Another day, another lecture!

Today was my annual visit to the Creative Music Technology course in Scarborough, to give my overview of practical applications of Creative Technology. Most of the group braved the snow and cold to get in for the 9.15 lecture slot.

Luckily for me the trains from York were running pretty well despite the cold.

Lecture at University of Huddersfield

In full flow in the lecture theatre

Today I was at the University of Huddersfield delivering a lecture to students on 'Interactive Technology in Action' (part of the Undergraduate Music Technology course). This involved looking at how interactive technology has been used to create a range of installations covering everything from sensory rooms to exhibition stands.

This is the second time I've visited to present the lecture.

News: Apollo win at York Press Business Awards

Apollo Creative tonight received the award for Best Higher Education and Business Link at the York Press Business Awards.

Fighting off competition from companies including last years winner and heavy weight opponent Northern Rail, Apollo triumphed at a glittering awards ceremony.

The award recognises Apollo's comittment to working with a range of educational establishments from Primary Schools through to Further Education. Recent work has included a series of lectures and mentoring at Scarborough Campus University of Hull for the Creative Music Technology course, and guest lecture slots at Hull, Huddersfield and York.

You can read about the work that lead to Apollo Creative being named the winner of the Best Higher Educationa and Business category here on the company blog;

Charms of the Sea

The Charms of the Sea project that we ran at Scarborough Campus University of Hull was featured in the Scarborough Evening News.

If you want to catch the exhibition at the Rotunda then make sure you get down before Sunday!

Apollo win York Press Business Award

Mark (right) collecting the award from York University
Pro-Vice-Chancellor Colin Mellors (c) The Press, York

All the hard work of the last four years paid off tonight when Apollo Creative scooped the Best Business and Higher Education category at the York Press Business Awards. Beating off stiff competition from Northern Rail (last years winners) and Natures Laboratory, Apollo was commended by the judges for its strategy of engagement across Higher Education.

Thanks to everyone at Apollo and to all our colleagues that we've worked with across education over the past few years. As you can see by the post below we already have some more collaborations planned for the coming year.

Ensemble at 'Inclusion not Exclusion'

The Apollo Ensemble took centre stage at the 'Inclusion not Exclusion' event run by East Riding Voluntary Action Services. It was part of the display and presentation for the Inclusive Youth Theatre Project.

The club is free to join and teachs skills in dance, music, singing, drama and performance. There are also opportunities to learn backstage techniques including prop making, creating sound effects and recording studio technology.

Jacki Dealtry, Project Manager, said “This is fully inclusive, allowing students from mainstream and special needs schools/colleges to take part. It’s a brand new initiative and something that has never been done before in the East Riding”.

The project has acquired two portable kits, with laptops, Ensemble Hubs, lighting, speakers and a range of Ensemble sensors and switches. Delegates at the event had the chance to play on the kit, triggering sounds and lights with a carnival feel.

York Press Business Awards 2010 - The build-up

The York Press Business Awards are tomorrow night and Apollo Creative is short listed in the Best Business and Higher Education category. Judging was about two months ago now, so it all seems a distant memory. Having said that, our work across the education sector continues with any potential award being purely the icing on the cake.

As well as the course just completed at the Scarborough Campus University of Hull (which was developed jointly with the Creative Music Technology lecturer Rob MacKay), we also have the following on-going or scheduled in:

• "Interactive Technology in Action" Lecture and student feedback session, University of Huddersfield, November 2010 
• "Practical applications of Creative Music Technology" Lecture, Scarborough Campus University of Hull - December 2010
• Support for GCSE Design Project - Radio Design
• Support for A-Level Product Design Course - Bubble Lamp
• A series of lectures in the Department of Electronics, University of York
• Continuing work with the Research and Innovation Office, University of York

That's not to mention some of the bigger, longer term projects I'm not allowed to talk about. Even if we don't win this year we'll have plenty to recommend us for next years awards.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow night.

Scarborough Session - Final Presentations

It was the final session in Scarborough today, where the students had to present their finished installations. The four interactives have been combined into a single, touchscreen podium, installed on the first floor of the Rotunda Museum.

All four groups have done a fantastic job, producing installations that wouldn't look out of place on permanent display. Combining learning and games, each one takes a slightly different approach to present their charms.

I'm now busy typing up my notes from the session to send back to the University to help provide some feedback to the groups. Unfortunately I can't make it back to the opening reception on Wednesday, when hopefully they can celebrate their achievements.

