Simon Birrell

Simon Birrell (born 26 July 1966) is a British entrepreneur, technologist and film maker. He was part of the team that invented ambient intelligence and who, with Eli Zelkha, coined the term.[1][2]

Simon Birrell
Born
Simon Birrell

(1966-07-26) 26 July 1966
Bristol, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materCambridge University
OccupationEntrepreneur, technologist, film maker
Known forAmbient intelligence

Biography

Early life, education and career

Born in 1966 in Bristol, UK. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1988 with a degree in Natural Sciences.[3][4]

He has been a founder or co-founder of three companies. Euro-Profile/i-Profile – a business intelligence company based out of Silicon Valley which was acquired by Virgo Capital (2008),[5] Vemm Brazil, a publisher of consumer advice websites in Brazil which was acquired by QuinStreet (2015)[6][7] and Silicon Artists, a Madrid-based entertainment technology company funded by Silicon Valley-based Tandem Computers.[8][9]

Ambient intelligence

In 1998, Birrell was part of the team at Palo Alto Ventures that invented and developed the ambient intelligence concept and who, with Eli Zelkha, coined the term.[10][11] It was presented by Roel Pieper of Philips at The Digital Living Room Conference on 22 June 1998.[12][13] [14][2]

Since its invention in 1998, Ambient Intelligence labs have been formed at leading universities[15][16] and ambient intelligence has become part of the core strategies of many of the world's leading technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon and IBM.[17][18] [19]

Robotics and deep learning

Birrell is researching deep learning and robotics at Cambridge University.[20] He is the author of the blog Artificial Human Companions.[21]

Video games, virtual reality and other activities

He developed some of the very first video games for Richard Branson's Virgin Interactive in 1983.[22] These included Bug Bomb – BBC Micro (1983),[23] Microbe – BBC Micro (1983),[24][22] High-Rise Horror – Commodore 64 (1984),[23][24] Strangeloop – Commodore 64 (1985),[24][25] Shogun – Commodore 64 / Amstrad (co-design).[26][27][28][9]

From 1993 to 1995, Birrell was the CTO of an early virtual reality company in Spain called Realidad Virtual S.L.[29] At Realidad Virtual, he developed Pandora – the first Spanish online virtual reality platform for the Internet.[30][31] [32]

Mundo de Estrellas (1998) was a distributed virtual reality environment for hospitalised children in Andalucia created by his company Silicon Artists.[33] [34]

He is also a film maker and writer. As a film maker, he has directed two shorts[35][36][37][38] and collaborated with cult filmmakers Jess Franco[39][40][41] and Jose Ramon Larraz.[38][42][41]

Birrell authored a chapter in an MIT book on Information Design[43] and co-authored a book on videogames.[44]

