Learning Light helps to identify Melt winners

Three of the five organisations recently awarded research and development (R&D) grants for 2007 under the ‘Melt’ programme were introduced to the scheme by Learning Light.

According to Mark Pittaway, Learning Light’s chief executive officer: “In 2006, Melt worked closely with Learning Light to ensure the Melt funding opportunity was actively promoted to companies working in the games and e-learning sectors. We’re delighted to have introduced to Melt three of those who eventually won grants to continue their work: ‘Earth Heart’, ‘Inside the Game’ and ‘Call of the Wild’.”

As a result, Melt has awarded grants to:
• ‘Earth Heart’ by Steve Manthorp & David Squire
Earth Heart is a serious game that promotes healthy lifestyles in primary students. Through collaborative and competitive play it also addresses KS2 targets across the National Curriculum.

• ‘Inside the Game: From Player to Producer’ by Jacob Hapgood & Sumo Digital Inside the Game is a video game that transports players into a fantasy studio to learn the craft of game development. The game is designed to be a fully immersive creative adventure which, as part of the game play, delivers the skills the player needs to make his/her own games in the ‘real world’.

• ‘Call of the Wild’ by Tuna Technologies
Tuna wants to make a microphone controlled videogame that lets players evoke emotional responses and bizarre behaviour from fantasy creatures by making animal calls made into a microphone.

• ‘The Hive: where bees make honey’ by Phil Shankland
'The Hive' links the physical and virtual worlds through the use of mobile tagging by allowing single shot photo capture on mobile phones of 'bee tags' - special printed tags that can be found in coffee shops, bars, venues. Members receive rewards in the form of 'honey points' for topping up 'The Hive' with their latest recommendations and can set fun tasks for other members.

• ‘Animoodle’ by Showcomotion Film Festival for Young People & Soda
Animoodle is a new concept that allows children’s drawings to come alive using a mixture of simple animation and simulated physics that combine to create a hybrid between drawings, puppets and toys. In Animoodle, children create characters and objects using an online interface based on Soda’s Moovl software, which imbues freehand drawings with simulated physics. The best creations rising from this ecology of user-generated-content are used to populate a live television format.

Launched in 2005, Melt is a three year, £1.5m digital content development programme for South Yorkshire. It is a programme of The Culture Company working with the BBC, Channel 4, Orange and PACT and is funded by Yorkshire Forward, Objective 1 South Yorkshire and Arts Council England. Melt operates in partnership with Screen Yorkshire.

Melt gives annual R&D awards to leading artistic, media and technical talent to explore the creative and economic possibilities of innovative, creative content for new and emerging media platforms. The awards help recipients to take selected proposals from initial concept stage to pilot or prototype stage, where they can attract further development funding, production investment or full commissioning.

Melt also enables South Yorkshire creative and digital companies and individual practitioners to work with partners anywhere in the world.

“Melt is providing a valuable service in allowing exciting, technology-related learning ideas to be explored and developed,” said Learning Light’s Pittaway. “We’re delighted to be able to use our expertise within the Melt programme.”

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Notes for Editors
About Melt
Melt is a three year, £1.5m digital content development programme for South Yorkshire which was launched in 2005. It is a programme of The Culture Company (www.theculturecompany.co.uk) working with the BBC, Channel 4, Orange and PACT and is funded by Yorkshire Forward, Objective 1 South Yorkshire and Arts Council England. Melt operates in partnership with Screen Yorkshire.

Melt gives annual research and development (R&D) awards of up to £50,000 to leading artistic, media and technical talent to explore the creative and economic possibilities of innovative, creative content for new and emerging media platforms. The awards help recipients to take selected proposals from initial concept stage to pilot or prototype stage, where they can attract further development funding, production investment or full commissioning.

Melt also enables South Yorkshire creative and digital companies and individual practitioners to work with partners anywhere in the world. For Melt application information please go to the Melt website. http://www.lovemelt.com

About Learning Light Ltd
Learning Light is a non-profit organisation that highlights and promotes best practice in the use of learning technologies. It also builds relationships between learning technology researchers, suppliers, buyers and learners providing learner-centric information to encourage the growth of learning technologies. By sharing comprehensive research, highlighting successes and failures, Learning Light helps to promote the learning technologies community.

Learning Light provides bespoke and individual services to help both buyers and suppliers of learning technologies. Its current services include:

Research Services
Providing access to expert insights, advice and guidance built on in-depth research. Helping organisations to effectively implement learning technologies (e-Learning) and integrate them within their workflow processes.

Membership Services
Partnering with leading thinkers in the industry and providing a network for all interested in the field to share information, knowledge, insight, experience and expertise, through utilising online community tools, networking events, conferences and guru seminars.

Professional Services
Learning Light’s highly experienced team offers organisations access to range of competitively priced consultancy services supporting buyers with the effective implementation of their learning technology (e-Learning) requirements. And, for suppliers, helping to provide a range of services to assist market awareness and generate growth.

In addition, Learning Light provides a comprehensive Professional Development programme to help Learning & Development professionals understand the significance of learning technologies in the workplace today and how to effectively implement them within the workflow processes of their organisation.

Sheffield-based Learning Light is supported by Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency for Yorkshire, and the Humber and Objective 1 South Yorkshire.

Further information from:
Mark Pittaway/ Kay Simpson, Learning Light, +44 (0)114 201 5703
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, +44 (0)1727 860405