A testing room has been set up in Brighton for digital media producers to watch the watchers.

The usability laboratory at Brighton University is a mock-up of a small living room with a comfy sofa and a television.

Test subjects are asked to settle down to watch the latest in digital television (DTV) programming while producers observe and record their reactions through a two-way mirror.

Business development manager Julie O'Sullivan said: "The laboratory is the only one in the city. We set it up as a key training element for the university's new short courses for the digital television industry.

"Our three-day courses are aimed at people already working in the industry, who want to hone their skills and learn how to best target their audiences.

"We are covering all aspects of production and it was essential to include training about the ongoing development of DTV programming, which comes from user feedback."

An external dark room has been set up outside the laboratory. It has been equipped with specialised observation systems to help producers assess the impact of the content they are showing behind the two-way mirror.

Ms O'Sullivan said: "A computer in the dark room is connected to a camera to record the reactions of the viewers.

"This is shown on screen alongside a display of the content the subjects are watching. The producers can see what bits of their work get a laugh, a frown or disinterest by comparing the two simultaneous images.

"The students can make additional notes on the screen, which are captured and stored by the software to build up a comprehensive bank of reference material. We can set up the same type of assessment environment for PDAs (personal digital assistants), web pages or mobile phones, which are all platforms we teach design for."

The usability room will feature strongly in the second of four short courses starting on November 22.

Ms O'Sullivan said: "There has been growing recognition of the importance of the new media cluster in Sussex and we have been able to secure funding to develop services to meet the needs of these businesses.

"With investment of more than £100,000 from industry sources, we have built a fully operational studio in the image of a new media agency to act as our classroom.

"It's far removed from traditional lecture halls. We have banks of computers installed with the latest DTV production software to make sure the training we are offering is relevant to the workplace."

A £96,000 grant from the South East England Development Agency Seeda (SEEDA) has been used to subsidise the courses, cutting fees by 50 per cent.

The four short courses are project management in digital media, evaluating usability, digital television marketplace and understanding current and future digital television technologies.

For more details visit the university web site.

www.brighton.ac.uk/
interactive/ Alix Macfarlane evolution @theargus.co.uk