IT Diploma - Wilberforce College, Hull

Following on from the session last week at Manor School in York, today I was at Wilberforce College in Hull for their IT Diploma. The students there are going to be looking at the Ensemble Designer and Player software, offering their expertise on icons, window design and technical support documentation.

We hope that their assignments will lead directly to some visible changes to the software.

Students install at The Rotunda

Today was the final session on the Interactive Technology course at the University of Hull, Scarborough Campus. The students had to present their interactive installations at the Rotunda Museum and allow those of us marking to have a play.

Apart from a few technical issues (most of them not to do with the students) the whole event went very well. Each group had devised a creative way to present a selection of Charms from the collection.

I advise you to get down and have a look if you are over in Scarborough over the next couple of weeks.

Manor School Creative Industries Lecture

I was at Manor School today in York as part of the new Creative Diplomas. As well as giving an overview of Apollo and the Ensemble system, I've also left the students with the task of developing a 'cookbook' to use with Ensemble. I'm looking forward to seeing what they devise over the coming weeks.

Halloween at Knaresborough Technology Park

To celebrate Halloween we have changed the MRI portrait with us here in Knaresborough Technology Park to an image of a ghost. Using an infra-red distance sensor and the Apollo Ensemble system, when a person walks in front of the screen the ghost comes alive and starts telling jokes and rhymes!

Halloween Sensory Space - Completed

With the help of Camel Event Productions we have completed the Halloween sensory space for Creepy Crawlies. Using the Apollo Ensemble system, a computer controls all sounds, lights and videos when triggered by hidden switches.

Featuring a bubble tube, projector, fibre optics, ultra-violet, colour changing lighting and a sound system, the space makes the best use of Halloween props to create a scary atmosphere. Add to that a reverberated microphone and a real witch, the space becomes a perfect place to tell scary stories and really get in the Halloween mood!

As you try to open a book containing a hidden sensor, a portrait of a ghost comes alive to tell jokes and rhymes. The highlight of the sensory space is the bubbling witches cauldron which starts misting when you walk up to it!

The Halloween Sensory Space will be open in Creepy Crawlies at the start of next week and last until Halloween.

Halloween Sensory Space

We have begun work on a Halloween-themed sensory area for Creepy Crawlies, a large childrens play centre just outside York. The space, a rather compact 2m x 4m, will house hidden floor switches which trigger lights, sounds and videos to create a spooky atmosphere. The space will be open for the week leading up to Halloween and we'll soon post some more pictures.

We will even have an interactive, bubbling witches cauldron!

Last chance to catch MRI Exhibition

The 'Me, Myself and MRI' exhibition will be closing at York Hospital on the 3rd September. The feedback has been fantastic and we are currently in discussions to feature the show in other locations across the UK. In the meantime several of the individual pieces will be on display at partner organisations. This includes one portrait that wil be gracing the reception area here at Knaresborough Technology Park.


The portraits are running the Ensemble system, with a custom version of the Ensemble16 sensor interface. A number of custom blocks were designed for this exhibition and will be available as part of the new version of Apollo Ensemble due for release later this year.