildred, Creative Director, who boasts a number of years experience working within the sensory and special needs marketplaces.

The interactive light and sound products are predominantly sold for inclusion in multi-sensory rooms for use by children and adults with special needs; but increasingly Apollo is finding new and exciting outlets as diverse as artistic and interactive education projects, contemporary interior design features and exhibition stands; for example.

Mark also brings with him a wealth of experience in interactive audio; applied across a wide range of projects from touring exhibitions to museum installations.

Benefiting from such experience, and supported by the electronic design capabilities of GSPK Design Ltd, Apollo Creative is developing a leading reputation for providing revolutionary new products into the market place.

Apollo also provide consultancy for project work from initial concept, through to project management, technical support and training; enabling customers to access the company’s unique skill base. Current projects include interactive fountains, light and sound rooms, sensory environments, digital play areas and museum interactives.

Mark Hildred, Creative Director for Apollo Creative said – “The new website has been specifically designed to reflect the creative nature of the company.”

For further information, please contact Mark Hildred on 01423 865641 or e-mail sales@apollocreative.co.uk.

Gordon Parry Centre Update

The latest version of the Apollo Controller went into the Gordon Parry Centre in Leeds today as part of the development of their Studio space. It is linked to socket panels around the room allowing users to plug in switches and sensors to control the lights and sounds.

Me, Myself & MRI

Geodesic Arts, a group of York based digital artists and associated professionals, has received funding from the Wellcome Trust for a project called 'Me, Myself & MRI'. The group, which includes myself as a Technical Producer, will be working on an exciting sci-arts project from December 2007.

The final touring production will include Apollo technology to help create an interactive exhibit that will tour various venues in the North East.

More information can be found on the Geodesic Blog.

University of York Sensory Room

Together with our colleagues at Camel Event Production, we today upgraded the multisensory room in the Health Sciences department at the University of York. The changes make it easier for the users to control the various lighting effects.

This work is part of Apollo's direct engagement with end-users and collaboration with research projects.

KidsOut visit to assess Sensory Space

KidsOut visited today to have a look at the Portable Sensory Space that we are putting together for them. This is a prototype which they are hoping to put into a school before the end of the year.

Due to the size we built it at the lighting company premises, which also meant we could try out different lighting effects. The structure turned out to be a lot larger than it looked on paper and it was immediately decided to only build half the structure as the final unit. The basic premise worked well, but we now need to develop some of the ideas further for a second assessment visit in July.

The unit will incorporate a number of key effects including colour change lighting, a gobo projector, a bubble tube, a mirror ball and soft play elements.

Building a fountain

Today was spent in sunny Bristol building and playing with a mock-up of the fountain at Luckwell School.

Together with Graham and Tash from Futurelab, we built a full-scale mock-up of the fountain using anything we could find. This generally consisted of tables, chairs, coloured paper and plastic tubing.

I worked with each year group to then make decisions about the fountain and ensure that it was still going to be enthusiastically received by the school.

You can track the overall progress of the fountain on the Fountaineers Blog.

News: GSPK Design launch Apollo

GSPK Design Ltd has today announced the launch of a new division; Apollo Creative, which has been set up to specialise in the innovative design, development and manufacture of interactive light and sound products.

Apollo Creative, named after the Greek and Roman God of Light, Sound and Healing, is aimed at the sensory and architectural markets; interior design, exhibitions, artistic projects and museums. This new division is benefiting from the skills and expertise of Mark Hildred who has recently been appointed to head up this initiative.

Creative Director Mark Hildred looking into an Apollo Bubble Tube

Mark has worked extensively within the special needs sector for over ten years including four years investigating the latest technologies at the University of York. He also brings with him a wealth of experience in interactive audio applied across a wide range of projects from touring exhibitions to museum installations.

Apollo Creative, based in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, has been working to develop upon its existing range of bubble tubes, bubble walls and LED fibre optic light sources. These are predominantly sold for inclusion in multisensory rooms for use by children and adults with special needs, but increasingly Apollo is finding outlets as diverse as hair salons and exhibition stands.

Benefiting from such experience, and supported by the electronic design capabilities offered by GSPK Design Ltd, Apollo Creative is developing a leading reputation for providing revolutionary new products into the market place. Apollo also provide consultancy for project work from initial ideas, through project management to technical support and training. This service enables their customers to access the company’s unique skill base. Current projects include interactive fountains, light and sound rooms, sensory environments, digital play areas and museum interactives.

Mark Hildred, Creative Director for Apollo Creative said – “The next twelve months promise to be very exciting as we build upon the solid foundation already provided by our UK and International distributors. We are engaged in a range of exciting development projects that will help establish Apollo as the leading company within this sector.”

For further information, please contact Mark Hildred on 01423 865641 or e-mail sales@apollocreative.co.uk

Getting wet

Today I was back at Luckwell Primary School to work with the children with some interactive water jets. I built a basic fountain using a paddling pool, some Oase Nautilus pumps, a DMX dimmer pack and a prototype of the Apollo Controller. This meant that we could have a number of different sensors controlling the height of the water jets.

The children played with the different sensors to help establish a final list of what sensors we might want on the fountain. Another major area of discussion was whether to have a mobile or fixed fountain. The amount of water falling on the floor convinced most that a fixed fountain outside might be better, although their were some imaginative solutions for keeping the water contained.

After working with each year group, they returned to their rooms to vote on the best sensors and whether to have the fixed or mobile fountain. At the end of the day we had an assembly so that each year group could see the voting. Lots of cheering and booing went on!

New role as Fountain Expert

Today I visited Bristol to join the Fountaineers Project as their 'Fountain' expert. Fountaineers is a Futurelab Project to design and build an interactive fountain - a collaboration with the children and staff at the school. Over the next nine months the school will be designing their own fountain to be built somewhere on site. My job is to help guide them!


Today was an introductory session where I went over some of the interactive fountains I have build before. We looked at the progression from initial ideas through technical drawings to the final fountain. I think this was the first time the children had seen that interactive foutains can actually be built.

To get over the idea of control I used some sensors and a prototype of the Apollo Controller. The sensors were linked to simple sounds, MIDI scales and lights. This enabled me to demonstrate simple cause and effect.

I've got to admit that the original plan was to work with small groups, but I ended up doing an assembly for the whole school. Great fun!

The idea is for me to act as a consultant for the project, visiting throughout the year and carrying out a number of workshops.

New Project - Portable Sensory Space

Today saw Apollo kicking off a new project to develop a portable sensory room for an organisation called KidsOut. KidsOut exists to "transform the lives of disadvantaged children and young people by providing fun opportunities and positive experiences that work to significantly enhance their wellbeing and outlook for a happier future."

I'll be designing a portable sensory space that can be built as a temporary structure in a school or village hall and left for a few months. It will incorporate Apollo bubble tubes and sensory equipment, as well as lighting and sound equipment.

Creative Projects

This is the blog for Apollo Creative. Here I'll be updating readers with the latest projects that we are undertaking.