Recently in Press Releases Category

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.

PRESS RELEASE
26 February 2008
For Immediate Release

Virtual Worlds and Serious Business

A new 9 point business plan has been released by virtual worlds specialists Daden Limited to help businesses and organisations make sense of the emerging phenomena of virtual worlds.

The white paper is based on Daden's ten year experience of virtual worlds and its recent observations of their commercialisation over the past few years. The paper aims to guide businesses considering virtual worlds through addressing 9 key questions.

PRESS RELEASE
03 December 2007
For Immediate Release

DADEN WINS PRESTIGIOUS INNOVATION AWARD

Virtual Worlds agency Daden Limited beat off stiff competition from real world companies to win the West Midlands ICT (Information Communication Technology) Excellence in Innovation (Service) Award at the West Midlands ICT Excellence Awards.

These awards are designed to recognise the talents of the region's growing ICT sector. The Excellence in Innovation (Service) Award is awarded for the most innovative service introduced by an ICT business in the last year.

PRESS RELEASE
24 October 2007
For Immediate Release

TRACKING THOUGHTS IN SECOND LIFE

Bubbles of real thoughts float up and away from a fountain in this innovative new visualisation of the Twitter system from Virtual Worlds agency Daden Limited. Twitter, a web and SMS based service, allows users to post short answers to the question “what are you doing right now?”. Daden are taking this feed and using it to create a unique and poetic visualisation of the transitory thoughts of people across the globe.

PRESS RELEASE
25 September 2007
For Immediate Release

TRACKING AIRCRAFT IN SECOND LIFE

Aircraft hang in the air all around you in an innovative new visualisation from Virtual Worlds agency Daden Limited and aircraft tracking specialists fboweb.com. We believe that this the first time that real-time aviation data has been displayed in a virtual world such as Second Life (SL).

Students and Staff at Coventry University have been busy building their own presence in Second Life with help from Birmingham based Virtual Worlds agency Daden Limited.