BBC | Autumn Watch

New Ways to Play Videogames Announced in California

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:13:53 +0000

The overall theme of this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo was the fight back of the console in response to the rapidly rising popularity of games on smartphones and tablet devices. Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony all competed for attention with a range of announcements that aimed to win back consumer's interest in videogame consoles.

Microsoft was the first to take to the stage in Los Angeles on Monday. Among a wide range of announcements, its new SmartGlass concept stood out. It's a new way to use smart phones and tablets to control the Xbox 360 and promises to make it easier to find content using the touch screen before "sending" it to the TV.

Once the content has started playing, complementary information is displayed on the touch screen devices. For example a map that depicts the location of a current scene, or information about the cast. There isn't a firm date yet for this to come to market. It'll be interesting to see how close to concept SmartGlass is by the time it reaches consumers. There are still a number of technical and commercial barriers to sort out between now and when the service launches.

At Sony's press conference on Monday afternoon, a range of new features for their PlayStation 3 and PS Vita games consoles were announced. Most striking is the Wonderbook accessory that creates a new way to play a videogame using the metaphor of a traditional book.

Players are invited to place a blank story book in-front of the PlayStation Eye camera which is then transformed into a virtual pop-up book on your TV screen. Players can interact with the story using the PlayStation's Move controller - the equivalent to Nintendo's motion sensitive remote control.

When it launches in the autumn a number of books will be available, including a title called Book of Spells from J K Rowling. In addition to delivering great content, the reliability of the experience will be key for consumers - something underlined by demonstration difficulties in the press conference.

Nintendo held their press conference last, on Tuesday morning. Having announced the Wii U last year, Nintendo's task was to persuade consumers why they should invest in what is essentially the Wii mark 2.0.

The answer revolves around its new Wii U Controller. This adds a tablet-style screen to the traditional game controls to offer new ways to play. One player can use the Wii U Controller with extra information from the screen in a different role to other players who use the old style Wii Remote.

Enhanced HD graphics and new style Wii U games are the other key incentive and mean it can compete for enthusiast gamers who have previously migrated towards Microsoft and Sony. Unlike Microsoft's Kinect accessory, the Wii U Controller requires a new console and replaces the original Wii. Again a firm date and price has not yet been announced for release.

Despite the glitz and the glamour, it remains to be seen whether these gaming console products and experiences will attract public attention away from cheaper, shorter games on phones and tablets. Watch this space.

Andy Robertson is a Family Gaming expert and presents the Family Gamer TV show

Stammerer Ashley Morrison gives his view on The King's Speech

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:41:29 +0000

As a lifelong stammerer, I am delighted at the amount of publicity surrounding the film The King's Speech and Colin Firth's superb portrayal of the angst, fear, tension and embarrassment felt by 'Bertie' - also felt by stammerers on a daily basis. An intensely moving and emotional film, there are some comical scenes too - mainly those showing the unorthodox therapy techniques used by speech therapist Lionel Logue.

Therapy for stammerers has moved on considerably since then. Today there are a number of electronic devices that are available to help but how successful are they? Altered auditory feedback (AAF) devices work on the principle of replicating the so-called 'choral effect'. When stammerers speak (or sing) in unison with other people, the stammer usually disappears. Certainly that is true for me. Ask me to recite The Lord's Prayer alone and you'll be praying for salvation before too long; ask me to recite it along with the rest of the congregation and you'll never know my dark secret.

These devices attempt to replicate the choral effect by playing back the stammerer's speech through the earpiece fractionally after they have spoken and/or at a different pitch, depending on how they are configured.

Two of the most common devices are the VoiceAmp and the SpeechEasy, both of which I have tried. The SpeechEasy costs in excess of £3,000, although funding can be obtained via the Access to Work scheme. Cosmetically, it is nicer to use because it fits discreetly into the ear like a hearing aid. But it's not possible to alter the settings yourself so you have to take it back to the supplier to do it for you.

The VoiceAmp starts at £595 for a basic model, which is roughly the size of an average smartphone and comes with a very obvious earphone and microphone on a cable. On the plus side, it does come with software which means that it is fully customisable at home. There are also extras one can purchase, such as a wireless option which costs a further £455.

But did they work? Yes...temporarily. But now, unfortunately, the benefit seems to have worn off. The trouble is, the brain is rather sneaky and it seems to know when I am using an electronic substitute. My SpeechEasy tends to sit in its box most of the time. A bit disappointing, given that I have seen claims of an 80% success rate.

The most long-lasting controlling technique I have used is actually based around costal breathing - although I am not very comfortable using it...the reasons for which I am currently analysing, in fact. Costal breathing basically means taking a large intake of breath by flexing one's diaphragm and intercostals muscles (imagine the type of breath you take when you yawn) and projecting one's voice in a totally focussed manner at a slower, more controlled rate. Singers and stage actors practise costal breathing all the time. In fact, the rapid squats which Logue made Bertie perform were based around a similar principle - forcing Bertie to project his voice on a strong out-breath.

But since we have only fairly recently established that the cause of stammering is due to a neural malfunction, perhaps investing so much hope into electronic devices or, indeed, any other therapy, is rather dangerous. The stammerer's premotor cortex (the part of the brain responsible for the planning process in speech) doesn't work properly - we know that much. Bring on the neurosurgeon...

So I must conclude that these devices alone are not sufficient to get stammerers out of their stammering hole - just as Logue only helped and did not cure Bertie with his techniques. The truth is there is no cure, despite claims you may have seen on some websites and or heard on recent radio interviews. All stammerers can really hope for is to be helped through the daily trial of speaking by using a combination of techniques, therapies and willpower. You can help by being patient, not looking away, not looking like you're in a hurry and not trying to guess the rest of the sentence. You'd be surprised just how often you're wrong!

Ashley Morrison is a freelance blogger, copywriter and editor.
You can read an extended version of Ashley's blog here.

You and Yours kick-started my career

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:57:28 +0000

As we mark the You and Yours 40th anniversary, listeners have been writing in and telling us how the programme has affected their lives. Eileen Masters says an edition in the 1970s brought about a life-changing career move. Here's Eileen's account and let us know if your life has been similarly affected.

"It was in the mid-1970s and I was at home with my two young sons contemplating a return to work, listening to You and Yours, as usual. An item about careers mentioned the Institute of Accounting Staff (now the Association of Accounting Technicians).

It was a stepping-stone to a career in accountancy. I followed it up and enrolled. I took a correspondence course and was delighted to pass the exams first time with credit and started work as a trainee clerk with a local chartered accountant.

In 1980 we heard of an international school in Pakistan that needed a bookkeeper and a music teacher. As my husband was a music teacher, and it was a school that our sons could attend, we applied, were accepted, and spent three years working up in the Himalayan foothills.

Just as we were leaving the Himalayas, we were invited by the Bishop of Hyderbad to go to Sukkur in Sindh to nurture a newly founded hostel for disadvantaged boys.

In addition to the work at the hostel, I was asked by various institutions to visit and advise or audit their financial systems. As a result, I travelled throughout Pakistan, meeting some wonderful people along the way.

In 1989 we returned to the UK. I worked for Oxfam and added to my qualifications with a BSc from the Open University and an MSc in Audit and Management Consultancy from what is now Birmingham City University. Working for Oxfam, I spent six months in Kabul, Afghanistan, at the time of the civil war when Kabul was being heavily bombarded, and a more relaxed six months in Mozambique. I also visited the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, and worked throughout the UK and Eire.

I am now retired having had a most enjoyable career, and with the help of a professional writer I am now writing a book about my adventures "Salaam Mrs Ellen". Thank you, You and Yours!