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TV hosts face backlash for alleged "queue jumping" to see the Queen

Claims that a disabled woman in the queue to view the Queen lying in state was moved aside to make way for UK TV hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield have been denied. ITV has responded to the accusation made against the posts, in a recently deleted tweet. "This is a photo taken by my sister's husband yesterday after he had queued with my sister, their 10-year-old daughter and my disabled mum for 13-plus hours," it read. "My mum was ushered out of @hollywills and @schofe way so they could #queuejumpers without even a thanks #schofieldgate #queuejumping." Responding to the accusations, an ITV representative said, "This Morning asked Phillip and Holly to attend Westminster Hall to make a report on the Queen lying in state as part of a wider piece around the death of the monarch." "They followed all restrictions and guidelines and attended the media area, entering via the media centre door, in a professional capacity alongside many other broadcasters and media. They neither jumped the queue nor took anyone's place in the queue." Since the claims emerged that the pair "queue jumped" during Queen Elizabeth II's lying in state period, thousands have signed a petition calling for the duo to be fired, as members of the public including celebrities like David Beckham, waited hours in the line to enter Westminster Hall. Willoughby and Schofield have since addressed the controversy on air, saying they would "never jump a queue." "Like hundreds of accredited broadcasters and journalists, we were given official permission to access the hall," Willoughby said. "The rules were that we would be quickly escorted around the edges to a platform at the back. In contrast, those paying respects walked along a carpeted area beside the coffin and were given time to pause." "None of the broadcasters and journalists there took anyone's place in the queue and no one filed past the Queen." "We of course respected those rules. However, we realise that it may have looked like something else, and therefore totally understand the reaction. Please know that we would never jump a queue." Following claims the pair were not on the media accreditation list to see Her Majesty, an ITV representative explained they were accredited via their production team and "Holly and Phillip continue to have our full support." About a quarter of a million people viewed Queen Elizabeth's coffin ahead of her state funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19th. Image: Instagram

Caring

Antarctica without windchill, the Louvre without queues: how to travel the world from home