The installation will be open from Thursday this week (18th) until the 28th November. If you get a chance then I highly recommend a visit. The students will be on hand over the period to help you out and talk through the work that they have done. Judging by the standard of some of the interactives you may well be seeing their installations in museums across the world in a few years time.

For opening times and location details visit the Rotunda Museum website: www.rotundamuseum.org.uk

Scarborough Session - Prototypes Presented

The students at Scarborough today presented their prototype installations to Jan and Ian from the Scarborough Museums Trust, Rob McKay and I. This was the first opportunity for us to see working versions of the systems that the four grousp are designing.

Overall I was impressed by how far most of the groups had got within such a short space of time. It's only four weeks since we set the assignment and three weeks since they pitched the initial ideas. Most groups had graphics, voiceovers, audio (tunes and sound effects), plus various working interactive elements.

The main criticisms were around the use of language and text. This included voiceovers that used complex words and tricky fonts on complex backgrounds. It's a common mistake to get carried away with the 'look and feel' of an installation and forget about comprehension. These installations need to appeal to audiences from 5 to 95.

The groups are keeping blogs detailing their work on the project, allowing me to keep up to date between sessions. They've also been provided with Flip video cameras so that they can put on video clips. The process is very interesting and the students are making use of some interesting software tools. You can visit their blogs by following the links below:

• Group 1 - Trade
• Group 2 - Protection
• Group 3 - Health
• Group 4 - Good Catch

They now have just two weeks before they have to be finished and we get to mark them. A lot of sleepless nights to come. At least this time it's not me.

Scarborough Lecture - Pitching and Blogging

Today was the first lecture for the Creative Music Technology Course (Scarborough Campus, University of Hull). Following on from last years successful project, I am acting as the client/consultant for the students as they attempt to produce some exciting interactives for the Rotunda Museum. This year they are working with some more of Clarke's Charms, helping to show to the public 'charms of the sea'.

Carved bone Intuit Good Catch Charm (c) Scarborough Museums Trust

During the lectures today I covered two main topics: pitching ideas and blogging. The following links and sites I found particularly useful in pulling together the overview for the students.

Scott Berkun - How to pitch an idea
A great rundown of the techniques to use, including an overview of the classic 5 second (the film Chicken Run - "Great escape for Chickens"), 30 second (Elevator pitch) and 5 minute pitching templates.

TED: Ideas worth spreading
Technology, Entertainment, Design - TED shows how you can get across almost any idea, in as little as 18 minutes. A fantastic, inspirational set of online lectures available for eveyone to watch and be inspired. If you need to get a flavour, then this 'Best of ' compilation will get you hooked.

Garr Reynolds Presentation Tips
Avoid 'death by powerpoint' by following these tips for a more 'zen' like approach. This presentation tips handout is essential reading.

Present like Steve Jobs
Love or hate Apple, you can't deny that Steve Jobs has presenting down to an artform. This site has a video that talks you through some of his main techniques.


The result of this project will be a two week installation at the Rotunda.

Next week the students will be pitching their ideas for interactives and creating short videos to send to me. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

Apollo Creative on BBC News

Following an update on the economy from the Bank of England this morning, the BBC News team have been on site at the Knaresborough Technology Park to talk to businesses. Mark was interviewed for a live broadcast immediately following Mervyn King's press conference at 11.40. He was also interviewed for the World at One broadcast on Radio 4.

Both reports featured our demo and testing room playing the Jungle theme. The television report also showed one of the portraits from the 'Me, Myself and MRI' exhibition, with Christine Talbot making an appearance on screen towards the end!

Apollo reaches shortlist for York Press Business Awards

After four months and several hundred entries, the finalists for The Press Business Awards were announced today.

Apollo Creative has reached the final three in the Best Business and Higher Education Link category, sponsored by the University of York. It reflects the work done by Apollo with colleges and universities across the region. You can get a taste of this by reading the company blog.

The judges will now meet the finalists in each category before the winners are announced on the 18th November at York Race Course. For a full list of finalists and to read the profile on Apollo Creative, see The Press website.

MRI talk at Archbishop Holgates School, York

This morning I gave a talk at Archbishop Holgate's School, York on MRI technology as part of my role as a STEM Ambassador. Together with Kirsty Halliday from Geodesic Arts, we talked the pupils through the 'Me, Myself and MRI' project and specifically the process of undergoing an MRI scan.

The talk was sponsored by NYBEP and links in with the launch of the new education website for 'Me, Myself and MRI'. The exhibition is currently split between Archbishop Holgate's School, the York Neuro-imaging Centre and the Knaresborough Technology Park.

