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A double success has been scored by UK Virtual Worlds consultancy Daden Limited by being the only UK company to become a finalist in two categories of the U.S. Federal Government's Virtual World Challenge (FVWC). Birmingham based Daden entered its PIVOTE and Datascape systems into the Challenge, and has now been invited to the Defense GameTech Users Conference in Orlando Florida at the end of March for the finals.

The Federal Virtual World Challenge (http://fvwc.army.mil) was launched in August 2009 by the U.S. Army Simulation & Training Technology Center, in order to reach a global development community to provide innovative and interactive training and analysis solutions in virtual worlds. The challenge is intended to explore the possibilities for using virtual worlds that may have not ever been considered by the U.S. Government. The audience includes all United States Government Departments and Agencies, including Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Entries were due by 15 November and were logically divided into four categories - Collaboration, Skill Building, Instruction and Visualisation and there has been both official judging by Federal staff and an open evaluation by members of the public. Public review continues to be available from the website. Only three finalists have been chosen from each category from both the Government/Government Contractor and the Non-Government criteria.

"It was clear that there were groups of developers who were pushing the envelope of training and analysis capabilities within virtual worlds. Our hope was that the Federal Virtual World Challenge would expose those "pockets of excellence" and provide an opportunity to build relationships between these innovators and the Federal Government. We were very pleased with the quality of the entries submitted in the inaugural year of this event and we believe that each of the finalists have demonstrated great innovation in the use of this emerging platform." says Tami Griffith, the creator of the challenge.

Within the Collaboration category Daden entered its Datascape data visualisation environment. Built on the Second Life® virtual world platform the centre-piece of Datascape is a 20m diameter virtual map showing Google™ Maps (or its OpenStreetMap open-source equivalent). Just as on the web this map can be zoomed down to building level detail almost anywhere on the planet. But unlike the web version up to 50 users from across the globe can gather round or stand on the map and discuss what it is showing. Daden's web integration technology then allows data from a variety of web and real-world sources to be plotted on the map - ranging from BBC news feeds and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) earth-tremor data to GPS data and the real-time location of aircraft flying over Los Angeles Airport. Additional screens around the floor-map allow for video feeds, RSS and Twitter feeds, infographics, slideshows and even collaboratively edited documents and spreadsheets.

David Burden, Daden MD said, "We initially created Datascape for the Federal Virtual World Consortium event in Washington DC last year. It brought together a variety of data visualisation techniques - and the impact of seeing them all in one place has been really powerful in showing how virtual worlds can be used as a data visualisation and data fusion environment. For instance following the Haiti earthquake we created a set of controls which allowed you to plot not only news stories about the earthquake and after-shock data from the USGS, but also to overlay photos and tweets being geo-tagged from users directly on the scene."

Daden's second entry, again built around Second Life®, is PIVOTE. This is a training system for virtual worlds - which allows training exercises to be developed independent of the virtual world - and be playable not only in a variety of virtual worlds but also on the web and even on mobile phones. PIVOTE was developed as a result of Daden's work on the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) project called PREVIEW with St George's Hospital, University of London. This project, which created a training system for paramedics at the Hospital won the Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Initiative in 2009. PIVOTE has been released as an open-source application and there are now users from Argentina to Canada, and across many European countries. Whilst initially developed for medical training PIVOTE has since been used for topics as varied as retail customer service and youth citizenship.

For the Challenge Daden put together a simulation of a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan. First the user has to navigate a remotely controlled robot through the debris to a secondary IED and disarm that. Then with the road clear the user - now playing the role of a medic - can walk down to the wrecked vehicle to treat the casualty.

David continued, "The great advantage of PIVOTE is that it moves the core definition of the exercise out of the virtual world. This means that the same exercise can be experienced (at different levels of graphical detail) by users in different virtual worlds, or even those just with web or mobile phone access. This not only maximises access but also protects the institution's investment in the training, and allows tutors without detailed virtual world knowledge to maintain and even create the exercises."

Daden is heading out to Orlando hoping to win the competition - especially since up to $25,000 dollars is at stake. However, David concludes "For us the real win is just having our expertise recognised and being drawn to the attention of the U.S. (and other) Governments and agencies. We are already actively pursuing a number of contracts in the U.S., and hopefully our presence in Orlando will generate more real business for us regardless".

