innovations
Edinburgh Napier University and the Royal
College of Music (RCM) recently demonstrated
the powerful capabilities of the new Janet6
network by arranging for musicians in
Edinburgh and London to perform the same
piece of music together simultaneously.
Janet6, owned by Jisc, a UK provider of digital
services for research and education, connects the
UK’s research and education organisations to each
other and to the rest of the world through links
to the global internet. Designed to address future
demand for high capacity connectivity, it uses
state-of-the-art 100 Gigabit Ethernet technology
and is scalable up to 8.8 Terabits of capacity.
For the purposes of the collaboration, Janet
was used with LOLA (LOw LAtency Audio Visual
Streaming System) technology, which reduced
round trip latency to approximately 40-75ms.
This meant that there was no perceptible
delay in transmission, making it possible for
the musicians to play together despite being
hundreds of miles apart.
As well as enabling collaborative
performances, the combination of Janet6
and LOLA has the potential to link experts
from around the world for master classes and
rehearsals without the time and expense of
travel. It also opens up new possibilities for the
creative industry, by enabling new types of art
created in different spaces.
Matt Parkin from the Royal College of Music
described Janet and the LOLA system as a game
changer. He said: “Nothing before has allowed
classical musicians to actually play together over
these kinds of distances. Musicians are always
astonished by how transparent the Janet/LOLA
connection is. You notice it just as much when
they’re chatting together in rehearsal as when
they’re playing, because unlike any previous
video conference system, there is no perceptible
delay – it’s as though they’re in the same room.”
He added: “Whereas traditional ‘live links’
have relied on delays or click tracks to create an
illusion of musicians playing together, audiences
can now experience a truly live, synchronous
performance between musicians hundreds of
miles apart.”
Smaller, lighter, smarter
Epson has launched smaller and lighter smart
glasses that enable wearers to experience a
digitally enhanced view of the world on the
move or at home.
Moverio BT-200 binocular smart glasses
are half the size and 60% lighter than the
previous model and incorporate a front-facing
camera, gyroscope, GPS system, compass and
accelerometer that allow the device to accurately
understand a user’s movements and the world
around them.
The glasses project content over a viewer’s
entire field of vision and can also be used
to watch 2D and 3D films or play games on
a perceived screen size of 320 inches with
integrated Dolby Digital Plus sound.
Other features include a battery life of up to 6
hours and an internal memory of 8GB, expandable
to 32GB via SD card.
The Moverio BT-200 is due to be launched in
May with a price tag of
€
699. To coincide with
the launch, Epson is setting up the Moverio Apps
Market where users can acquire special apps and
developers can find the tools they need to build
them.
I see what you see
Skylight is the first enterprise software
platform for Smart Glasses from the likes
of Google, Epson and other manufacturers.
Developed by APX Labs, it enables businesses
to create smart glasses-based solutions
to long-standing operational challenges
by providing nurses, doctors, field service
technicians, warehouse workers and others
with hands-free information while they
work. APX Lab servers track a user’s location
and orientation and send real-time data,
commands and messages to the wearer. The
platform also makes it possible to share video
of actual views with remote colleagues and
to control devices, sensors and equipment
remotely.
Improve your online
presence
Small businesses wanting to transform
their online presence are being
encouraged to take advantage of a new
digital marketing service developed
by Johnston Press, a media group
with 250 newspapers and 196 local
websites in its portfolio.
The Digital Kitbag is a one-stop-
shop offering a fully integrated digital
marketing solution for local businesses
keen to reach an online audience for the
first time or to drive extra traffic to an
existing site.
Customers can select from a
portfolio of services, from a basic ‘do-
it-yourself’ email marketing tool to
fully managed solutions including social
media management, search engine
marketing and a range of website &
digital presence solutions.
Digital Kitbag products are being
trialled now, with a full roll-out due in
May 2014.
Janet6 removes barriers of time and place
Need help with IT?
Call a student
Small businesses and home workers could
benefit from a new and growing company
that gives employment and valuable work
experience to IT students.
Student@Home sends local students to
people’s homes to help solve their computer
problems. Among the services offered are virus
removal, data back-up, email syncing, wi-fi set up
and operating system recovery, as well as one-
to-one or group tuition on all aspects of using
computers, mobiles and tablets.
For a monthly membership fee of £2,
Student@Home customers are able to book an
appointment at any time, seven days a week.
An hour’s appointment costs £30.
The company started in London and now
also operates in Birmingham andWest Sussex.
There are plans to extend operations to
Winchester, Salisbury, Chichester, Manchester
and Oxford later in the year.
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