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Wireless Audience Response Systems?
kjeldahl asks: "I've got some project ideas involving what I have learned are named audience response systems. These are small devices (typically a small keyboard with a few buttons) that can be handed out to an audience where they can participate in some kind of 'voting' or selection process where they press some buttons and their selections are recorded by a central server. Looking further, the wireless options include RF and IR, although IR senders typically conflict with eachother in environments with lots of people pushing buttons simultaneously. To be useful, one typically needs to be able to know the various devices apart (device X sent keypress Y). Some of the more advanced devices even include two-way communication with display abilities. Anyway, these devices seem very specialized and kind of tied to the platform (including hardware and software) - in effect quite expensive. Does anyone know of open audience response systems which use well-known technologies which can be adapted for use for audience response systems? I would guess the candidates include wireless keyboards (assuming they do not conflict with eachother), Bluetooth and WLAN-based systems."
I've only had experience with the H-ITT device (http://www.h-itt.com). It's IR and has lots of problems when everyone uses it at once. Based on my experience with this, I think some kind of rf-thing is better. Perhaps some like of 802.11 or something that can handle overlapping requests.
For any that are interested, I've reverse-engineered the serial line protocol for H-ITT, which would allow one to write their own clients for the hardware. H-ITT only gives out the software for Windows, and dispite the academic demand refuse to develop for Macintosh, so we are working on a Mac app for our faculty.
As a teacher I was given the opportunity to use a system my district purchased called classroom performance system. Basically it's a bunch of small infrared "remotes" with buttons A-H on them and an infrared receiver. It's designed for classrooms, so it's oriented around a question-response mode and assessment, but it is also very useful for rough surveys, votes, etc. In particular, I am told that the state of South Carolina (luddites that they are) used this system to enable an enormous gathering of teachers to vote on which questions should or should not be included in their high-stakes NCLB-compliant test, the PACT.
Dustin
Disclaimer: I don't work for eInstruction; I just used their product when I was teaching, and was very impressed.