Daden's FVWC entries both have their own web pages at http://fvwc-pivote.blogspot.com/ and http://fvwc-datascape.blogspot.com/, and both are available for public view in Second Life® at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Daden%20Cays/126/217/22 and http://slurl.com/secondlife/Daden%20Prime/223/224/21. Daden are arranging demonstrations every week until the end of March as detailed at http://www.fvwc.army.mil/evaluation_main.php (note times are U.S. EST) - or can arrange them by appointment.

ENDS


NOTES TO EDITORS


About Daden
Daden Limited is a virtual worlds agency working in Second Life® and other virtual worlds. Our aim is to help you engage with your audience using some of the most interesting technologies around today. We help organisations understand and use virtual world technologies for serious business, collaboration, education and building. Clients range from SMEs to global brands including central and local government, universities/colleges and healthcare organisations. Daden are working with almost a dozen education and training organisations from the public (HE, FE, Secondary) and private sector (in-house and external) to help them use virtual worlds and characters to deliver a better education and training experience to their students and staff. Founded in 2004 by David Burden, Daden are based at Birmingham Science Park Aston in Birmingham UK. They are members of the Serious Games Institute in Coventry and Intellect in London. Daden are a Linden Lab Gold Solution Provider for Second Life.

About Second Life® and Linden Lab®
Developed and launched by Linden Lab® in 2003, Second Life® is the world's leading 3D virtual world environment. It enables its Residents to create content, interact with others, launch businesses, collaborate, educate, and more. Since its inception, Second Life® Residents have logged more than one billion user hours and generated more than $1 billion in user-to-user transactions. With a broad user base that includes everyone from consumers and educators to medical researchers and large enterprises, Second Life® has become one of the largest repositories of user-generated content and the largest user-generated virtual goods economy in the world.

Linden Lab®, founded in 1999 by Chairman of the Board Philip Rosedale and headquartered in San Francisco, develops revolutionary technologies that change the way people communicate, interact, transact, learn and create. Privately held, Linden Lab® is led by CEO Mark Kingdon, and has more than 350 employees spread across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.secondlife.com.

Defense Gametech Users Conference is a unique user-focused conference dealing with gaming technologies that enhance warfighter training. Gaming experts will discuss the current state of game technologies. Government, industry and academia will share knowledge, research and technology on virtual worlds and games for training. Details at http://www.teamorlando.org/gametech/.

Datascape is Daden's data visualisation system for virtual worlds. Within it you can view map, text and 2D and 3D data in order to gain a better understanding of a particular situation or data set, and to help make better decisions. The environment allows users to zoom maps, plot geographic data, view CCTV and webcams, plot 3D data, show slides and objects, view RSS and Twitter feeds, and analyse GPS and earth-sensing data all in a shared immersive environment.

PIVOTE is an open-source authoring system for learning in virtual worlds. Created by Daden originally for the JISC funded PREVIEW project. PIVOTE lets you create learning exercises on the internet using simple forms-based interface. These exercises can be played in Second Life, OpenSim, on the web or even on a mobile phone. They can also be ported between virtual worlds and student performance data can be exported for use in VLE's. PIVOTE is now an open-source project and available for free download and use by anyone. You can read more about PIVOTE at www.daden.co.uk/pivote.

IMAGES

All Images available from: http://www.daden.co.uk/pages/press_images.html

A new virtual reality version of the Apollo 11 landing has been created in Second Life (TM) by Birmingham UK based virtual world specialists Daden Limited. The simulation presents Tranquility Base and the Eagle lander, and allows visitors to follow the footsteps of Armstrong and Aldrin, whilst looking at the videos and photos they took, and finding out about the science experiments they left behind.

The simulation has been built on the Daden Space sim, which Daden will be using for new space and data visualisations. The whole sim has been landscaped to represent the Moon, and with Second Life settings turned to midnight you can even see the Earth hanging low above the Moon's horizon.

Visitors to the sim start at a space station arrival centre, high above the surface. Here they can view a Moon globe marking all the Apollo landing sites, and get kitted out in their space-suitready for their EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity). They can also download and attach a Heads Up Display (HUD) which will give them information about the mission as they walk around. Touching the teleport drops visitors to the Moon's surface.

