Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education @ Malta Robotics Olympiad 2019
Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education is proud to be a participant in the largest tech and gadgets exhibition on the Maltese Calendar. Visitors to the Saint Martin’s Institute stand are able to experience first hand a number of projects undertaken by students and academic staff in Virtual Reality (VR), 360 film making, User Experience (UX), Audio interaction through Kinect® sensors and games developed by students of the Games Development Challenge. Developing exhibits with the kind assistance of our partners: Heritage Malta & Methode Electronics (Malta) the stand offers interactive opportunities that may be enjoyed by adults and children alike.
The Institute is pushing the boundaries in immersive technology. Visitors will be able to experience what it is like to explore a virtual world using Oculus® Rift connected to a moving platform that has been developed by SMI, to research whether physical movement enhances the immersive transmitters of VR! The question that SMI is trying to answer is ‘Will the added motion enhance the effects on the brain and thus the experience?’
Introduction
Anything … Anywhere
This year’s participation is inspired by the insatiable curiosity of human beings to explore new places, some of which are inaccessible to the greater proportion of people. The Institute is working on the concept that using technology we can present a life like experience of anything imaginable — climbing Mount Everest, visiting Etna’s active crater, dive deep in the sea, penetrate the Great Pyramid of Khufu and explore an underwater cave, even going in space — in your living room, or in your classroom! Our students and academic staff at Saint Martin’s Institute are looking deep on how to convert the most popular and versatile gaming consoles into an educational tool. Luckily we do not need to venture far to build our prototypes, because Malta is rich in cultural heritage.
360° filming
Mdina by Night
Last year, Saint Martin’s Institute set up an exhibit to showcase the developments in interactive storytelling through a 360° film produced by Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education in partnership with Show of Arms, that was a reenactment of a salient moment in Malta’s turbulent history, including an obligatory gory sword fight! The viewer was right in the middle of the skirmish, experiencing first hand the swordsmanship of the Knights and Dejma fighting for their lives against the invading Ottomans.
Learn more on this First Skirmish of the Great Siege here.
This year we decided to raise our expectations sky high!
We actually got our Samsung Gear 360° SMC-200 VR camera mounted on a drone to get a bird’s eye view of Mdina from high up over the silent city’s walls. Enhancing the effects of the 360° film on the Oculus® Rift and the moving platform, you should expect a hair-raising experience that is safely anchored on the ground!
Learn more on this exhibit by following the story here.
The 2018 Can-Am Maverick x3 all Terrain Vehicle
Methode (Malta) is market leader in the production of sensors and switches mostly in use in automobiles. The company is a high tech company, that develops its own technology as in the case of the sensors used in the steering mechanism of the 2018 Maverick x3 all terrain vehicle on display at the MRO2019 on Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education stand.
‘Methode Electronics Malta Ltd provides a technological solution for the Can-Am Maverick x3 All-Terrain Vehicle steering mechanism. Owing to the forces that the wheels exert on the steering column and shaft system, it was imperative that these forces are managed and controlled through a sensor that transmits to a central processor to manage the steering of the vehicle. As a manufacturer of sensors and switches for the automobile industry, Methode Electronics Malta is at the forefront of leading edge technology that enhances efficiency and safety of the machine. Automobiles are already bristling with technology, and as the internet of things and autonomous vehicles continue to develop, Methode Electronics will continue in its mission to foster even more competences at the Maltese plant to buttress against the unknown future. ’
Halsaflieni Hypogeum by VR
Anything … Anywhere
The Institute is working to showcase how Malta’s built heritage, even as complex and priceless as the World Heritage Site — Halsaflieni Hypogeum, may be portrayed anywhere in the world using leading edge technology to as wide a global audience as the technology permits. The Institute is focusing its research efforts for Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), User Experience (UX), 360° filming and Computer Generated Imaging (CGI) on enhancing accessibility and learning opportunities about cultural heritage sites and monuments. With only limited access to the underground burial space, by a maximum of 60 visitors a day, we look forward to the day when you will be able to explore the Hypogeum and the many other Unesco wonders of the world from the comfort of your living room!
One of the first projects using the Oculus® Rift Virtual Reality Headset is the VR experience of the restored Hypogeum, Heritage Malta offered us a bit cloud from laser imaging and making the internal structures representing the real underground temple and burial grounds. Visitors to the Anything … Anywhere stand at the MRO2019 will be able to experience the Hypogeum riding a drone to explore the catacombs. This tailored VR experience embraces the principles of User Experience Design and 3D Graphics so that users can fly around the catacombs and explore chambers that are physically difficult to access by visitors of the catacombs. With a new twist, the experience will also include a moving platform to enhance even further the psychic effect to the physical feeling of flying through the chambers.
If this 360 degree view portrayed on Heritage Malta website is exciting, wait until you experience the ride on a drone inside the temple! Visiting us you will now experience what few experienced in real life.
If you want to learn more about User Experience and the development of this VR exhibit than you may wish to click here.
This VR experience has been developed with the full cooperation and kind support of Heritage Malta with whom the Institute’s Department of Computing is in a collaborating research agreement with respect the use of technology in cultural heritage.
Queen in Concert — LIVE SHOW
Be the winning tribute band at the MRO19
Center stage at the Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education MRO19 stand is the Live in Concert — QUEEN tribute, where YOU can be Freddie or any other band member, and give the audience a rendition of the band at its best!
This is NOT a Karaoke event, but a high tech system using Microsoft® Kinect® that will detect every movement on stage, and assess who is BEST at mimicking Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor!
The yellow jacket and musical instruments will be provided by us!
This exhibit was so popular that the Institute decided it will repeat it at the Science in the City to be held on Friday, 27th September, 2019 between 6 pm and midnight.
Get to know us
Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education is licensed by the National Commission for Further & Higher Education (NCFHE) with license number 196, and is an awarding institution at MQF level 5, 6, 7 & 8.
The Institute was established in 1985 and since the year 2000 joined the University of London as an Affiliate Institution, offering MQF level 6 degrees in Business, Computing & Finance conferred by the world renowned University of London. Students read for their degrees at Saint Martin’s Institute in Malta whilst sitting for examinations set and marked by the University of London Examination Boards.
A wide portfolio of Programmes in Computing
@ MQF level 5 Diploma & MQF level 6 BSc (Hons) Degrees
Exciting specialisations for your computer studies @ Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education, providing computing education since 1985!
You may embark on your career in computing right after fifth form, and study for your BSc (Hons) degree in any of the areas listed below at MQF level 5 Diploma. This qualification will open the possibility to read for a BSc (Hons) (MQF level 6 degree) at Saint Martin’s Institute in a parallel degree programme with the University or London, or opt to transfer for the BSc degree with the University of Malta in Computing.
Computing with eBusiness & Digital Marketing
Computing with Games Design & Development
Computing with Information Systems
Computing with User Experience
Creative Computing