Inspirations at Elvington

Today Ben and I attended Inspirations 2010 held at the Yorkshire Air Museum - one of the events run by NYBEP to encourage STEM work (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).  We ran an exhibition stand allowing the school groups and teachers to have a play with the Apollo Ensemble and control some sounds and lights. The stand also featured one of the pieces from the 'Me, Myself and MRI' exhibition, allowing people to see how the Apollo technology could be integrated into different applications.

You can just see the edge of our stand on the right of this photo, dominated by the fantastic 'Angel of the North' sculpture by Bradford Girls' Grammar School pupil Amber Thiara.

We were really pleased to see that one of the students we had been working with from York College had his work on display as part of the competition. You can see a photo of Daniels full scale mock-up of an alternative Ensemble Hub enclosure on the Inspirations website.

International Conference - Music Technology: Solutions to Challenges

Apollo was happy to support and exhibit at this recent conference held at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in London. The two days attracted a wide range of people from across the globe, all keen to share ideas and experience.

I was also on the organising committee for the event and was pleased to help with some of the early preperations. Congratulations should go to Dr Wendy Magee and Phillipa Denning for such a smoothly run and informative event.

It was particuarly interesting to get feedback from music therapists about their expectations for technology and especially encouraging that so many were interested in the Apollo Ensemble.

Scribble New Media Orchestra

The Scribble New Media Orchestra has been put together by Music Links in Kendal, Cumbria. Using a whole range of musical instruments, sessions are open to 13 to 18 year olds with the aim to have fun and make music. The Orchestra includes an Apollo Ensemble kit including the Ensemble16 and a range of switches, helping make music accessible to all abilities.

The project also makes use of the Mobile Interactive Lighting and Sound system designed in collaboration with KidsOut.

The picture (courtesy of the Westmorland Gazette) shows students from Sandgate School playing with the equipment - you can read the full story in this news article from the Westmorland Gazette.

IET Music Technology - Webcast

Music Technology Now and in the Future David M Howard Any arbitrary sound can be created using technology and of course, electronically created sounds can be used to make music. "Connecting" the player, composer or user into the sound creation system involves the provision of an interface with which a musician can make music in a performance situation. This lecture will consider the needs of the musician in terms of both sound creation, sound modification and sound real-time control and it will illustrate this with interfaces from the past and present as well as some that might well be seen in the future. >> go to webcast

Update
You can see the Ensemble in action at the following points during the lecture:

• 29min - Use of the Dice 
• 31min - Ensemble connect with four switches used to play drum sounds
• 33min - Dice playing chords with a slider connected to the Ensemble Hub
• 41min - Dice used to control a Digitech Vocalist over MIDI
• 43min - Single switch playing chords in a sequence, controlling the Digitech 

Music Technology now and in the future

The Apollo Ensemble will be making a guest appearance in the IET Young Professionals Event in London tomorrow night, as part of Professor David Howard's lecture 'Music technology now and in the future'.

David will be using the new EnsembleHub, together with an Ensemble Connect and Dice sensor, to allow the audience to join in with some demonstrations.

This marks the beginning of a long term collaboration with the University of York Department of Electronics, which will the see the Ensemble being introduced into the new BSc Music Technology course from September 2010.

The event kicks off at 6pm at Imperial College, London with a live webcast taking place on the IET website.

60 Minute Makeover in Stockport

Apollo was pleased to help out 60 Minute Makeover again by supplying an interactive bubble tube for a programme in Stockport.

The show, broadcast on the 26th April 2010, focuses on transforming the home of Michelle and Ian whose son Jake has cerebral palsy.

A 1.5m Interactive Bubble Tube was fitted by the designers as one of the features.

You can find a full list of suppliers for the programme here: http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/60minutemakeover/series7suppliers200910/stockport/default.html

Artists in the Archive

I've just been involved in a project with the artists from Geodesic Arts again, this time working with the York Museums Trust and Creative York.

The project has involved looking at artefacts in the Yorkshire Museum archive, specifically pieces from the Mesolithic Period. We've then had to create an installation for the studio space at York Art Gallery. You can follow the background to the project on the AITA blog and take a look at the process on the Flickr site.

The final exhibition uses one of the monitors (with PC, Ensemble and sensor) that were previously used for the Me, Myself and MRI project. This time the monitor shows some footage of an archive area filmed using timelapse over several days, and speeded up. When someone steps in front of the monitor, this is faded into one of the interviews that we carried out for the project.

 

I interviewed Nicky Milner (our Mesolithic expert), Andrew Morrison (Keeper of Archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum), James Watson (a flint knapper) and Ben (a PhD student) for the piece. The edited interviews are shown on the screen.

