Real Telepresence from KMi: The Lyceum Project
Craig Rodine
Knowledge Media Institute
Open University
Milton Keynes
Since 1994 the Knowledge Media Institute (Open University, Milton Keynes, UK) has been creating audio-intensive telepresence environments for use in distance learning and corporate training. These environments range from a large-scale virtual stadium to smaller classroom and synchronous workgroup conferencing systems. We have built upon one-way streaming and real-time multiparty audio transport technologies, and developed software to run under browsers and as self-contained, multi-architecture client-server packages.
Our most recent development is the Lyceum system, designed to provide simple, reliable and high-quality voice conferencing support for distance learning over the public-access Internet. Built using Java and incorporating codecs from Voxware, Lyceum demonstrates what can be achieved by providing a quality experience for remote participants, based on decades of experience delivering courseware to students at a distance. We are currently finishing the software in collaboration with the senior teaching staff of the Open University and a team of researchers into foreign language pedagogy from the OU’s Centre for Modern Languages (CML).
I will describe the project’s history, culture, design process and production strategy, and touch upon related software engineering and project management issues.
PS versions of slides avaliable here: Slideset1
Slideset2
audio 224.2.174.66/24288
video 224.2.245.205/64080
wb 224.2.245.60/46649
nte 224.2.177.34/50470
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