Tranquility Base occupies the north-east corner of the sim, a short 40m walk from the arrival point. A detailed copy of the Lunar Module (LM) towers over the virtual astronauts. Standing by the ladder triggers a video in the HUD showing Armstrong's famous "one small step".

Daden Managing Director David Burden said "For us this build really came alive when we discovered a map which showed exactly where the astronauts actually walked, the tracks they took around the LM, the terrain features, the routes to the science experiments, and where they took photographs and panoramas from. We were able to bring this map into our recreation of the Moon, and use it to guide not only our layout of rocks and craters, but also to key in the photos and show visitors where to walk."

Clicking the Map button on the HUD brings up this map as a huge overlay on the Moon's surface. The tracks walked by the astronauts are then clearly visible and can be followed by the virtual astronauts. Clicking the Camera button on the HUD then shows you where key photographs were taken from, and as you approach those points the images and a short description appears in the HUD.

David continues, "Thiscombination of map, original photography and the virtual build creates a very immersive experience. The spacesuit gives you the heavy breathing sounds and bounding moon-walk. To be able to follow Armstrong's tracks out to the far panorama point (about 50m away), and then look back at the Lunar Module model whilst also seeing the photographs he took from that spot gives you a real feel for the whole experience. Before doing this simulation all those photos and videos felt very disjointed, but now you can get a great sense of how they relate and what the astronauts actually did on the moon."

The simulation also includes the various scientific experiments they placed on the Moon - and clicking on each brings up more information, images and links back to relevant web pages. And for a finale you can head back to the Lunar Module, touch the rocket cluster to the right of the hatch and watch the ascent stage blast off and head back up into orbit to rejoin the Command Module.

David concludes, "For us this build is about three things. First it's a celebration of Apollo 11, and the tremendous achievements made by the astronauts and the rest of the Apollo programme. Second it shows how virtual worlds like Second Life can be used to create immersive educational experiences of any type. Finally it's about the ability to track people and objects in real-time and bring that data into virtual worlds* - and about looking to the future. When I was eight years old I watched the moon landings on a black and white TV in the school hall. When humans return to the Moon in the next decade or so it will be possible for people to be in a simulation just like Daden Space and watch in real-time as an astronaut avatar emerges from the landing module and steps out onto the moon, whilst also watching the live video feed in a HUD. Whether the viewers are mission engineers,scientists, family relatives or just members of the public, this has got to represent a whole new level of involvement and experience of the return to the moon."**

*See Daden's LAX aircraft tracking demo at Datascape <227, 229, 21>

**See blog post at http://www.converj.com/sites/converjed/2008/11/will_the_moon_and_mars_be_virt.htm

The Apollo 11 simulation is on the Daden Space sim in Second Life, at http://slurl.com/secondlife/daden space/127/127/301

There is a video of the simulation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qVvWOxzMDU

For Immediate Release

DADEN AWARDED LINDEN LAB GOLD SOLUTION PROVIDER PROGRAM MEMBERSHIP FOR SECOND LIFE PROJECTS

Following a thorough application and vetting process, Daden Limited has been accepted into Linden Lab's new Gold Solution Provider Program, designed to identify highly qualified firms that offer services and develop content for enterprises, governments, educational institutions, and individuals in Second Life. Solution Providers applying to the program were evaluated based on client references and a track record of successful projects in Second Life. Daden is one of only a handful of UK companies and 31 companies worldwide to receive this designation.

Daden's Managing Director David Burden attributes their inclusion to Daden's international reputation as a virtual worlds company that provides its clients with solutions that integrate their real life and Second Life presence.

"Our expertise is in integrating virtual worlds, the internet and the real world. Our clients tend to be focussed on the serious aspects of virtual worlds. We listen to their needs and create solutions that are not just empty replicas of their real life buildings but fulfill a specific requirement - be it for training purposes, planning and regeneration or just orientation."

