ABOUT GEANT

GÉANT and TEIN3 research networks deliver world first intercontinental, cross-cultural performance
15 December 2009 | Cambridge, UK

Digital Video Transport System used to link live music and dancers across a distance of over 9,300 km to create a seamless collaboration of cultures

Musicians in Stockholm and dancers in Kuala Lumpur used high-speed research networks to create a virtual stage and deliver a perfectly synchronised four minute live performance to audiences at the recent GÉANT Launch Event and ASEM (ASIA-Europe Meeting) workshop Gala Dinner.

The 2.5 Gbps link between the pan-European GÉANT and recently expanded Asia-Pacific TEIN3 research networks enabled artists separated by over 9,300 km to perform seamlessly together.
   

   
“This world-first performance not only united continents and cultures, but was also a powerful demonstration of how research networking enables collaboration across disciplines, and can promote global virtual research communities,” said Cathrin Stover, International Relations Manager at DANTE, operator of the GÉANT and TEIN3 research networks.

The performance was the result of extensive collaboration between international and national research networks. Music performed by the Lost Sounds Orchestra at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm – connected with optical fibre to SUNET, the Swedish research and education network– was captured, digitised and sent through the network to the ASEM workshop at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

From SUNET, the music travelled to Copenhagen on the Nordic NORDUnet link, to London on the GÉANT network, to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur over TEIN3, and finally was delivered to the venue by the MYREN (Malaysian network) dedicated connection. The same path was followed in reverse by the video footage of Arts Exchange dancers performing live on stage in Kuala Lumpur, which was then projected on stage in Stockholm.

The two sites were connected with a bi-directional audio/video channel set up using Digital Video Transport System (DVTS) over the TEIN3 link. DVTS is a multi-platform streaming application that relies on high-bandwidth network infrastructures such as GÉANT and TEIN3 to deliver digital-quality video and audio transmission. GARR, the Italian NREN, managed the digital/analogue video converters to facilitate the process.
    

The performance was part of an event held in Stockholm on 1-2 December to mark the third generation of the GÉANT project. GÉANT is the dedicated high-bandwidth pan-European network at the core of the project, co-funded by the European Commission and the European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), to which GÉANT provides advanced interconnectivity. Some 40 million research and education users in over 8,000 institutions have the capability to share vast quantities of data, and collaborate across multiple disciplines throughout Europe and beyond. 
   

• SUNET is the Swedish National Research and Education Network (NREN), connected to GÉANT via NORDUnet. Further information is available at www.sunet.se/
• NORDUnet is a joint collaboration between the five Nordic NRENs in Denmark (Forskningsnettet), Finland (Funet), Iceland (RHnet), Norway (Uninett) and Sweden (SUNET), and represents these NRENs within GÉANT. Further information is available at www.nordu.net
• MYREN is the Malaysian NREN, and part of the TEIN3 network, which interconnects with GÉANT. Further information is available at www.myren.net.my, and www.TEIN3.net
• Consortium GARR is the Italian NREN, and interconnects to the GÉANT network. For more information visit www.garr.it  
• Further information on the Lost Sounds Orchestra is available from www.lostsoundsorchestra.org

    
About DANTE
DANTE is a non-profit organisation, coordinator of large-scale projects co-funded by the European Commission, and working in partnership with European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) to plan, build and operate advanced networks for research and education. Established in 1993, DANTE has been fundamental to the success of pan-European research and education networking. DANTE has built and operates GÉANT, which provides the data communications infrastructure essential to the success of many research projects in Europe. DANTE is involved in worldwide initiatives to interconnect countries in the other regions to one another and to GÉANT. DANTE currently manages projects focussed on the Mediterranean, Asia-Pacific and central Asia regions through the EUMEDCONNECT,  TEIN and CAREN projects respectively. For more information, visit www.dante.net.