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.

KidsOut Filming

Today we made a video of how to build the KidsOut Portable Sensory Rooms at the National Centre for Early Music in York. The idea is for a DVD to accompany the units to allow people to move them between different venues.

New KidsOut Sensory Room - Frenchay Hospital

Today we installed a second Portable Sensory Room for KidsOut. Based on the prototype, currently based in a school in Reading, this unit features some changes based on feedback.

Featuring a bubble tube, fibre optics, colour changes lighting, star cloth, projector and sound system, the space will be used by children on the Barbara Rusell Ward whilst there is no school.

The unit will be based in the school room at Frenchay Hospital over the Summer, before being moved to a new venue in september.

Official opening of Sensory Room at Whitley Park School

The portable sensory room installed at Whitley Park Infant School was officially opened today with a reception. Since the initial installation last week, all 320 children at the school have been through and experience the area.

Ann Tanner, Headteacher, commented:

"We are excited at Whitley Park to be given the chance to explore with the children the possibilities for learning this brings. We aim to create stimulating learning opportunities for the children, develop their language and create wonderful learning environments that give them a sense of the world around us. Themes including seaworld, space, gardens, and jungles come immediately to mind but others will emerge as the staff team explore the possibilities.

"We are privileged to be part of this project and we will do our best to help 'KidsOut' provide more of these portable sensory rooms for other children across the UK. Our plan is to extend the use within our local community to the two Children's Centres in Whitley, for children to visit the room and have fun exploring it. My thanks to Mark and Kevin for the design, ideas and for making this dream a reality."

Portable Sensory Room

Today we built the prototype of the Portable Sensory Room at Whitley Park School in Reading. Funded by KidsOut, the room will be undergoing tests at the school over the next few months. It is hoped that the feedback from these will help us develop the design of the space.

Coloured lighting and background sounds are controlled by the Apollo Controller, with users inserting a USB stick to activate the different themes. Other lighting effects are controlled by front panel switches.

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.

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.