One of those things in my diary today that I really wasn't sure about and then found I was really glad I went.

I'd signed up for it ages back when everything seemed like a good idea and it was far enough in the future not to worry about. Something about networking and learning and lunch with the theme this time of 'simulation'.

Off I went and the first relief was discovering that for a stand-around-making-polite-conversation-while-you-eat sort of situation I actually knew quite a few people there. Some of the people from my teaching induction, several of the computing academics, some of the folk from study skills.

But aside from the networking (useful enough in itself) it was fascinating seeing the centrepiece of the lunch.

This is something TheOldPlace really doesn't have. (And isn't likely, in fairness, to need.) We were ushered into something like a hospital ward with three beds. Tucked up were three dummies that were remarkably lifelike and as the technician told us about the place, you realized the dummies breathed, blinked and so on. The monitors beside each bed were reading their details and it was mostly, I guess, like stepping onto a movie set. On the other side of one way glass windows the researchers or academics could control the dummies and displays for students to respond to. And on the other side of the room was a big lecture hall where video of the sessions, plus all the screen information, plus the dummies' responses could be displayed for student learning. There was also a mini operating theater with a dummy that cost 5x as much apparently and had retinal response and could breath in/out the appropriate amount of gas.

Obviously, it's not directly useful in my role. Though I did wonder if there would be scope for replacing a bed with two or three web enabled computers to study how students search for information. Might be worth pursuing if I want to do research.

And word had spread about the presentation I'd been part of yesterday so my fame(?) preceded me and I can see I won't be able to escape doing something more on that. Ah well, glad I'm wanted somewhere!