Log in
RealVNC is a spin out company launched by the University of Cambridge researchers who developed Virtual Network Computing (VNC) remote access technology. VNC allows connection and control of devices from anywhere in the world, irrespective of operating system. VNC is now the default mechanism for remote sharing of graphical desktops across the internet. RealVNC has sold over 300 million licences across 175 countries. The company has won three Queen's Awards for Enterprise and the Royal Academy of Engineering's MacRobert Award, the UK's premier engineering prize.
Research in machine virtualisation conducted in the Cambridge Computer Laboratory from 1999 onwards provides the basis for much of the present day Cloud.
Xen is a virtual machine monitor that supports execution of multiple guest operating systems consuming little overhead and providing resource isolation. This was prototyped in the Laboratory and led to XenSource, a spin-out company, which was founded in 2005. XenSource was acquired in 2007 by Citrix Systems for US$500M, and products that were launched from December 2007 onwards have had a profound impact throughout the period. Xen is now used on millions of machines around the world, providing deployment flexibility and savings on power. It forms the basis of Citrix XenServer and Amazon's Elastic Cloud 2.
Research undertaken between 2002 and 2012 at Birkbeck has helped establish a participatory approach to cyber-physical computing as the predominant methodology for the construction of mobile and pervasive computing systems. Cyber-physical systems intimately interlink material entities and their information representations as existing on the Internet. Our specific research contributions in systems architecture, privacy protection and human dynamics have demonstrated how the user's activity can be exploited as the core ingredient in building such systems. Our research has resulted in the implementation of applications that are used to monitor biodiversity across the globe, to assess and support Parkinson's disease patients in the UK, to improve the well-being of office workers in London, to engage the public in a debate about the costs and benefits of pervasive computing, and to inform legislatures in the UK and the US.
Low-cost wireless solutions beyond the technologies available previously and developed at Loughborough University since 2005 are used by IDC, and Sure, who integrate these technologies in several products and services so generating impacts in terms of:
The technologies have been deployed in a logistics distribution centre (ToysRUs), an automotive manufacturing process (Toyota), and a safety and security system (Sure).
A quiet technology revolution in the UK has been changing the way that police officers on the beat and hospital nurses access and record information, using handheld electronic notebooks that bring large time and cost savings. This revolution began as a University of Glasgow research programme and led to the creation of a successful spin-out company, Kelvin Connect. Acquired in 2011 by the UK's largest provider of communications for emergency services, Kelvin Connect has grown to 30 staff. Its Pronto systems are now in use by 10% of UK police forces and nursing staff in several UK hospitals.
The underpinning research has led to a methodology for cost-effective monitoring systems to interpret complex and emergent conditions in real-world applications. There are ten different organisations utilising the technology, benefitting the UK economy and health care provision, both nationally and internationally. These include MAST Group Ltd, Electricity North West Ltd, TMMHRC (India) and the Milestones Trust (Bristol). The impacts are (i) Economic: improving business capabilities and UK company profit margins (ii) Societal: benefiting health sector organisations in India and in the UK through improved diagnosis and care for the elderly and vulnerable; and (iii) Environmental: reducing waste and carbon footprint.
From 2005, a body of research undertaken at the University of Essex has developed a novel debug support architecture for systems on a chip (SoC). This platform successfully addresses the challenge of debugging applications executing on SoCs with multiple processor cores. A system-centric architecture is used, which achieves substantial improvement in compression and requires dramatically less silicon real estate than existing state of the art applications. The research underpins `UltraDebug', which is commercialised via the spin-out `UltraSoC'. UltraSoC has attracted investment worth £5million (the majority coming from venture capital sources) and is currently working with PMC-Sierra to incorporate its innovative technology into PMC's next generation of storage controllers.
Research at the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering on computer vision tracking led to the creation of Extra Reality Limited in 2010, which was subsequently acquired by a new company called Zappar Limited in May 2011. Zappar employs 17 staff and had revenue of GBP612k in the financial year 2012/13, an increase of 35% on the previous year.
Over 50 different brands have used Zappar's augmented reality application across more than 300 offerings in over 17 countries to deliver entertainment-based marketing interactions from 2011 to 2013. [text removed for publication] Examples of partners include Disney, Warner Brothers and Marvel. Zappar has changed attitudes in the media sector by showing that "augmented reality is finally ready for prime time" (President, Creative Strategies Inc, Time Online, 2012).
The GRANIT system is a non-destructive technique for assessing the condition of rock bolts and ground anchors used to support structures such as tunnels. It applies a small impulse to the bolt and interprets the resulting vibration response to provide estimates of load and unbonded length. Initial development of the system was based on the findings of EPSRC projects in tunnels undertaken by the Universities of Aberdeen and Bradford from 1989-1997, resulting in an empirically based method. However, research undertaken at the University of Aberdeen since 1998 has provided the understanding of the process and developed the fundamental engineering science needed to underpin the development of a full commercial system. The GRANIT system is patented, and has been subject to worldwide licence to Halcrow who have undertaken testing and provided a method of ensuring the safety of mines, tunnels and similar structures. Halcrow received the NCE award for Technical Innovation Award for GRANIT in December 2010. The impact of the research has been in part economic, but largely on practitioners and professional services.
Research at the University of Portsmouth (UoP) has created new user-friendly control, navigation and communication systems for powered-wheelchairs that have made a significant and positive impact on the lives of users. These have given many disabled children and adults an opportunity for independent mobility, some for the first time.
The systems have been used in six special schools and institutions (including RNIB and NHS) and many private homes. Economic impact in reducing the need for carers alone has been estimated at more than £250,000 p.a and the devices have also changed some professional services.