In the last year Daden have created a number of exciting integration, visualisation and training tools for use within Second Life. These include the Daden NavigatorTM (a web browser within Second Life), PIVOTE (Open Source virtual learning authoring system) and displaying Google Maps within the world. Their latest visualisation tool Datascape brings some of these technologies together into a single "war room" which allows users to zoom maps, plot geographic data, view CCTV and webcams, plot 3D data, show slides and objects, view RSS and Twitter feeds, and analyse GPS and earth-sensing data all in a shared immersive environment.

"Each member of the Gold Solution Provider program has been carefully evaluated by Linden Lab, based on client references and a track record of successful projects in Second Life," said Glenn Fisher, Director of Developer Relations at Linden Lab. "Those accepted into the program are particularly good choices for organizations planning immersive work or learning environments in Second Life, and this new program will make it easier than ever for organizations to find especially well-qualified firms among our larger Solution Provider Program of more than 250 companies worldwide."

Daden are working with almost a dozen education and training organisations from the public (HE, FE, Secondary) and private sector (in-house and external) to help them use virtual worlds and characters to deliver a better education and training experience to their students and staff.

David Burden ends "We would like to thank our clients for supporting us and allowing us to create exciting places and systems that serve a real need. We hope to develop even more innovative and sophisticated solutions to clients in the future, and we believe that Second Life will become a key platform for collaboration, visualisation, learning and training in the years to come."
ends -

NOTES TO EDITOR:

Daden Limited is a virtual worlds agency working in Second Life and other virtual worlds. Our aim is to help you engage with your audience using some of the most interesting technologies around today. Daden are working with almost a dozen education and training organisations from the public (HE, FE, Secondary) and private sector (in-house and external) to help them use virtual worlds and characters to deliver a better education and training experience to their students and staff. D aden's clients tend to be focussed on the serious aspects of virtual worlds and chatbots. Daden's virtual world clients including the University of Coventry, Birmingham City University, Birmingham City Council, several marketing agencies and consultancies, consumer brands such as Vauxhall, and B2B brands such as CIBA. Daden are based in Birmingham, UK, and are also virtual tenants at the Serious Games Institute in Coventry.

Second LIfe and Linden Lab are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc

LINKS:

The Daden web site is at www.daden.co.uk

Daden can be visited at any time on the Daden Prime sim in Second Life at <128,128,26> .

IMAGES:

Images can be downloaded at http://www.daden.co.uk/pages/press_images.html

CONTACT DETAILS:

All media enquiries should be addressed to:

Soulla Stylianou, Daden Limited, 103 Oxford Rd, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 9SG
Tel: 0121 698 8520 Mobile: 07814 14516 Email: soulla.stylianou@daden.co.uk

Daden unveil Datascape - an information "war room" for the virtual world

A new way of bringing information together and sharing it amongst users has been launched today by Birmingham based virtual worlds consultants Daden Limited. Called Datascape the environment allows users to zoom maps, plot geographic data, view CCTV and webcams, plot 3D data, show slides and objects, view RSS and Twitter feeds, and analyse GPS and earth-sensing data all in a shared immersive environment.

Datascape has been developed by combining several visualisations technologies that Daden has previously worked on in the Second Life virtual world, including displaying Google Maps within the world (as used by Birmingham City Council), plotting real-time data from aircraft approaching Los Angeles airport, and showing RSS and twitter feeds inworld.

Daden MD David Burden said, "Although we had developed all these visualisation technologies independently, it was only when we brought them together into a single environment that we recognised the true potential of virtual worlds for data visualisation and sharing."

Dr Robert Childs of the National Defense University spoke about the importance of Data Fusion, Situational Awareness and Information Dominance in the modern world at the recent Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds in Washington DC. Daden were the only UK company to be invited and David considers that.

"These terms apply as much to businesses as to the Military, to the private sector as well as the Government sector. In the modern world we are flooded by information, and the winners will be those who can identify and use that information in the most effective and timely manner. We believe that Datascape is a significant milestone along that journey."

Central to Datascape is its smart map-table, which as well as displaying Google Maps can also show Open Streetmap, Second Life's own map, or indeed any web based mapping (or imaging) system that deploys similar technology.

Around the central map are a number of stations, each station themeing the whole environment to a given data space - displaying maps, plotting data, show RSS/Twitter feeds and creating other visualisations as required. For instance the Air Transport theme will zoom the map into Los Angeles airport, display aircraft approach LAX from near-real-time data, set RSS screens up to show traffic and airport news relevant to the airport, and make LAX web cams available at the touch of a (virtual) button.

