THIS WEEK IN TECTORIA

A community blog celebrating Victoria's booming tech sector

CONTACT THE TECTORIA BLOG

Got a cool story about technology and creativity in Victoria? Email stories, tips, pictures, links and anything of interest to Tessa Bousfield at: tectoria@viatec.ca

Visual effects from Victoria’s RaceRocks 3D

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[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/35586501 w=550&h=300]

One of the most interesting technology companies in Victoria is RaceRocks 3D, which specializes in creating high-end 3D imagery and models. RaceRooks build impressive products for the gaming, film and television industries as well as the business and defence sectors. Clients include Fox, ABC, Warner Brother and the US Army.

On the video above you can see Scott Dewis from RaceRocks talking about the company’s move into defense simulations and its expectations for growth.

You might be unfamiliar with this company but you have probably seen its visual effects on Lost, Pushing Daisies, FlashForward, and Fringe.  Take a look at the RaceRocks’ show reels.

Astronaut Julie Payette to speak at UVic

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There’s an interesting event coming up at the University of Victoria – Canadian astronaut Julie Payette will be giving an illustrated presentation on Monday August 27 at 7 p.m. in the Farquhar Auditorium.

Payette’s presentation will feature photos and video from her space flights and there will also be a Q&A . It’s free and suitable for all ages.

An astronaut and a professional electrical and computing engineer, Payette has twice left the Earth and logged more than 611 hours in space. During her mission on the space shuttle Discovery in 1993, she orbited the Earth 153 times and was the first Canadian to board the International Space Station. Payette served as mission specialist, operating the robotic Canadarm and supervising the spacewalk. In 2009, Payette served as flight engineer on the crew of the shuttle Endeavour during a mission to the space station.

Payette was chief astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency from 2000 to 2007. That’s quite the resume and it should be a fascinating evening.

Tickets must be reserved in advance. Call 250-721-8480 or go online.

Daniels Electronics sold for $25 million

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Victoria’s technology firms continue to attract attention from the world’s movers and shakers. Last week, Daniels Electronics was sold to an Australian company called Codan for 25 million. The deal will be completed later this week, according to the Times Colonist.

When the deal closes, Daniels will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Codan, retaining its brand and its 73 employees. Manufacturing, research and development will remain in Victoria. “And if we can grow international sales, which is the whole goal, we will do more manufacturing and more R&D in Victoria and that’s great news,” Gerry Wight, Daniels’ vice-president of sales and marketing, said.

Daniels – which sells most of its products in North America – designs and manufactures radio communications systems.  The company has a long history in this province. It was founded in 1950 by F. Gordon Daniels a former  telegraph operator at the Merry Island Lighthouse off the northern coast of British Columbia. He also helped establish a regional radio network for the police in northern BC.

Wifarer develops visitor app for Royal BC Museum

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I love this story in today’s Victoria Times-Colonist. Victoria tech firm Wifarer has developed a software system for the Royal B.C. Museum. Visitors will be able to use the app with handheld devices and it’s design to improve the whole experience inside the building.

The app serves as a map, a path-finding tool and a source of information for visitors as they pass particular exhibits. It identifies a user’s location in real time and draws a path to exhibits.

While the Royal B.C. Museum is the first museum to use the product, the system was introduced at the Shops at Prudential Center in Boston and is being tested at some of the largest hospitals, airports, convention centres and stadiums in North America.

The app will also be introduced in the next few months at the Bay Centre in Victoria and Vancouver International Airport. Philip Stanger, Wifarer’s chief executive, said the company makes money by selling the software to venues and believes the enduser should not have to pay for the app. “It’s a service the venue provides the user for engagement,” he said.

We have a family pass for 12 months to the Museum, which attracts a lot of visitors all year round – I can see many people using this app.

Wifarer’s mission is to help venues improve their visitor experience. I can think of a few airports that need its technology very badly.

What does a school technologist in Victoria do?

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A quick browse through the VIATEC job board reveals there is no shortage of open positions for folks in the technology industry in Victoria. One job caught my eye – school technologist. When I was at primary school, technology didn’t exist outside of the black and white television that was kept in the gym. The Internet was an impossible dream.

Even during my college years (1986-1989), there was a single Apple Mac available to the entire department of several hundred students and teachers where I studied. My children are growing up in a much different world here in Victoria and they expect technology to be everywhere, and that includes schools.

What does a school technologist do?  According to the job description from the Greater Victoria School District….

 The School Technologist’s (ST) primary responsibility is the administration and maintenance of school educational networks including servers, workstations, and supporting school staff. This position is required to install computer software, configure hardware systems, maintain current network configurations and troubleshoot network and software problems on a variety of different platforms that may include Windows and Macintosh. The ST works with the Help Desk in implementing and maintaining the service delivery of technology to the school. Duties may include providing advice related to technology purchases, installation and support of client access devices and printers, and software evaluation. The successful applicant will work in an environment of numerous and varied applications running on a wide range of computers and operating systems and supports both current and legacy technology.

So there you go.

(Image courtesy of the Greater Victoria School District)

Fire watch with Forest Technology Systems

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The dog days of summer are close and that means hearing frequent stories about forest fires. Forest Technology Systems, based in Langford and with around 60 employees, is a company that specializes in equipment that can monitor forest fire conditions.

FTS was founded in 1980 and is somewhat of a secret success. It has developed thousands environmental monitoring systems over the years – both fixed and portable. It also offers products that monitor water conditions as well. Clients are often government agencies that manage forestry in the United States and Canada, but the Mexican Navy is also a customer.

The company creates remote automated monitoring stations that can be placed in the middle of nowhere and stand everything that nature can throw at them.  The FTS website has a great story about how a piece of its technology survived a direct lightning strike. Apparently, there are more than 220 FTS remote fire and weather monitoring stations spread around British Columbia. The US Forest Service uses more than 470 of its stations.

Its headquarters, research and design lab, and factory are all located in Victoria. What a great story – a Greater Victoria company leading the way in its field with customers across North America.

UVic students develop online mapping tool for renters

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A couple of students at the University of Victoria have developed a new online mapping tool to help people looking for rental accommodation in the city. Computer Science PhD students Jamie Starke and Lars Grammel built the application for prospective renters to see where a rental property is located in proximity to work, school and transit routes in the city.

“When I was looking to rent a place here, I was frustrated by the amount of time I had to spend talking to property management companies to make sure I was aware of everything on the market,” said Starke. “Then I had to look at a map and sort out whether the location works for me. That’s when I decided to take matters in my own hands and create something that would allow users to do both easily and in one online location.”

The mapping tool was created through UVic’s Chisel group, which stands for Computer Human Interaction Software Engineering Lab. Chisel’s “primary objective is to develop tools that support people in performing complex cognitive tasks.”

Welcome to the Tectoria blog… day one

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Welcome to the Tectoria blog. We’re going to be showcasing the technology industry of Greater Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, through news, features, videos and lots more. You are going to learn about the companies, organisations and personalities that make this sector tick.

Companies will be profiled. Best practices will be shared. Innovation will be acclaimed. Opportunities will be outlined. We’ll talk about the international technology powerhouses found in Victoria and the newest start-ups just opening for business.

All areas of technology will be featured from software to hardware, from biotechnology to telecommunications and artificial intelligence. Heck, if someone is doing rocket science, we’ll write about it.

Stay tuned – you might be surprised, probably informed and perhaps entertained.