Virtual cafe at UQ Ipswich

Virtual and physical worlds will merge at the UQ Ipswich Campus next week, when Bachelor of Information Environments students celebrate their studio project.

The second year students have built a cafe exploring user experience of instrumented environments, intelligent artefacts and new ways of communicating and interacting with physical and virtual information.

Lights, microphones, sensors, SMARTBoards and projectors are being used to explore ambient technology, intelligent environments and remote interaction scenarios.

The different elements have been combined using the Java programming language and the Elvin notification service, developed at the Distributed Systems Technology Centre.

Subject coordinator Alan Boykiw said the display formed part of an intensive studio course in which students explored the complexity of relationships between people and computing environments. A key goal was to design and build solutions that provide value to people, as an alternative to building solutions biased towards technical issues.

'The second year students have displayed an overwhelming sense of initiative, insight and determination to create their studio project, which is the culmination of many hours hard work and dedication,' Mr Boykiw said.

'The display will showcase this dedication, whilst highlighting to industry leaders and other invited guests that the students are shaping a future where computing disappears into our artefacts and environments' adds Ian MacColl, the other member of the teaching team.

The display will be held at the University of Queensland Ipswich Campus in the foyer of Building 1 on Monday, 13 November from 4-6pm.

All media are invited to attend the event, which will promise great visual opportunities.

For further Information, Contact Storm Griffin At UQ Ipswich on 0411 513 360, Alan Boykiw on 07 3381 1120 or Peter McCutcheon at UQ Communications on 07 3365 1088.

You can also send an email to UQ Communications.