David continues "The Swine Flu news broke as we were developing this, so it was natural to see how Datascape could be used to track this. So we set up a Swine Flu theme and brought in RSS news from the Centre for Disease Control, Google and the World Health Organisation, displaying it as news items on the RSS screens, and plotting the stories geographically on the globe. It also prompted us to establish a permanent WHO Pandemic Alert state notice in Datascape (automatically updated hourly from the WHO web site), and the UK Home Office Terror Alert state too."

As well as the visualisation systems, Datascape also provides ready access to other information sources, incorporating both Daden's Navigator web browser for Second Life, and Daden's Discourse chatbot system to provide a permanent virtual assistant within the space. Clients will be able to specify the themes, data-sources and visualisations they require, and create others on-demand.

For the future David sees such spaces as providing "virtual war-rooms" for a wide variety of organisations and social groups, beyond conventional enterprise, military and government use.

"We are particularly keen to see how such spaces can provide collaborative, responsive planning centres for natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies, allow representatives from NGOs, Governments and communities around the world to meet and plan in virtual space in a way that was previously only available to the military and intelligence agencies."

Datascape has initially been developed on the Second Life virtual world, and could be deployed by organisations behind corporate firewalls using either Linden Lab's own enterprise solution, or through Open Sim. Daden are also looking at the potential to use it in other virtual worlds.

Datascape can be visited at any time on the Daden Prime sim in Second Life at <227, 228, 21> and additional information is available at http://www.daden.co.uk/pages/datascape.html

Additional images are available at http://www.daden.co.uk/pages/press_images.html

PRESS RELEASE

12th March 2008

For Immediate Release

PIVOTE launches - an open-source learning system for virtual worlds, the web and iPhone

A new open-source learning system called PIVOTE has been launched today which lets educators and trainers build learning exercises on the web and then play them in virtual worlds, on the web, and even on mobile phones.

The PIVOTE system was developed by virtual worlds specialists Daden as part of a UK Government Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) funded project, called PREVIEW, looking at problem-based learning in virtual worlds. A key element of PREVIEW was to explore how Second Life® could be used for training paramedics at St George's, University of London and Kingston University - and the resulting system is now being made available as the PIVOTE open-source system.

PIVOTE exercises are created on the web using a simple forms-based application. In virtual worlds virtual objects are linked to the activities in the training session, and exercise played out in an immersive space. Users can also view images and video, and hear audio recordings. Web and mobile phone users can access the same text, media content, and exercise structure, but without the immersive capabilities of virtual worlds. All student activity is logged and ready for export into a learning management system.

Daden's Managing Director David Burden says, "PIVOTE offers 3 key advantages over existing approaches to creating learning content for virtual worlds. Firstly it allows tutors to create the content on the web without having to learn about the intricacies of each virtual world. Secondly, it lets institutions move training exercises between virtual worlds - so they aren't locked in to one platform. Finally it allows users, regardless of virtual world access, to practice the same training exercises."

With PIVOTE all the structure and information content of an exercise is stored on the web, not in the virtual world. Since the structure and content are also separate users can experience the same exercise but with different levels of detail - from guided exercises for beginners, to assessment exercises for experienced students. It also allows tutors to easily and quickly create new scenarios from existing templates.

Alan Rice, Senior Lecturer in Paramedic Science, at St George's, University of London said "This programme provides the students with a fun learning environment, where they can afford to make mistakes online, which they could not afford to make in the real world. When they make a mistake online, they are always keen not to make the same mistake again."

Fiona Cropp, a second year paramedic student from St George's, who has tested the application, says: "It's a really useful tool. It's much better to be able to actually perform treatments rather than just talk about it. Everyone is online at the same time so you can bounce ideas off each other and make an informed decision. I had never used Second Life before, but I found it really easy to get on with."

David Burden, Daden's Managing Director continued "Whilst created initially for training medical professionals in Higher Education, we believe that PIVOTE could become a valuable tool for anyone delivering training or education in any topic at any level in a virtual world. "

PIVOTE has been released as open-source under a GPL v3 license. It currently supports users in Second Life (and OpenSim), but it is possible to create interfaces for other virtual worlds. Organisations can use PIVOTE either by downloading and installing the software on their own servers, or by using a hosted service (such as the one offered by Daden).

