From a Distance...

 
Online Newsletter for Arkansas Distance Learning

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Real-Time Presenter
by G. Gordon Apple

Ed4U, an Arkansas company formerly in Redondo Beach, CA, is developing a new type of course presentation product that it plans to release in the first half of 2009. The product is called Real-Time Presenter Video Edition (RTP-VE). RTP-VE’s unique features allow the producer to create a live presentation with professional quality for a group of people in a lecture hall while simultaneously broadcasting the presentation in real-time over video delivery systems. RTP-VE’s robust design supports re-broadcasting and course/presentation capture for asynchronous access on the world-wide-web. It is also an ideal “course capture” tool for later Internet viewing.

While there are many products available (such as Wimba) that do part of what RTP-VE does, none offer a full-functioning integrated package for creation through delivery production cycle. And “delivery” can represent communication to lecture halls, private video networks, Internet streaming, DTV stations, cable, satellites, YouTube, and iPhone.

Instead of the usual approach of trying to piece together diverse, somewhat incompatible technologies, Ed4U has approached the design of RTP-VE from the ground up, designing a system specifically tailored to meet all the educational production needs of the presenter, the offering institution, and the viewer. RTP-VE provides a fully integrated approach to content planning, creation, presentation, and delivery. It is a feature-rich multimedia application that is equaled by none in today’s market.

For content development, RTP-VE has features for outlining, screen creation, drawing, time planning, media libraries, templates, and automated video placement. It also has a unique text-flow capability that allows rich text to flow into any shape, including ones with multiple holes or objects within them. Screen size and aspect ratio can be set for TV, HDTV, iPhone, or any custom size.

For presentation, RTP-VE provides many unique tools such as remote control access, resizable preview screens (allowing forward and backward relative sequence views), automated segments, complete sequence/deviation control, video control, screen annotation, and attention directors (think laser-pointer on steroids). Temporary information banners and caption layers can also be added to a presentation. A separate speaker’s notes window includes features such as planned and actual time progress and completion alarms.

Video integration and control is one of the many unique features in which RPT-VE excels. Although a separate video window can be used if desired, video can be placed within the presentation anywhere, at any size the presenter chooses. In addition, the presenter can control the shape of the video, its orientation, and filter effects including chroma-key (“blue” screen). Video can be set to automatically animate to the desired position/characteristics for each presentation advancement step.

Its recording capability is another unique feature of RTP-VE. During a live presentation, a separate recording of the video and audio is made for each presentation step, allowing the complete presentation to be replayed at any later time. This features also allows for easy editing/replacement of any segment without resorting to separate video editing tools.

The presentation output can be pushed to a local projector or to video screens, and can be simultaneously encoded. The presentation media is delivered via Internet streaming or for digital broadcasting through TV stations, cable, or satellite. Integration of Q&A, including optional video and other features is being considered for a later release.

RTP-VE is the first of a family of products planned by Ed4U. RTP-PVE (Professional Video Edition) and RTP-I (Interactive) are currently in the planning stages and will build on the proprietary technologies developed for RTP-VE. The latter is a radical departure from current approaches for media production and its revolutionary design is intended to form the basis for a new type of interactive educational delivery system that with DTV and satellite can even reach areas where broadband Internet cannot.

In short, Ed4U intends to be a major educational software/services provider based in Arkansas. RTP-VE is a first entry-level product with the potential of a making a substantial technological contribution in Arkansas’ educational and economic communities.

About the Author

Ed4U was founded by G. Gordon Apple, PhD. An Arkansas native, Dr. Apple left the state to complete his doctorate in Electrical Engineering at Purdue. After graduation, he worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, NJ, and TRW in Redondo Beach, CA. He designed and built the first digital transform codec, designed part of the Space Shuttle communications system, did the first design of a digital broadcast system for CBS, and was the first to promote using personal computers for distance learning and designed a system to do it.

He has been involved in communications and educational technologies for many years and is now back in his home state with a determined purpose of applying decades of accumulated knowledge in a desperately needed endeavor: making education available to everyone.

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