On May 18, 2001 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) proclaimed kutiyattam, the Sanskrit theatre of India, one of nineteen "Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity." This was the first time in history that this art has received a prestigious international recognition (see www.unesco.org/bpi/intangible_heritage/india.htm). To celebrate this m...

A recent report by the National Audit Office found that only 50% to 60% of weekday operating time was being used. This report was examined by the Committee of Public Accounts and much of the blame for underutilization of operating theatres was attributed to poor working practices among surgeons. We investigated theatre utilization in our hospital and found underutilization on the same scale as ...

Background The Royal College of Surgeons of England encouraged the creation of singly dedicated 24-hour emergency theatres in 1997; emergency operating was previously largely determined by theatre availability rather than clinical need. Shortly after this St George’s Hospital, London designated one of its three trauma theatres as an ‘Acute Emergency Theatre’ (AET) and implemented a policy to ma...

This paper presents an interactive theatre based on an embodied mixed reality space and wearable computers. Embodied computing mixed reality spaces integrate ubiquitous computing, tangible interaction and social computing within a mixed reality space, which enables intuitive interaction with physical world and virtual world. We believe it has potential advantages to support novel interactive th...

BACKGROUND Retrograde ureteropyelography plays a vital role in imaging of the upper tract, particularly in aiding the diagnosis of upper tract urothelial cancers.1 Retrograde studies in theatre are often of inferior quality compared with those performed in the radiology department. Retrograde ureteric catheter placement in theatre is therefore followed by formal retrograde studies in the radiol...

In the context of the blurring of boundaries between club and theatre, game and theatre, and party and theatre, experiential spectatorship is spilling into the mainstream. This article starts from the recognition of the rapid rise of the experience economy as a turning point in consumer culture towards a specific appeal to the sensory body. The definition of experience in this analysis is key a...

Although it is a fact that the operating theatre environment is contaminated by anaesthetic gases which are taken up by the body tissues of theatre personnel, and although for the past 10 years and more there have been investigations of the consequences for health, there is still no direct evidence that this contamination is a health hazard. However, there is much indirect and circumstantial ev...