For more information on PIVOTE visit http://www.pivote.info.

-ends-

Notes to Editor:

1.Daden Limited is a virtual worlds agency working in Second Life and other virtual worlds. Our aim is to help you engage with your audience using some of the most interesting technologies around today. Daden are working with almost a dozen education and training organisations from the public (HE, FE, Secondary) and private sector (in-house and external) to help them use virtual worlds and characters to deliver a better education and training experience to their students and staff. Daden's virtual world clients including the University of Coventry, Birmingham City University, Birmingham City Council, several marketing agencies and consultancies, consumer brands such as Vauxhall, and B2B brands such as CIBA. Daden are based in Birmingham, UK, and are also virtual tenants at the Serious Games Institute in Coventry.

2.The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) is funded by UK HE and FE funding bodies to provide world-class leadership in the innovative use of ICT to support education and research.

3.St George's, University of London provides education and training to a wide range of more than 2,600 healthcare and sciences students on one site. As well as providing courses in medicine and biomedical sciences, the College also offers courses in midwifery, nursing, physiotherapy, radiography and social work in conjunction with Kingston University. St George's is dedicated to promoting by excellence in teaching, clinical practice and research, the prevention, treatment and understanding of disease. It has a high reputation for research in areas such as infection, diseases of the heart and circulation, cell signalling and epidemiology. Other areas of expertise include genetics, health and social care sciences and mental health.

LINKS:

The PIVOTE web site is at www.pivote.info, which includes documentation, ode and demonstration videos
The Daden web site is at www.daden.co.uk
The PREVIEW project web site is at http://www.elu.sgul.ac.uk/preview/

IMAGES:

Images can be downloaded at http://www.daden.co.uk/pages/press_images.html

CONTACT DETAILS:

All media enquiries should be addressed to:

Soulla Stylianou
Daden Limited
103 Oxford Rd
Moseley
Birmingham
B13 9SG

Tel: 0121 698 8520
Mobile: 07814 14516
Email: soulla.stylianou@daden.co.uk

PRESS RELEASE

15th July 2008 - For Immediate Release

Daden Launches Web Browser for Second Life

The first publicly available web browser for Second Life was launched today by virtual world consultants Daden Limited. The browser, called the Daden Navigator, allows residents of the virtual world to collaboratively browse the web, sharing one web screen between users who may, in real life, live on different continents.

Technology introduced by Linden Lab a couple of months ago allowed residents for the first time to view web pages live within Second Life - however they could not click on any links to surf from one page to another. Daden Navigator now lets residents do this - surfing the web collectively in the same way that Daden's recent Google Maps viewer allowed residents to share Google Maps within the world.

PRESS RELEASE

1st July 2008 - For Immediate Release

CREATIVE ISLAND LAUNCHED IN SECOND LIFE

Daden Limited and Southampton Solent University (SSU) announce the launch of SSU's Second Life (SL) island 'Solent Life'. Solent Life campus has been developed as both a teaching platform and to showcase the work of students within the creative industries.

The island has been created by virtual world consultants, Daden Limited,
and is totally conceived from mood boards and designs submitted by the
University's Design School.

Just as they would in real life (RL), students studying Fashion Design, Interiors and Digital Music will use the island to showcase their work as well as learning from SL/RL stylists and designers. They will also get a taste of running a commercial business using the design studios on the island to create and concept retail environments.

Solent Life has everything required for staging a fashion show including a catwalk/stage, working lighting desk/rig and music. In addition there is a 60 seat auditorium, cafe, nightclub, an audio shop for teaching music technology, a reference library, a gallery for art exhibitions as well as small stalls where students will be able to exhibit and trade their design ideas in the future.

PRESS RELEASE

11th June 2008 - For Immediate Release

GRIMSBY TELEGRAPH INTRODUCES KATE, THE VIRTUAL
NEWSREADER

A virtual newsreader is the newest recruit to the web-site of the Grimsby
Telegraph. Developed by Virtual Character consultants, Daden Limited,
the talking avatar reports current news stories for newspaper's online
edition.

