| BETT 2010 trade show visitors to experience the Panasonic complete education solution package |
Visual solutions
Among the products that will be on display in the classroom is the soon-to-be-launched UB-T880 elite Panaboard - Panasonic's ‘multi-touch' interactive whiteboard. Up to three points can be touched at once on the board's surface to interact with images, data and text.
As a complete provider Panasonic offers a true complete solution by delivering the elite Panaboard with Easiteach software - the whole class teaching and learning application. With the integration of third party expertise Panasonic enables to simplify customer's experience and increase efficiency.
Panasonic are also showcasing a brand new projector engineered specifically for the education market. The 2,500 lumen product which has a short-throw ratio of 0.5:1 overcomes space constraints in the classroom & is ideal for use with whiteboards, reducing shadow interference. With the new PT-ST10E, Panasonic offers a full range of education solutions, from small portable units and projectors for Interactive boards, up to high brightness products for lecture halls and auditoriums. With well established products covering all categories, efficiency for the end user is increased when sourcing, maintaining and using our solutions. The new PT-ST10E is due to the market in the second half of calendar year 2010!
Communications solutions
Panasonic will also be showcasing its new gesture-recognition technology, which has been specially developed for the education sector. Gesture recognition can be used in conjunction with Panaboards, cameras, microphones and speakers to enable teachers to operate slide shows and videos using gestures alone. It can also count the number of students who raise their hands to answer a question and display additional clues, animation or celebratory messages as appropriate.
"The education sector is by its very nature interactive, and these new digital technologies will improve the experience of teachers and students alike," said Brennan Peyton, General Manager, Imaging Department, Panasonic System Network Company Europe (PSNE). "Being able to count the number of raised hands in a class and offer the appropriate encouragement to students will enhance learning throughout the class and deliver more fun, engaging and rewarding lessons. Gesture recognition technology really has to be seen to be believed."
| Panasonic offers a true complete solution by delivering the elite Panaboard with Easiteach software |
Peyton predicts that remote learning at all levels will increase over the coming years, and Panasonic will also be demonstrating its new HD Visual Communication System, designed to improve distance learning far beyond what is possible with current technology. The system will be launched in Europe later in 2010.
Audio solutions
"The new HD Visual Communication system combines a plasma display which receives high-definition images, an HD visual communication unit and remote control, a video camera and a boundary microphone," continued Peyton. "Students can compare high-res images remotely, and sound quality is consistently good."
Alongside the Panaboard, gesture recognition, and the HD Visual Communication System, Panasonic's classroom of the future will demonstrate a wide range of other technologies. These include audio solutions designed to improve students' concentration and reduce teacher voice fatigue - increasing academic performance and reducing behavioural problems.
Security solutions
As well as providing advanced audio and visual solutions to the classroom, the Infrared Wireless Microphone System has a built in panic button to help teachers feel more secure at work. When the button is pressed, the system can send emails to alert others of a potential problem, or can activate a panic light. If the microphone is linked with a video camera, it can also start filming the class and recording sound and pictures.
The classroom of the future will also host toughbook PCs, IP camera systems, professional projectors, plasma displays, telephone systems, Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telephones and multifunctional printers as well as high-quality document scanners. The classroom will emphasise how Panasonic's solutions help teachers to deliver education more efficiently and reduce total cost of ownership. Visitors to BETT can visit the classroom and test the technology at stand D102.