August 23, 2007

Jeff football fans to witness wireless first

Professors and staff from Purdue University's Center for Wireless Systems and Applications and the Office of Information Technology at Purdue are working with students at the high school to develop their own version of Purdue's eStadium, called eStadium@Jeff. The collaboration is funded by a Motorola Foundation grant.

eStadium@Jeff will be launched at the high school's first home football game Aug. 31 in Scheumann Stadium, 1801 S. 18th St., Lafayette. Fans will be instructed on how to use it during halftime.

eStadium@Jeff will feature:

* Real-time on-demand game replays

* Game statistics

* Roster information

* "The Board," application, through which fans can send a comment about the game.

One comment from "The Board" will be selected each quarter for posting on the Daktronics Video Screen.

Aaron Ault, Center for Wireless Systems and Applications research and facilities coordinator, said he believes computer programming and radio-TV students at the high school are the first in the nation to develop the prototype.

"This is invaluable hands-on experience for high school students" Ault said. "They're working hand-in-hand with professors and college students on cutting-edge computer technology."

CWSA co-director James Krogmeier said students have made steady progress with the project.

"The Lafayette Jefferson High School students and faculty have exceeded our initial expectations by designing and implementing a complete system in little more than two months," Krogmeier said. "We hope to offer a similar summer research program for high school students next year to add to and enhance existing eStadium@Jeff infotainment applications. We also are exploring options for curriculum development, which could allow high school students to earn college credit for their eStadium work.�?

Jack Klink, a sophomore at Lafayette Jefferson High School, said he appreciates the real-world experience that working on eStadium@Jeff provides.

"Not many other high school students have had this opportunity," Klink said. "I've learned more from this project than I could from any textbook. This gives me a good idea of what I would like to do in college and possibly as a career."

Randy Brist, Lafayette Jefferson High School radio and television center director, said his students have been spending as many as 20 hours a week developing the program.

"Besides the computer programming aspect, multiple cameras are needed to capture the action, which then needs to be encoded in multiple formats, edited, paired with game statistics and fed to the Web," Brist said. "Very few high schools in Indiana have the infrastructure, media production facilities or space to launch something like this."

Brist hopes to expand the program to cover additional sports in future years.

Writer: Marydell Forbes, (765) 496-7704, mforbes@purdue.edu

Sources: Aaron Ault, (765) 496-9618, ault@purdue.edu

James Krogmeier, (765) 494-3530, jvk@purdue.edu

Randy Brist, (765) 772-4700, rbrist@lsc.k12.in.us

Jack Klink, jack@jacklinkproductions.com

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: The media are invited to use eStadium@Jeff in the press box during halftime of the football home opener. To obtain a press pass, contact Maurie Denney, athletic director, by fax at (765) 772-4799 or e-mail at  mkdenney@lsc.k12.in.us

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