SpecialEffect News...
The power of positive thinking
17 February
This week Mick's been off to various parts of the UK on support visits, and the dynamic duo of Bill and Gillian have been flying our games flag at a roadshow for people with a visual impairment. It's left time for Hannah and Mark to really get to grips with the potential of brain controlled spelling. Emlyn Clay of Openvivo spent the afternoon with us taking us through the technicalities of the cutting edge G-Tec system.
In a nutshell, you're presented with an onscreen grid of characters (see picture below). The rows and columns of this grid are being automatically highlighted in an apparently random way. You 'type' a character by thinking of a consistent trigger word (bang, shoot, go, ping etc) whenever the character you want is highlighted.
The system works, and although the technology is still developing, it offers a fascinating glimpse at what might be possible in the future. An off-the-shelf product that 'types as you think' is still many years away, but for the present, at least, it represents a possible alternative means of communication for people who have the ability to operate it.
Freestyle support
10 February 2012
Dave and Jamie from our friends at Freestyle Games in Leamington signed up to the Brighton Marathon last year. Here they are striking a pose in their SpecialEffect running shirts! Dave and Jamie visited the charity a couple of weeks and we really appreciate them spreading the word and raising both funds and awareness!
24-hour gaming marathon gets green light
9 February 2012
Huge thanks to Gaming For Others (www.gamingforothers.com), a small group of avid gamers from Warwickshire in the UK that play awesome games for charity.
On the 6th of April they will start playing through a long list of Mario games, broadcast LIVE on the internet for all to see. The event will continue for as long as people keep donating.
Follow them on twitter (@GamingForOthers, hashtag #GamingFO) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/GamingForOthers) in the build up to the event to help spread the word, then tune in over the Easter weekend and join in the fun!
Remember to donate as much as you can and really put these guys through their paces!
Two wheels? We need you for a night!
2 February 2012
And now an event for the cyclists among our supporters... Lets start with a real challenge! 100km around London at night:
We're looking for ten people who are up for a serious challenge to make up a SpecialEffect Night Rider team!
If you are interested in taking part please contact Sally at sally@specialeffect.org.uk
Oxford United and SpecialEffect - a great match!
27 January 2012
Oxford United are pleased to announce a very special shirt for a very special cause.
For their home game against Rotherham United on 17th March, the team will wear special one-off match shirts bearing the logo of SpecialEffect and an embroidered message saying 'United 4 Charlotte' as well as sponsors Bridle Insurance.
United have been working very hard with SpecialEffect to help young Charlotte Nott. The three-year-old lost all four limbs in December 2010 to meningococcal septicaemia and her story has touched the hearts of everyone at the club. The Priory pub, close to the ground, has been collecting money to help Charlotte, with fans even bungee jumping before a game to help raise funds.
The team will wear the SpecialEffect shirts for just one match, with the shirts from each player in the squad auctioned off. All monies raised will be split 50/50 by SpecialEffect and the Charlotte Fund.
The club would like to thank Bridle Insurance for their very kind support with this project.
Chairman Kelvin Thomas said:
"We have all been so touched by Charlotte's story and this is the ideal way to bring her story to a wider audience and to highlight the fantastic work that SpecialEffect do. I visited SpecialEffect in Charlbury with Charlotte and her family and have seen first-hand the effect that their work is having on youngsters.
"We are allowed to change the shirts for one game per season under Football League rules and Bridle were right behind us when we suggested the idea. We thank them for their help.
"The auction will allow supporters to own a genuine worn matched shirt, a real collector's item, but more importantly it will allow us to raise a substantial amount of money to help youngsters, and one very special little girl who is part of our Oxford United family in particular."
A SpecialEffect welcome to Brendon Cross
16 January 2012
SpecialEffect are delighted to announce that respected local businessman Brendon Cross has agreed to become an honorary vice president of the charity. Brendon who is MD of STL Communications in Witney has been helping the charity in a number of ways including managing our team in last year's celebrity match against Arsenal. We are very excited to have Brendon on board.
Brendon (pictured above) said: "Whilst there are many small Charities doing extremely worthwhile work in and around Oxfordshire, it's impossible not to be inspired by the passion of Dr Mick Donegan and his team for the work that they do. I first met Mick at the West Oxfordshire Business Awards, where Special Effect had just won the first of what's sure to be dozens of awards, and after a tour of the offices I was hooked. I just hope that I can use my business contacts to heighten awareness for Special Effect and help generate continuing income to support Special Effect and the disadvantaged young people the charity so ably supports."
SpecialEffect Director named in entrepreneurs list
15 January 2012
SpecialEffect Director Mick Donegan has been named in a list of 33 entrepreneurs who make this world a better place. The list, compiled by IdeaMensch, contains social entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, an investor, a soldier, animal rights advocates, authors and even a reverend.
You can see the full list at http://bit.ly/AF2nwo
Specialeffect shine at Quatar summit
6 January 2012
SpecialEffect Director Dr Mick Donegan in his role as Adjunct Professor at SMARTlab, University College, Dublin, along with SMARTlab Founder (and also SpecialEffect Vice President) Professor Lizbeth Goodman recently received a great honour.
Their November 2011 presentation on gaze-controlled technology for people with disabilities at the World Innovation Summit for Education Conference in Qatar was selected by TV news channel Euronews as an example of European Best Practice.
At the two minute mark, check out Mick enabling young Katie, who has a severe physical disability, to perform music live with professional Irish musicians.
http://www.euronews.net/2011/12/23/defying-disability/
Eye-gaze reference hits the shelves
22 December 2011
The phenomenon of using eyes to control a computer has captured the public's attention over the last couple of years, and although it's a relatively new technology (in the mainstream at least) there's never been a comprehensive source of information that details the developments made to date.
But now a unique new book has just been published that gives an in-depth technical overview of the mechanics, evaluation and methodology of current eye-gaze systems and techniques. Gaze Interaction and Applications of Eye Tracking: Advances in Assistive Technologies was co-authored and co-edited by SpecialEffect Director Mick Donegan, and features contribution from over 20 research institutions, organisations and companies.
It's a collection of closely-related papers and articles that cover a wide range of issues involved in making eye-gaze work, and is an excellent reference resource for software developers, hardware manufacturers and researchers.
It's published by Medical Information Science Reference with the ISBN number 978-1-61350-098-9.
Auction boost for SpecialEffect
22 December 2011
Ken Hagar from West Oxfordshire Motor Auctions (WOMA) dropped in to present us with an amazing cheque for over £1500, the result of an auction of sports memorabilia and donations from their customers.
Ken, pictured below presenting the cheque to our Director Mick Donegan, said "WOMA are pleased to be supporting the vital work of SpecialEffect. It's a pleasure to be able to contribute, and we will continue to do what we can to help the charity."
Many thanks to Ken and all the team at WOMA, including their remarkable work on the night explaining our work to their customers and securing donations.
Tashtastic!
8 December 2011
Huge thanks to John Whitehouse from the gaming site www.ztgd.com who Movembered a moustache to help our work here at SpecialEffect.
