Created by Birmingham and Solihull’s New Technology Institute and supported by the Learning and Skills Council Birmingham and Solihull and Microsoft, the Wired, Inspired Technology Zone involved Year 10 youngsters from each of three Birmingham schools.
WITZ attendees spent two days at UCE’s Technology Innovation Centre (tic) where they built, and raced, their own robots, as well as spending time in tic’s Media Vault. As part of this section of the programme, the teenagers were treated to presentations about Interactive TV and Media in the Home, given by Lewis Hunt and Mat Randall.
They then experienced how the tic’s Virtual TV Studio operates and were involved in the creation of 3-D graphics of themselves, using the Avatar Booth. With the assistance of tic’s Maureen Davis and Chris Alvey, the students, having been filmed and scanned, were placed into 3-D computer generated environments.
Together with other organisations that provided activities in the WITZ week, the Media Vault team hopes the teenagers who took part will be ‘wired and inspired’ to take up careers in IT and e-Media.