Orchid Project

ORCHID, a major academic industry research collaboration, funded by EPSRC and partners, has led to world-leading science and real-world applications in areas such as disaster response, citizen science and smart energy systems. Its ultimate aim? To reinvent our relationship with computers.
As the 21st century unfolds, instead of issuing instructions to...

The ORCHID project, a major research project involving the University of Southampton, took top prize in the data and connectivity category at the Collaborate to Innovate Awards this week.

Organised by The Engineer – the UK’s longest running engineering publication – the awards were aimed at identifying some of the UK’s...

Researchers from the University of Southampton are aiming to develop a ‘smart’ thermostat to help UK households save money on their energy bills.
The prototype autonomous device allows users to control their heating based on the price they want to pay rather than setting it by temperature alone, which existing smart...

Nick Jennings, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, has been made Companion of the Order of the Bath in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for his services to computer science and national security science.
Professor Jennings, who is Head of Electronics and Computer Science at the University,...

This year, late in the summer, University of Oxford computer scientist Alex Rogers got an alert on his phone.
It was an email from an automated system telling him that a recording of a New Forest cicada’s song might have been detected.
The species, Cicadetta montana, hadn’t had a confirmed sighting...

Algorithms can use seismic data and structural knowledge of buildings to judge which parts of a city will be most at risk and prioritise rescue efforts
Earthquake artificial intelligence knows where damage is worst
WHEN an earthquake hits, emergency responders need to know which areas to go to first, as quickly as...

Crisis responders need to know the extent of a natural disaster, what aid is required and where they need to get to as quickly as possible — this is what’s known as “situation awareness.” With the proliferation of mass media, a lot of data is now generated from the disaster...

University of Southampton researchers are at the forefront of a new science that is finding ways in which computers can work intelligently in partnership with people. This could support the management of some of today’s most challenging situations, such as the aftermath of major disasters and smart energy systems.
The five-year...

Over the past five years, researchers from Oxford University have been working on a collaborative project called ORCHID to develop new ways for humans and computers to work together.
This week, the team from Oxford joined their academic collaborators from the University of Southampton and University of Nottingham at the Royal...

A major research project into autonomous systems and machine learning that promises to “re-invent our relationship with computers” has shown off a number of applications at an event in London.
The £10 million Orchid project, which is led by the University of Southampton and includes BAE Systems as an industrial partner,...