Triggers rich media files
“The process is enabled by two simple pieces of technology”, says Andrew Goff, Education Director at ConnectED, SONY PlayStation’s specialist educational agency. “There is an Image Viewer application which is run on the PSP from the UMD so that see the bar codes (sema codes). There is also a software programme that allows teachers and publishers to attach their own media to up to 50 different sema codes, via the Content Creation Suite. Teachers can then print out this set of sema codes and use them wherever they may want to; students can then point their PSPs at the codes and trigger the designated media files”

Easy to use
It’s really easy to create content for Second Sight. Users can create all their own content within the Content Creation Suite and create links to tried and trusted established resources. You can create as little or as much as is required to bring your subject to life. The content creation suite gives the user the ability to create, open and save the Second Sight sema codes.  These codes can be embedded into documents or printed on their own. Users can attach JPEG images, MP3 audio, MP4 video and 3D objects to these individual sema codes. Print preview and print abilities allow a creator to see the list of which objects are attached to which codes.

The Image Viewer on the PSP will display JPEG images at 100% sizing allowing the user to scroll left, right, up and down around the image. The Image Viewer also contains an audio player that plays MP3 audio files with the ability to play, pause and restart, a video player that plays MP4 video files, AND a 3D viewer which shows 3D files.

Second Sight offers exciting opportunities for the future. Now the technology can play audio, video and 3D imagery, ConnectED are working to increase the technologies capacity to trigger flash and web based content. ConnectED are working closely with Blackridge Technologies to refine and develop the technology. Focusing closely on how electronic devices can interact with the real world and truly engage learners.
Second Sight has already been extensively piloted in schools using PlayStation Portables (PSPs) with the texts of Shakespeare plays, which has dramatically enriched the learning experience of students.

Romeo and Juliet GCSE textbooks
The Shakespeare / PSP SECOND SIGHT pilot has involved ConnectED and Cambridge University Press, the UK’s leading educational publisher of Shakespeare. “The idea,” says John Pettigrew of CUP, “is to take traditional text and re-invigorate it with rich media on a standard consumer games based device like a PSP. We believe this will encourage and enhance students’ desire to read printed materials like books and at the same time give them the ability to work with relevant media that will help them understand the text more effectively.”

Pilot programmes have been run successfully at a variety of different schools across the country around the standard GCSE text Romeo and Juliet. When students read the text of the play directly from their standard book, they point the PSP camera at the small sema code printed next to the text. When the PSP camera ‘sees’ that code, it triggers a video of the scene the student is reading on the screen of the PSP, or an audio track of how the cadence and metre of the play might be read by an actor, or a photo of a famous production of the play.

Museums, galleries and a raft of academic institutions are interested
“What is exciting,” says Andrew Goff of ConnectED, “is that this process of blended learning between traditional text and a PSP has a broad application across all of education, training and the visitor events industry. We have already had strong interest from other mainstream publishers, museums and galleries and a raft of academic institutions. Shakespeare is a great starting point as this language and literature are at the heart of traditional education but the impact of this across all sectors will be profound and far reaching.
“Interactive multimedia content is very important. Students are used to playing and reviewing rich media files in audio, video and in gaming, anytime and anywhere. They expect a richer experience. PSP™ and Second Sight helps fulfil that need. The PSP is easy to use, extremely robust and portable, and most importantly Second Sight is very engaging and exciting to learners across education”

Second Sight for PSP will be available to purchase exclusively from ConnectED from January 2010. Accredited educational establishments will benefit from a new and cost-effective pricing structure from ConnectED for bulk purchase of SONY PSP units and Second Sight from January 2010.

For more information: www.connectededucation.com www.uk.playstation.com/education