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| Monday, 11 November 2002 |
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Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
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Since it reopened last January, the Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy has been watched over by the Citilog system. There are 130 cameras on each side (260 video entries in all), making it the biggest installation in the world. It is a fine achievement for a young company (created barely five years ago) which benefits from the experience of its founders who are researchers at the National Institute of Research in Transport and its Safety (INRETS) which developed road traffic video-surveillance systems for several years before creating their firm so as to move on to the industrialisation and marketing phase with all the required reliability. In case of accident, speeding up the arrival of emergency services The originality of the software developed makes it better than traditional video-surveillance systems. Not only does it identify and follow objects but it also attracts the attention of the traffic controller to any incidents through a sound alarm. As he is assailed by billions of pieces of information (one camera sends 25 images per second), he is unable to decipher them all in an optimal way. The idea of the engineers of Citilog is simple. It is to analyse all these images and to extract those which are useful and present them to the operator. This innovative technology in the service of road safety consists of three products: MediaCity for micro and macro traffic regulation in an urban environment, particularly for optimising the functioning of crossroads, MediaRoad for traffic on motorways and expressways, and Media Tunnel. Stationary or slow vehicles or ones travelling in the wrong direction, the presence of pedestrians, slowdowns, the rate of occupation of the roads, the length of the lines of traffic, the journey time and, of course, accidents, in particular, are automatically detected. All this precious data is transmitted in real time to the traffic controller who can use it to make the traffic more fluid, to prevent accidents, to avoid accidents caused by accidents and to sped up the arrival of emergency services. Two thousand sites all over the world A year ago, the young company received the trophy for international promotion awarded by Ubifrance (the Agency for the international promotion of French technologies and firms) for its spectacular development. Its software is used in the Great Saint-Bernard tunnel between Switzerland and Italy, on a motorway in Belgium, in the Somport tunnel between France and Spain and on the Tagus bridge in Portugal. The firm has won more than 90% of the French tunnel control market, supervises and manages the traffic on numerous motorways in France and controls the traffic at dangerous crossroads in Paris. It not only exports to Europe but also to Australia, Canada, Asia, South America and soon the United States. In all, at the request of motorway companies and local and national authorities, it already equips two thousand sites. Competition is tough but Citilog presents the advantage of working the
best in all conditions, at night and in rainy or foggy weather. Moreover, "Another asset is that We always work with local partners who know
the needs" he adds. "It is fine to set up installations but the
system has to be made to function. We train our partners how to use the
system but also in its maintenance>.
At a time when travelling is on the increase and calls for ever more
precise management, Citilog has a fine future ahead. Their next areas of
development are rail and river networks but, although the system seems to
be ready for trains, it is not yet so for boats, as water, a moving
element, brings up completely new problems to be faced. It is a new
technological challenge for the company.
Actualite En France
Book Shelf
Chandra Anagiratne's Malory Towers Balika Viduhala is the authentic
Sinhala translation of Enid Blyton's popular novel "First Term at
Malory Towers".
Enid Blyton is one of the most prolific writers of children's stories.
she has written more than 700 books. Sinhala readers will be able to
experience Enid Blyton's range of child psychology and her talent as a
writer by reading Chandra Anagiratne's translation.
Premasiri Mahingoda's Anne-2 is the unabridged Sinhala translation of
Canadian author L. M. Montgomery's adolescent novel "Anne of Avonlea".
When the "Anne" series was first published it appealed the
younger generation in the United States of America, England, Australia and
Canada.
What is more, even adults found the series very interesting
R.S.Karunarathna Sri Lankan and Indian art in Singapore
This exhibition which was then taken to Suntec City in Singapore
concluded in October 2002.
Mala Mohan, purchased 150 works of art, from eminent Sri Lankan and
Indian artists. The exhibition, sponsored by Coats Thread Lanka, is held for the second
time in response to various requests by professionals in the field of
handicraft and the public.
Organizers of Artifact 2002, will have demonstrations in the making of
certain handicraft items as a feature of the event. The woman behind
Artifact 2002, Roshani Peiris said that she and her students would assist
the observers in explaining know-how details of artifacts in the
exhibition. "This is where we have been successful in our first exhibition,
about two years ago. We simply disclose basic techniques used in the art
to the public, and the public responded positively," she said.
Roshani, a student of Good Shepherd Convent of Kotahena and degree holder
in business management, presently trains more than 100 students in her
school of handicrafts, Bits 'n' Pieces at Kandana. About 52 of her
students will participate in Artifact 2002.
She also admires her husband Rohan, who is a lecturer at Moratuwa
University, for his support and encouragement in all her efforts in the
field of handicrafts.
Chamikara
Peace for Children an exhibition of photographs by Christene Anderson
took place at the Indian Cultural Centre on October 10.
The photographs displayed were taken by Christene Anderson and Nihara
Fernando on the peace ride they made to Jaffna and other war affected
areas from May till June. The photographs show some children who benefited
from the project.
Kelaniya University's exhibition
An exhibition organised by the department of modern languages was held
recently at the Kelaniya University. The exhibition was preceded by a
cultural show.
Handwoven interior 2002 exhibition
The Handwoven Interior 2002 exhibition organized jointly by Textile
Training and Services Centre and Sri Lanka Export Development Board, two
organisations under the ministry of Enterprise Development, Industrial
Policy and Investment promotion will be held from November 8 to 10 at the
National Art Gallery, Colombo.
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News | Business | Features
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Produced by Lake House |
Citilog road traffic video-surveillance and management systems are the
most widely sold in France and in Europe and the most asked for all over
the world. It is a fine technological achievement.
Malory Towers
Anne - 2
Sri Lankan artist Marie Alles Fernando views some of her paintings at
the preview of an art exhibition at Raffles Hotel in Singapore.
Artifact 2002 - an exhibition on fabric painting, sari work, patch
work, pottery painting, needle work, paper tole and ribbon embroidery by
Roshani Peiris and her students of Bits 'n' Pieces, school of arts and
handicrafts, will be held at Jayewardene Cultural Centre, Colombo 7 on
November 16 and 17 from 9.30 to 7.30 pm.
Peace for Children
