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The Bloody Sunday Inquiry is supported by an integrated, state-of-the art Information Technology system, much of which was specifically designed or adapted for use by the Inquiry. All of the applications in use were selected by the Inquiry Team for the express purpose of streamlining proceedings during the hearings, and to allow the various legal teams involved in the Inquiry to work as efficiently and effectively as possible. The main applications in use by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry are: |
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TrialPro - Evidence Display System
Every piece of documentary evidence used by the Inquiry has been uniquely numbered and scanned to ensure that the documents may be quickly and easily displayed in electronic format on the Evidence Display screens located in the various Inquiry premises in Londonderry. These paginated, scanned documents are held in a TrialPro database which allows simple retrieval within seconds, in addition to the enlargement and annotation of the documents if required, using the touchscreen allocated to each barrister. This approach has been shown to reduce the length of document-intensive Inquiries by between 20% and 30%.
LiveNote - Real Time Transcription
LiveNote is a Real Time Transcription application, providing a 'live' transcript of the Inquiry proceedings to the laptop computers used by the various legal teams. The application, as well as receiving and displaying the transcript on the laptop computers, also allows the legal teams to manipulate, annotate and highlight their individual copies, as well as providing sophisticated search and reporting facilities.
Virtual Reality
| A virtual reality application has been developed specifically for use by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in order to aid the orientation of witnesses when they give their evidence. The application consists of thousands of photographs and computer-generated images of Derry, both current day and as it was in January 1972. The combination of this application and the touchscreen technology used in the hearing chamber combine to allow the user, whether witness or barrister, to virtually 'walk' the streets of Londonderry, and will add considerable clarity to the witness testimonies. |  |
Video Distribution/Closed Circuit Television
The TrialPro evidence display and the Virtual Reality application are distributed to a number of screens throughout the main hearing chamber, with the barrister or witness currently speaking having control of the applications via the use of touchscreen technology. In addition, the Evidence and Virtual Reality applications are also displayed, along with CCTV images of the current speaker in the hearing chamber, to a further 8 locations in the Guildhall and a further 4 locations throughout Derry. These include the Rialto Theatre, which is used for public viewing of the Inquiry on a daily basis.
Sound System
A sophisticated sound system is used, in conjunction with the CCTV system described above, to ensure that current proceedings in the main chamber are distributed to all locations, both within the Guildhall and throughout the city. This sound system is also used to automatically switch the cameras in the main chamber to display the current speaker, and several induction loops have also been installed in the Guildhall to ensure that hearing-impaired witnesses or members of the public can clearly hear proceedings.
Communications Network
All of these applications are integrated via the use of a high-performance data communications network, which ensures distribution of the applications to all locations in real time. This network covers most of the inner city, and spans the Guildhall, Calgach Centre, Rialto Theatre, Bloody Sunday Inquiry Press Office and the Bloody Sunday Trust building.