1. About `EyA`

EyA stands for "Enhance your Audience". It is the name of a system used to record continuosly, and without human intervention, complete traditional Math and Physics lectures as for example those within the ICTP Diploma Programme at www.ictp.tv

Recordings of international conferences (with parallel sessions), seminars, talks, etc using EyA technologies can be seen at sdu.ictp.it

EyA technologies can be also used in ubiquitous learning (e-Learning, m-Learning, etc) programs as educational content producer.

The automated EyA recording system was reviewed in the Physics World Magazine in 2007, won the Innovation Prize of Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia of Italy in the non-profit and public institutions category in 2008 and got a honorable mention in the Education category of the Stockholm Challenge Award 2010.

openEyA is the Linux-based alternative to EyA also developed by the ICTP Science Dissemination Unit (SDU: see section Contacts).

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1.1 `openEyA-webcam` Features

openEyA integrates different technologies under Linux O.S. Ubuntu 10.10 to synchronize:

video in Flash format (to see whatever happens in front of a classroom podium),
screen captures from openEyA’s computer, or pictures taken with a (high resolution, Linux compatible) webcam to zoom specific areas of the classroom podium, blackboard and/or projected screen -if any, and
classroom audio (without the need to wear a microphone) ... and much more.

openEyA (and EyA) allows to archive and share traditional scientific lectures and talks carried out using, for instance, very large chalkboards found in classrooms and/or using digital presentations (PPT, PDF, animations, etc). It is innovative because of these main features:

- no dedicated human intervention during recording and post-processing (there is no need for an operator or editor); the automated audio-video-slides synchronization is done in few minutes with just a mouse click;
- scalable architecture and portable (use from one classroom to many);
- no special requirements for the lecturer (there is no need to press buttons or to wear a microphone, etc);
- zoomable slides or images (high resolution if using a HD-webcam); space disk is saved by cropping images when processing the synchronized audio-video-slides openEyA recordings. Duplicated slides, or slides that have only slighltly changed, are automatically discarded. Furthermore, images can easily be straighten out and recordings can be edited a-posteriori;
- low total cost of hardware implementation (see section Requirements openEyA-webcam);
- low-bandwidth features (recordings can be saved as Zip files).