From HIT Lab NZ
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
New Zealand’s super high speed research and education network, KAREN, attracted high level attention in Seattle last week when Prime Minister Helen Clark visited the University of Washington’s Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab UW) and linked by video conference to the HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury.
At the University of Washington Lab, Ms Clark and the president of the University of Washington, Mark Emmert, were able to talk with HIT Lab NZ director Dr Mark Billinghurst and Lab international director Professor Tom Furness who were sitting in the HIT Lab NZ in Christchurch. The near broadcast quality high definition link is possible using video conferencing equipment supplied by LifeSize and run over KAREN.
“Communication of this type is critical for New Zealand to stand on the international stage and contribute to important international research collaborations,” says Mark Billinghurst director of the HIT Lab NZ. The HIT Lab NZ has several ongoing research collaborations with the Seattle-based lab where KAREN will now enable the delivery of this work.
Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network’s (KAREN) launch last year included a live link between the University of Auckland and the HIT Lab NZ demonstrating the quality of real time collaboration. KAREN can carry huge amounts of data at 10 gigabits a second, 200,000 times faster than dial-up internet and 10,000 times faster than a household broadband connection. It is an important tool for collaborative research, communication and sharing large data sets.
- Contact
-
- Deb Parker
- Communications Consultant
- HIT Lab NZ
- 03 3642349
- 021 477 359
- deb.parker@hitlabnz.org
About KAREN – www.karen.net.nz
KAREN (Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network) facilitates high capacity, ultra high-speed connectivity between New Zealand’s tertiary institutions, research organisations, libraries, schools and museums, and the rest of the world.
- Contact
-
- Julie Watson
- Communities Manager
- REANNZ
- 04 913 1095
- 021 674 954
- julie.watson@reannz.co.nz
