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by james macgregor | September 21st, 2001 | contact: james@netribution.co.uk

Virtual Sets Get £200k Boost From Scottish Executive

New technology being developed in Glasgow to dramatically cut the cost of making television programmes has benefited from a slice of a £1 million package to help Scottish innovators.

The £200,000 award to create virtual film sets was announced as part of a Scottish Executive strategy to ensure that world-beating research achieves commercial success. Enterprise and lifelong learning minister Wendy Alexander said the new cash was being allocated by the Proof of Concept Fund, managed by Scottish Enterprise.

Innovative Thinking

She said: "Scotland’s academics have long deserved their international reputation for innovative thinking but, historically, we have lagged behind in bringing new products and processes to the market place and using them as a foundation for business success. This fund underpins our drive to ensure this world-class research and innovation is translated into jobs and businesses for Scotland."

The scheme has already funded a number of projects including anti-cancer drugs, personal alarms for elderly and disabled people, systems on chip technology, processes for assessing the quality of meat and the next generation games’ technology.

Ms Alexander added: "Not only do these have huge commercial potential, a number of them will have a real impact on people’s everyday lives."

Virtual Locations

Computer scientists at Glasgow and Edinburgh are developing digital technology which could dramatically reduce the cost of film-making and television production. They are applying the latest laser scanning techniques to create "virtual film sets" which could eventually replace costly studio sets and cut the time crews spend on location.

Roy Middleton, director of Edinburgh Virtual Environment Centre at the University of Edinburgh, which is working in tandem with 3D-MATIC at the University of Glasgow, said: "This project provides the opportunity to combine the complementary talents of two of Scotland’s leading academic research centres in the capture and simulation of reality."


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