The Ensemble map makes used of the fader, video and variable sensor blocks. We are using an infra red sensor for distance detection, but this is quite noisy (electrically speaking) and is not terribly reliable. You can see me setting up the system in the image below.

Futurelab outdoor spaces workshop

I've been down in Bristol today for a workshop at Futurelab on re-imagining outdoor spaces for play and learning. Together with a group of other people from a whole host of other areas, we've been looking at how you can create exciting outdoor spaces, particuarly for use in new schools. This follows on from other work by Futurelab including the Fountaineers project.

A Futurelab publication will follow later in the year and I'll update this post to provide a link when it is available.

BSF at Knottingley High School

Today we were at Knottingley High School, near Pontefract, to demonstrate what new technology might be available for the building of a new school. This was part of an Inspiration Day for parents and pupils, who also had to undertake a series of activities.

BSF is a Government funded scheme to rebuild or remodel every state secondary school in the UK. Knottingley is just beginning the development of its BSF plans and wanted to inspire everyone at the school to think differently about what a school could be.

Apollo provided three themed areas for the day. I gave short introductions to each area and explained how they might be used to inspire learning. Everyone was able to explore the areas and ask questions later in the day. A separate session was also provided for all the teachers and support staff at the school.


The Theatre
Seen in the background of the image below, this was a simple theatre stage where sensors were used by performers to control the lighting, sounds and effects. The stage was setup for performing an exert from Macbeth, complete with smoking cauldron, eerie lighting and thunder crashes.

The chill-out zone
Designed for informal learning and to help relax students, this incorporated bubble tubes and soft play elements.

Interactive corridor
This was what we call a 'proof of concept' demo using Apollo Ensemble technology. Designed to address the issue of lots of lcd screens appearing around schools with very little relevance to students, the Apollo version identifies and responds to individual students. Using ID cards the monitor can tell which student is stood infront of it and repsonds by displaying useful information - the students photo and timetable, excerpts of recently handed-in work, audio prompts for the next lessons in the day, reminders of deadlines and so on.

The demo used some of the students pre-prepared data, but in the future would pull all this information directly from the schools computers. It also helps solve the problem of how work generated digitally can be displayed to parents and visitors.

Our thanks to:

• Camel Event Production for the lighting and effects rigging
• Futurelab for additional literature and background resources for the day

Manor School On-Site

Manor School came to site today to have a look around. They were faced with the realities of work - the realisation that even exciting, creative work like Apollos relies on accounts, purchasing and very mundane looking offices.

On the upside they did get to have a short play in our demo room.

60 Minute Makeover

An Apollo Creative bubble tube features as part of a bedroom redeisgn on ITV's 60 Minute Makeover to be transmitted on the 22nd January.

A bubble tube was donated for use in the makeover for a jungle themed bedroom. The passive tube slowly rotates through colours creating an exciting feature point for the room.

You can find out more about other suppliers on the program on the ITV site or contact us to find your nearest distributor.

Scarborough Student Feedback

The project with Scarborough students at the Rotunda was completed in November, since then they have gone on to work on other projects. It was therefore nice to see some feedback on the University of Hull website, backing up the project objectives originally devised my myself and Rob MacKay.

"Charmed assignment very enjoyable – a real life brief so felt the pressure of getting it right and great to have feedback from Jan and Mark and others from Museum as get a feel for what to expect in work environment."

"I enjoyed the first assignment as it was a real life brief to which we had to respond. The subject matter was unusual and interesting and the scope for creativity was great.I enjoyed working with the people in our group. We worked well together which is important for creating a successful outcome. I particularly liked the feedback from Jan from the Museum Trust & Mark Hildred during the design process, as they were real industry experience comments which were really helpful." 

"The Rotunda Museum Project was so far one of the best experiences ever in my life! Never knew I could learn so much in so little time. Time spent on this project is simply invaluable! Hope to do some more similar projects in the near future." 

I hope that next years students enjoy it as much!

Lynda joins the team

Lynda Bullock celebrates her move to Apollo

Apollo welcomes Lynda Bullock as Account Manager, the latest member to join our growing team.

Lynda comes from our parent company, GSPK Design, and brings with her a wealth of experience in customer relationship management. Her new role is to help provide a direct point of contact for our distributors and to deal with enquiries.

"I'm looking forward to working with all of Apollo's customers and helping to work towards developing our product lines. It's an extremely exciting time to be joining the team with sales continuing to grow despite the recession."

Lynda has previously worked with adults with learning difficulties and does respite care for a child with autism.