23 September 2004

Uncle, the first Indigenous character developed for the MARVIN platform

A local award winning IT solution that removes the language barrier that can block Indigenous Australians access to health and education services is being marketed and installed beyond the Territory by Charles Darwin University’s Centre for Remote Telecommunications Solutions.

“Through a teaming agreement with the developers of MARVIN, Inchain Pty Ltd, the Centre is currently working closely with the Northern Territory and Federal governments to promote and implement this product in some of Australia’s most remote communities,” explained the Centre’s Director, Mr Bill Treacy.

MARVIN – or Messaging Architecture for the Retrieval of Versatile Information and News – is an animated computer product that is revolutionising the way important health messages are delivered to remote NT communities.

The MARVIN concept kicked off with funding and support from the Australian Flexible Learning Framework’s professional development project, LearnScope. Collaboratively developed by the NT Department of Health and Community Services, the NT Department of Employment, Education and Training and Inchain, MARVIN was originally aimed at tackling the issue of substance abuse in remote Indigenous communities.

However, it was soon recognised that MARVIN was a potential solution to a much wider suite of applications where language and cultural differences, nationally and internationally, are an issue.

”Language is one of the major barriers that face health and education professionals in their attempts to communicate important information to Indigenous communities in remote areas of the NT and other parts of Australia,” Mr Bill Treacy said.

“MARVIN allows community members to develop the learning and training resources themselves, typing in their own messages and recording their voices in their languages. The onscreen result is walking, talking, computer generated characters modelled on local elders or on the learners themselves.”

The Centre for Remote Telecommunications Solutions was established at Charles Darwin University in 2003 with the aim of providing solutions to remote communities, promote information communication technology within the NT and export NT developed technology.

“As a result of the Centre’s recent efforts to export technology beyond the NT, MARVIN is currently being used on a pilot project by a major federal government agency prior to its potential use on a national long term Indigenous study.

“There is also significant interest in the product from a number of other federal and state agencies,” Mr Treacy remarked.