About
This is the personal website and blog of Rowan de Pomerai. Here’s a little about me…
My Job
I work for BBC Future Media & Technology, which I joined in September 2007 on a training scheme which allows me to spend short periods of time (about 6 months) on a variety of projects over my first 2 years. I am primarily based in Research & Development, where I started in the Production Magic team working on camera-based tracking of presenters to allow touch and gesture interaction with large screens. I then moved to working on tapeless production in the Ingex project, providing a monitoring an management interface for the file based recording and content management system.
I then spent some time in our Technology Consultancy team, working for BBC HD on monitoring, testing and configuration of multi-channel audio systems (surround sound) and Dolby E in particular. I blogged a fair bit about my work in the BBC HD Audio category.
Right now I’m based in Manchester on the development of BBC R&D’s new laboratory in the North. I’m tackling the questions of just how one creates a modern media research and development from a blank canvas. Again, I’m blogging about it.
My Degree
In July 2007 I finished my 4th year of study at the University of York, and graduated with a first class MEng (Master of Engineering) in Electronic Engineering with Media Technology. Full details of the course can be found on the course website, and this interesting and varied course provided a good grounding in analogue and digital electronic design and analysis, mathematics, software, production and even management.
Some of the things I enjoyed most included a variety of production and postproduction modules and work on automated image analysis. In Advanced Digital Synthesis we designed and produced an electronic Etch-a-Sketch, using a VGA monitor as output, some rotary knobs as input and implemented on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). In our Software Engineering course I was project leader for a team of 9 who had to design and implement presentation software in Java. Our product, the Live Real-time Presenter (LRP) was a network-enabled presentation environment in which one presenter can control multiple displays, for example in a PC classroom. Via the presenter display the operator has full control of slide build order, highlighting and animation, all at run time without pre-programming everything. This allows for much more dynamic and flexible presentations than mainstream software. The real sense of achievement in this module came from giving our final presentation using our own software.
In my 4th year, I worked on a project using a Visual Augmented Environment (VAE). The user is presented with a flat, dark surface, and a white card. Mounted above this is a projector and a camera, and a 3-dimensional animation is projected onto the card. The user can then move and rotate the card, and the animation reacts accordingly. I designed the 3D animation based on a television ident for our student TV station and wrote the card-detection software to locate the card from the camera image (in C++). A demonstration video is available.
A variety of my reports and other coursework can be found in the a series of blog posts.
Masters Project
My final project was based on a concept I devised for improving interactivity and visitor experience in museums. The ‘meseum’ system takes the concept of interactive touch displays and integrates them into a connected network across the whole museum. By doing so, individual visitors’ interests can be deduced, and relevant information can be presented to them, along with suggestions for other exhibits, books and so on. Additionally, personalised souvenirs can be produced in the form of CD-ROMs, books or webpages. This content personalisation was the main focus of the demonstration system, and provides extensions to the well-established systems used in some museums. A brochure for the system is available for download.
York Student Television
York University is lucky enough to have an entirely student-run TV station, broadcasting around campus and on the Internet and whilst at the university, I was involved throughout my time at York, holding committee posts such as Head of Presentation, Studio Manager and Station Director. 
YSTV is England’s oldest student-run television station, broadcasting 24 hours a day to monitors in bars and common rooms on campus, as well as live to the world via the Internet. YSTV has its own studio and produces about 2 to 3 hours of new original programming per week, almost all live. They also provide coverage of campus events such as Battle of the Bands and Student Union Elections, with the latter being a particularly challenging outside broadcast due to its use of 2 studios working live together but being half a mile apart!
I was involved in a variety of shows at YSTV, including producing two. In the summer of 2004, LipSync was born; a comedy panel show along the lines of Have I Got News For You, with original and ‘borrowed’ rounds. I developed the format, wrote the show, directed and occasionally even presented it. In 2006, the show was taken over by a new producer, Rick Selby, and I went on to my next project. See LipSync for yourself at YSTV’s Watch website.
In my final year at university, I teamed up with good friend Sarah Cheyne to produce Limited Edition. The show was a laid-back magazine show with a silly side. We devised features such as Odd Socs, the guide to unusual societies on campus, Star In A Remote Controlled Car, in which campus ‘celebrities’ tried their luck on our very own track, and Food Cheyne, which was mostly just a great excuse to make a play on Sarah’s surname! Once again, it can be seen online on YSTV’s Watch website.
National Student TV Association
YSTV is a member of NaSTA, the National Student Television Association. The organisation holds a very large (and highly alcohol-fueled) annual social event with people from student stations all over the country. The 3-day conference provides a framework to share ideas and to examine each other’s work, and to have it judged by industry professionals in 14 awards categories. YSTV has won many awards over the years, including highly commended awards for our 2005 and 2006 ‘Best Broadcaster’ showreels, both of which I was involved with producing. Our 2006 best Broadcaster entry can be found on Google Video
NaSTA has an unusual structure, in that there is no central office or team of people, rather one (or two) of the member stations host the organisation and the event each year. In 2006, YSTV were joint hosts of NaSTA with LSTV in Leeds. I co-ordinated YSTV’s end of things, with my counterpart Sarah Whitebread leading the charge in Leeds. At our conference, we arranged a variety of guest speakers including Greg Dyke, and many events for members to meet and discuss what they do. The awards ceremony itself was a great success, and professionals from companies such as Five, the BBC, and Mentorn were kind enough to judge the awards.
Video Editing
Though my job is technical, my interest in media and experiences at university led me to an interest in video editing. While now primarily an occasional hobby, I have done some freelance work for the Further Mathematics Network, part of Mathematics In Education and Industry. The network supports the teaching and learning of Further Mathematics at A Level and AS Level. I was initially commissioned to produce a promotional video for the network to highlight their work to schools, universities, students and industry. However, after much discussion with the team, the idea evolved into a series of Video Frequently Asked Questions, or vFAQs. I filmed much of the footage, and edited the short videos to answer questions about the network. The videos are now available at FMN’s website.