technology

Will people be manipulated by machines in future?

Renowned futurist David Wood has warned against a world in which “technology runs out of control” and viewers and consumers are “manipulated” by machines.

Wood was speaking on the “Accelerating digital revolution” at a special members-only London Centre event, hosted at IBC, in October.

The futurist, he explained, “anticipates a set of possible futures, including things that could go very badly [wrong], but, equally, is looking for opportunities”. Before embarking on a career as a technological seer, Wood was a pioneer of the smartphone industry.

Haydn Jones: In praise of the functional model of IT

It requires clarity – clarity of thought and clarity of action. It means being able to align technology deployment along business units and service capabilities. It means being able to distinguish between the cost of running the business and the cost of changing the business and it means being able to delineate effective spend from wasteful spend. This applies whether you are shipping cement or filming the next Happy Valley.  

RTS ANNOUNCES 2015 UNDERGRADUATE BURSARY SCHOLARS

RTS Bursary Student Abigail Freeman (Credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)

The RTS has this year invested £75,000 in two schemes – offering 20 bursaries for Television Production and Broadcast Journalism students and, for the first time, five bursaries for Computing and Engineering undergraduates. The bursaries aim to widen participation in media and related industries and support talented students from lower income backgrounds seeking to pursue a career in television. During their studies, each scholar will be given £1,000 per year to assist with their expenses.

The future of media in an age of transformative technologies

September’s International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) will mark the transition from hype to reality for a wide range of transformative new technologies. Attendees of the week-long broadcasting conference and exhibition in Amsterdam will be able to assess the growing impact of Ultra-HDTV, big data and Cloud computing.

It is no coincidence that IBC has themed its entire conference as “The future of media in an age of disruption”.

Thames Valley's daredevil drone

Thames Valley hosted a display of drone technology in July at Pincents Manor,  featuring daring fly-past stunts from Skypower’s Russell Cleaver, who guided a drone to hover in front of, and then fly towards, a setting sun.

Aerial-filming specialist Skypower provided a wire-cam system, typically used above sports stadia, and two drones for the display, although the larger, six-rotor Hexacopter proved too difficult to handle in the wind.

Our friend in the capital

As I find my seat among the 150 or more people who have come to Steve Dann’s latest Meetup, I know that the evening will be stimulating and, possibly, provocative. Dann, CEO of Amplified Robot, runs regular monthly Meetups, and this one, “AR and VR in medical education”, is being held in a lecture theatre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

London is an exciting place to be, as we live and work through the digital revolution in content creation and distribution.

'Schools must promote technical careers' says RTS Young Technologist

Michael Colyer

Hello, I’m Michael Colyer – and recently I won the RTS Young Technologist 2015 award. Needless to say, I was honoured to receive the prize and very much look forward to attending IBC later in the year to gain a greater understanding of where our industry may be heading.

Pioneering engineer recalls first days of TV

At 104, Paul Reveley is the Society’s longest-standing Fellow and its oldest member.

Paul was one of the great pioneering engineers of British television in the 1930s.  

His membership of the Society was approved in December 1937, just over a year after the start of the BBC Television Service from Alexandra Palace. It was also six months before the first production Spitfire was delivered and a week before the premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney’s first animated colour film.