Called "Kate", the assistant is based on "chatbot" technology created by
Daden Limited. Kate takes advantage of latest web-delivered text-to speech
and animated avatar technology to report on the most recent
headlines and breaking news at Grimsby Telegraph's web site.

Grimsby Telegraph editor Michelle Lalor said: "We pride ourselves at
being at the heart of the community and delivering news to you in
innovative ways. Technology in the media industry has moved on in leaps
and bounds, and now the internet is a major part of what we do.

"We have been running video reports every day now - and sometimes up
to three or four videos a day - for more than a year, and breaking news
24-hours-a-day has been the norm for at least two years.

"We have done so much to it, we were left scratching our heads a little
about what more we could do - and then the idea of the newsbot was
born.

"They are a great example of how differently news can be reported - it's
all about novelty and fun. Of course, Kate is only virtual, but we wanted to
give her a personality to make her what she effectively is - a new member
of the reporting team. "We hope you like her as much as we do!"

Journalists at the Grimsby Telegraph upload Kate with the latest news
through a simple web interface designed by Daden. This lets them
preview the next news bulletin before putting it live - enabling them to
check pronunciation and phrasing.

David Burden, Daden's Managing Director said "Grimsby Telegraph are
proactive in their use of technology and were clear with what they wanted
to achieve. As a virtual newsreader Kate provides another way for people
to interact with their online edition"

The technology behind Kate could also be used to dynamically capture
the news from RSS feeds, engage in dialogue about the news stories
being read or even drive a 3D newsreader in a virtual world such as
Second Life.

- end -

Notes for Editors

DADEN LIMITED

Daden is a virtual worlds and virtual character consultancy working on the web,
in Second Life and other virtual worlds. Our aim is to help clients engage with
their audience using some of the most interesting technologies around today.

We offer 4 main services:

- Inform - help you understand virtual worlds and virtual characters
- Involve - build your presence
- Integrate - connect virtual worlds to/from web services & real world
devices
- Interact - create virtual characters and chatbots for virtual worlds or
websites

Daden's clients include the University of Coventry, Birmingham City University
(and 2 other UK universities), Birmingham City Council, Hanover Housing,
several marketing agencies and consultancies, consumer brands such as
Vauxhall, and B2B brands such as CIBA.

Daden are based in Birmingham, UK, and are also virtual tenants at the Serious
Games Institute in Coventry.

GRIMSBY TELEGRAPH

The Grimsby Telegraph is a regional newspaper with a combined strong digital
emphasis. The newspaper won Community Newspapers of the Year 2008 from
the Newspaper Society for a series of campaigns which were run jointly in paper
and on the website www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk which has broken records for the
last four months running for the number of visitors.

PHOTOS:

Photos are available for download from the Media/Image Library at http://www.daden.co.uk/pages/press_images.html

LINKS:

- Kate Carver newsbot can seen in situ at www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk
- Daden's own website chatbot, Abi can be found at http://www.daden.co.uk/chatbots.html

CONTACT DETAILS:

All media enquiries should be addressed to:

Daden Limited

Soulla Stylianou
RL Client Director
103 Oxford Rd
Moseley
Birmingham
B13 9SG
Tel: 0121 698 8520
Mobile: 07814 14516
Email: soulla.stylianou@daden.co.uk

Grimsby Telegraph

Michelle Hurst
Deputy Editor
Tel: (01472) 372070
Email: michelle.hurst@gsmg.co.uk
www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk

NEWS RELEASE 391LP0308

A Birmingham City University project is researching the use of a three-dimensional, virtual environment for learning and assessment. The Learning in Virtual Environments (LiVE) project will see students undertake film production exercises, using the internet-based virtual world, ‘Second Life’.

PRESS RELEASE
17th March 2008 – For Immediate Release

An innovative automated website assistant, created by virtual character consultants Daden Limited, has helped Hanover generate over 10,000 hits to their web site in the first week since the launch.

Called “Hanover Helps”, the assistant is based on “chatbot” technology created by Daden Limited. The chatbot, which takes advantage of the latest web-delivered text-to-speech technology, allows visitors to the site, including the visually impaired, to “ask” questions about Hanover’s services.