by Tatiana Repkova

A computer-generated animated presenter is delivering news to the people of Norfolk with the launch of the Eastern Daily Press's Brian. He is part of a unique project pioneered by three Norwich companies and PA Sport, which took 18 months to come to fruition. He works under their Newsfast service, using either broadband links or 3G-phone bandwidth to deliver news, weather and sports news updates.

Brian, which stands for Believable RSS Interactive Avatar Newscaster, can access the latest breaking news, with readers/viewers not getting their updates delayed for scheduled news, weather and sport bulletins. He connects automatically to news, weather and sport RSS sites, where news is often recorded first - long before it filters into TV and radio bulletins or in the latest editions of newspapers. Televirtual MediaLab, a pioneer of the use of virtual presenters and newscasters, has teamed up with Archant Norfolk, the parent company of the Eastern Daily Press, the University of east Anglia-based weather bureau WeatherQuest and PA Sport for the project. http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/2007/03mar/070315brian.shtml; March 15, 2007