ROUND TABLE SUPPORT THE ORMONDE CENTRE
Hungerford Round Table recently donated £1000 to FORS (Friends of Ormonde Resource Services) towards the cost of upgrading their Optimusic system.
The Ormonde Resource Centre is based at Newbury college and provides a base for adults with physical disabilities to maximise their choice, control and
quality within their lives, by providing an equal opportunities service.
Programmes of activities are developed in partnership using external resources to encourage independence. The centre provides this service to adults with physical disabilities from Hungerford, Kintbury, Lambourn and the
surrounding district and although based in Newbury has outreach centre’s in Hungerford, Lambourn and Thatcham.
The Centre at the college has an OptiMusic system that uses beams of light to switch on or off images and sound. It starts when a beam of light is broken and ends when the imagination runs dry. The system uses sensor lights to create an interactive multimedia environment. In its simplest form, it is a switch controlled by light. The user simply breaks the spotlight beam and a sensor activates sounds, images and other events.
The Ormonde centre currently has a room with this system permanently installed with 8 beam projectors suspended from a ceiling rig. These project the beams to the floor in a circular pattern. The user or users simply break the beam using a reflective paddle causing a pre-programmed sound to be played. The sounds can be any format that can be played by a normal computer i.e. each beam can be the sound of a farmyard animal, the effects of a haunted house or a complete song broken down into several bars, only when the beams are broken in the correct order does the song or tune play correctly.
The Centre uses OptiMusic to retain and or regain cognitive memory, peer group support, musical phrasing and memory, numerical counting and confidence building. Or some users just like to hear the different sounds generated by themselves.
The generous donation by Hungerford Round Table will enable FORS to purchase a necessary software and hardware upgrade and provide specialist training for staff to effectively operate the system and interact with the service users.
June 3rd 2009
Editors contact :Martyn Crocker (chair FORS)– 07962 024101
Email martyn.crocker@btinternet.com
