NCTA, NEW ORLEANS) - emuse inc, developers of Modelstream, the comprehensive suite of desktop based interactive television production tools, today announces the sale of multiple Modelstream licenses to Ball State University's Center for Media Design, the first agreement reached with an American university.

The center chose Modelstream®, emuse's highly regarded iTV design software, because it can be easily adopted by users ranging from novices to experienced interface designers. The center intends to use Modelstream for all of its iTV content creation needs, beginning with an interactive advertising research project this summer.

`We intend to use our extensive production facilities to explore consumer response to different approaches to one-screen interactivity across a range of areas including advertising, news and weather and Modelstream® will make the production process as seamless as possible. By publishing such research we hope to help shape the business models of iTV as it grows in the US,` said Mike Bloxham, Director, Testing & Assessment, at the center.

Last month's American launch at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, marked the first time an iTV design tool was made available to the broadcast community, providing non-technical and creative talent with the opportunity to design for iTV platforms.

In selecting Modelstream, the Center for Media Design (CMD) will be able to create and execute interactive concepts rapidly and efficiently without the need to resort to expensive and time consuming scripting and coding.

Ball State University Selects Modelstream
`Modelstream and the emuse philosophy on rapidly deploying iTV content parallels the Center for Media Design's focus on researching iTV application design and functionality,` Bloxham said. `We recognized that we needed a tool that could be easily implemented into our research and broadcast workflows allowing us to easily take concepts from the storyboard to the television screen.`

John Bryan, director of operations for emuse inc, USA, said he is delighted the Center for Media Design has selected Modelstream and says the tool should help the CMD produce groundbreaking research that will benefit the industry as a whole.

`The aims of the center and its vision to explore and measure the effectiveness of iTV design and functionality will help influence the way iTV content is presented to consumers in the United States,` Bryan said. `This kind of study has been missing from the US iTV landscape and we are very pleased to be associated with it.`

`The CMD's work is welcome news to those of us who believe that each marketplace will evolve independently of what has worked in other countries, and Modelstream is the ideal tool to produce iTV content, be it for research or deployment` said emuse CEO, Patrick Rainsford.

The relationship between emuse and the CMD was initially fostered through an Interactive Television Alliance discussion group in Los Angeles. The ITA an independent, self-funding, nonprofit trade and professional organization represents the broad interests of the entire iTV industry through a series of events, trade shows and industry think tanks.

About emuse inc
Dublin-based emuse inc was founded in 1998 by serial entrepreneur Patrick Rainsford to develop a suite of enabling technologies to service the burgeoning global interactive television market. After five years, emuse has succeeded in creating, developing and patenting those technologies. The company now employs 70 people and has built a world-class team of software, media, business and technology experts with offices in Dublin, London, Tokyo and LA.

Contact
emuse technologies
U24 Trinity Enterprise Centre
Pearse Street
Dublin 2
Ireland
Tel: + 353-1-671 7317
Fax: + 353-1-671 7319
Web: www.emusetechnologies.com

About Ball State University and the Center for Media Design
Ball State University, located in Muncie, IN, is the third-largest public university in Indiana, with more than 18,300 students. Originally a private teacher training school when it opened in 1899, Ball State became a university in 1965. The 1035-acre residential campus in Delaware County is an hour's drive north of Indianapolis.

The Center for Media Design is an R&D facility focused on the creation, testing and practical application of digital technologies for business, classroom, home and community. The center is part of Ball State's iCommunication initiative, funded by a $20 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. # #

Contact:
Rita Tennyson
Terpin Communications
Tel: (310) 821-6100 x104
Email: rita@terpin.com

Glenn Augustine
Ball State University
Tel: (765) 285-1560
Email: ggaugustine@bsu.edu

For further information, please contact:
Cyril Moloney
Herald Communications
Tel: +44 20 7395 7070
Email: cmoloney@heraldcommunications.com

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