References

  1. Olson, Nasrine; Nolin, Jan Michael; Nelhans, Gustaf. "Semantic Web, Ubiquitous Computing, or Internet of Things?". doi:10.1108/JD-03-2013-0033. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Inteligencia artificial aplicada a perso" (PDF). It.uc3m.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  3. "1983: Simon Birrell of Norwich Shows His BBC Micro Computer Game Bug Bomb To Virgin Interactive's Richard Branson". Flashbak.com. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  4. Jacobson, Robert E.; Jacobson, Robert (2000). Information Design. p. 350. ISBN 9780262600354. Retrieved 3 May 2017 via Google Books.
  5. "Virgo Capital purchases stake in research firm". News OK. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  6. "QuinStreet Announces Acquisition of VEMM LLC in Brazil (NASDAQ:QNST)". Investor.quinstreet.com. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  7. "QuinStreet acquires Brazilian lead-gen firm Vemm – QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ:QNST)". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  8. "About Us". Silicon Artists. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  9. Jacobson, Robert E., ed. (1 January 2000). Information Design. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262600354.
  10. Wright, David; Gutwirth, Serge; Friedewald, Michael; Vildjiounaite, Elena; Punie, Yves (8 January 2008). Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence. ISBN 9781402066627 via Google Books. Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence, Page 24, by David Wright, Serge Gutwirth, Michael Friedewald, Elena Vildjiounaite, Yves Punie, Published by Springer Publishing, 2008
  11. "What is Ambient Intelligence?". 25 March 1994. Retrieved 1 February 2017 via YouTube.
  12. "'Digital Living Room' Webcast schedule". ZDNet. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  13. Aarts, Emile H. L.; Encarnação, José Luis (13 December 2006). True Visions: The Emergence of Ambient Intelligence. ISBN 9783540289746 via Google Books.
  14. Aarts, Emile H. L.; Encarnação, José Luis (13 December 2006). True Visions: The Emergence of Ambient Intelligence. ISBN 9783540289746 via Google Books.
  15. "Ambient Intelligence Laboratory – Test bed for Innovations". Ami-lab.org. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  16. "A I R Lab – Ambient Intelligence Research Lab Stanford University". Airlab.stanford.edu. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  17. "Microsoft delivers data platform for the era of ambient intelligence | News Center". Microsoft. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  18. Grossman, Gary (7 May 2016). "The next stop on the road to revolution is ambient intelligence". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  19. "Inside Sundar Pichai's Plan To Put AI Everywhere". Forbes (in French). Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  20. "Machine Intelligence Laboratory". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  21. Birrell, Simon. "Robots, ROS, AI and robotic software". Artificial Human Companions. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  22. "1983: Simon Birrell of Norwich Shows His BBC Micro Computer Game Bug Bomb To Virgin Interactive's Richard Branson". Flashbak.com. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  23. Birrell, Simon. "Games by Simon Birrell". Everygamegoing.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  24. "Simon Birrell Games – LaunchBox Games Database". Gamesdb.launchbox-app.com. 1 July 1985. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  25. "Lemon – Commodore 64, C64 Games, Reviews & Music!". Lemon64.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  26. "james clavell's shogun &copy virgin games (1986)". Cpc-power.com. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  27. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  28. "Simon Birrell : Interview". Stairwaytohell.com. September 2000. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  29. "Full text of 'PCMania 16'". Archive.org. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  30. ""Seis pintores madrileños multiplicarán su audiencia" | Edición impresa | EL PAÍS". El País. 21 October 1995. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  31. "Museos virtuales y Digitales | Estudio de Arqué Poética y Visualística Prospectiva". Arquepoetica.azc.uam.mx. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  32. Salvat, Begoña Gros; Bolós, Alejandro Català; Pampols, Carles Feixa; Martínez, Javier Jaén; Díaz, Pilar Lacasa; Luisa Lamazán Álvarez, M.; Borda, Rut Martínez; Zaballos, Laura Méndez; Agües, Jose Antonio Mocholí; Sánchez, Isidro Moreno; Miró, Xavier Vilella I.; Cuello, Antònia Bernat; Magri, Manel Camas; Ballestero, Juan José Cárdenas (14 March 2008). Videojuegos y aprendizaje – Carles Feixa Pampols et al. p. 79. ISBN 9788478278275. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  33. Pampols, Carles Feixa; Díaz, Pilar Lacasa; Bolós, Alejandro Català; Zaballos, Laura Méndez; Martínez, Javier Jaén; Miró, Xavier Vilella i; Álvarez, M. Luisa Lamazán; Sánchez, Isidro Moreno; Borda, Rut Martínez; Ballestero, Juan José Cárdenas; Agües, Jose Antonio Mocholí; Magri, Manel Camas; Cuello, Antònia Bernat (14 March 2008). Videojuegos y aprendizaje. ISBN 9788478278275 via Google Books.
  34. López, Ruth Martínez (10 August 2011). Mundos virtuales 3D: Una guía para padres y formadores. ISBN 9788497883481 via Google Books.
  35. "El último deseo". IMDb. 12 November 2005.
  36. "His Last Request (PAL): Iris Daaz, Carmen Vadillo, Ramon Rados, Jack Taylor, Simon Birrell, Milena Ivanova: Movies & TV". Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  37. "Aceite quemado". IMDb. 14 February 2004.
  38. "Le Giornate del Cinema Muto – Screenings Database – EL ÚLTIMO DESEO". Cinetecadelfriuli.org. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  39. "Mondo Digital's SICK PICKS". Mondo-digital.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  40. "Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula". IMDb. 1 January 2000.
  41. "HIs Last Request". Fright.com. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  42. "El Último Deseo (2005)". MYmovies.it. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  43. "Information Design". The MIT Press. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  44. "Games For Your Acorn Electron (Virgin Games) – Acorn Electron World". Acornelectron.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
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