SpaceX’s recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/spacexs-historic-launch-gives-australias-booming-space-industry-more-room-to-fly-139760">Falcon 9 rocket launch</a> proves humanity has come leaps and bounds in its effort to reach other worlds. But now there’s a quicker, safer and environmentally friendlier way to travel to the centre of the galaxy – and you can do it too. <a href="https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2020/gcenter/">NASA</a> has co-developed a free virtual reality (VR) adventure providing 500 years of travel around the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The experience is available to download from two major VR stores, <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1240350/Galactic_Center_VR/">Steam</a> and <a href="https://www.viveport.com/21f8b24c-783b-4af2-8e81-a63a14553721">Viewport</a>, in a non-collapsed star system near you. And this kind of spacefaring may be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential of virtual travel and tourism. <h2>The virtual travel bug</h2> Simply speaking, VR refers to technology that immerses users in a computer-generated world that removes them from reality. Augmented Reality (AR), however, aims to superimpose virtual imagery over a user’s view of the real world. Pokémon Go is a popular AR game. VR-based tourism has a longer history than you might think. In the 1850s, it involved staring at <a href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/stereo/background.html">stereographs</a> with a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/sterographs-original-virtual-reality-180964771/">stereoscope</a>. With this invention, viewers looked at slightly different images through each eye, which were then assembled by the brain to make a new image providing the illusion of spatial depth (in other words, a 3D effect). A century later, 1950s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinerama">Cinerama</a> widescreen viewing inspired cinematic travel though its large, curved screens and multiple cameras. The 1960s <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2014-02-16-morton-heiligs-sensorama-simulator.html">Sensorama</a> foretold a shiny future of multimodal immersive cinematic experiences, playing 3D films with sound, scents and wind to immerse users. In <a href="https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html">VR circles</a>, Ivan Sutherland became famous for inventing the head-mounted display, as well as augmented reality (AR). Travel restrictions under COVID-19 <a href="https://www.ft.com/virtualtravel">present an opportunity</a> for virtual reality travel to finally take off. In an era of lockdowns and social distancing, we could use VR to travel to remote, distant or even no longer existing places. Remote tourism is here (the <a href="https://www.remote-tourism.com/">Faroe Islands</a> offers a great example), and interest in VR tourism is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/solrogers/2020/03/18/virtual-reality-and-tourism-whats-already-happening-is-it-the-future/#5b39a26228a6">blossoming</a>. <h2>VR comes in many forms</h2> The word “virtual” can refer to an immersive 3D experience, but also 360° panorama photographs and movies (a <a href="https://wiki.panotools.org/Panorama_formats">cylinder, sphere or cube of photographs</a>). What is deemed “virtual” varies greatly across different devices and platforms. Let’s look at some of the ways this term is applied. Desktop virtual environments: these are computer-based 3D environments on a flat screen, without the spatial immersion of VR platforms. Cinematic VR: these are phone-based panoramic environments. Many desktop experiences of 360° movies or images can be conveyed in low-cost <a href="https://arvr.google.com/cardboard/">stereoscopic VR through smartphones</a>. Google Street view can be viewed in <a href="https://www.blog.google/products/google-vr/get-closer-look-street-view-google-earth-vr/">Google VR</a> on Android and <a href="https://3g.co.uk/guides/what-smartphones-work-with-virtual-reality">some Apple</a> smartphones, but it’s not real VR. Head-mounted displays: HMDs such as <a href="https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Google-Cardboard/">Google Cardboard</a> and <a href="https://arvr.google.com/daydream/smartphonevr/">Google Daydream</a> are what many people think of when they hear “virtual reality”. Some HMDs are self-contained, not requiring connection to a computer or console. Arguably, the market is <a href="https://3dinsider.com/oculus-vs-htc-vive-vs-psvr/">dominated</a> by the Oculus range owned by Facebook, the HTC Vive range, and PlayStation VR. <h2>VR in a pandemic</h2> In a post-coronavirus age, device sharing is problematic. HMDs aren’t easy to clean and VR software can quickly become obsolete, with new headsets sometimes not running two-year-old software. Users also have to deal with costly updates, eyestrain, and having to share displays that sat on someone else’s face. Developing and sharing content across different devices can be a nightmare but there are increasingly <a href="https://www.vrtourviewer.com/">simple</a> and effective ways to create <a href="https://www.pocket-lint.com/ar-vr/news/google/142054-google-arcore-android-s-equivalent-to-apple-arkit-explained">AR</a> and VR content, despite a bewildering range of platforms and equipment (there are more than <a href="https://www.archives.gov/files/applied-research/ncsa/8-an-overview-of-3d-data-content-file-formats-and-viewers.pdf">140 3D file formats</a>). Despite this, many VR projects are not preserved – including <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2425">virtual heritage</a>projects! Even for the largest HMD companies, supplies can be <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/20/21177442/half-life-alyx-vr-headset-compatible-valve-oculus-rift-quest-htc-steamvr-available">limited</a>. <h2>Places you can virtually visit now</h2> Nonetheless, there are plenty of VR programs available to help relieve lockdown boredom, with many sites <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/virtual-reality/best-virtual-reality-apps/">offering</a> <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/virtual-reality-tourism-4129394">lists</a> of their favourite picks. The Street View app for Google Daydream and Cardboard provides a “virtual tour” of <a href="https://chernobyl-city.com/virtual-tour/">Chernobyl</a>. <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/@-10.50049963,35.75744511,1062.93460117a,116.59974009d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=CisSKRIgMzczNGFmOTk5MTIzMTFlOTliOTNjYmE2MDYxMWYzYzMiBXNwbC0w">Google Earth</a> and <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/@-10.50049963,35.75744511,1062.93460117a,116.59974009d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=CgQSAggB">Google Earth Voyager</a> feature travel sections, too. <a href="https://arvr.google.com/earth/">Google Earth VR</a> is available on the <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/348250/Google_Earth_VR/">HTC Vive</a> and <a href="https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1513995308673845/">Oculus Rift</a>. <a href="https://www.vrfocus.com/tag/tourism/">VRfocus</a> also has an interesting travel section. You can virtually explore <a href="https://grandtour.myswitzerland.com/">Switzerland</a> or <a href="https://www.virtualyosemite.org/">Yosemite</a>. Or you may want to stay in Australia. Australian company <a href="http://whitesparkpictures.com.au/">White Spark Pictures’</a>Cinematic/360 experience of <a href="https://www.dneg.com/antarctica_vr/">Antarctica</a> tours museums. Melbourne-based company <a href="https://www.lithodomosvr.com/">Lithodomos</a> brings “the ancient world to life” and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=no.hallingdata.hiddenar&hl=en_AU">Hidden AR</a> offers mythical augmented reality. Other links to check out include: <ul> <li>the Guardian’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/mar/23/10-of-the-worlds-best-virtual-museum-and-art-gallery-tours">review</a> of the world’s best virtual museum and art gallery tours</li> <li><a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/">Google Arts and Culture’s</a> virtual tours and online exhibits from myriad <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/partner?hl=en">museums and galleries</a>, as well as scavenger hunts – including at <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/project/virtual-tours">the British Museum</a></li> <li>the Louvre’s <a href="https://arts.vive.com/us/articles/projects/art-photography/mona_lisa_beyond_the_glass/">Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass</a></li> <li>the <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/515020/The_VR_Museum_of_Fine_Art/">VR Museum of Fine Art</a>.</li> <li>Europeana’s <a href="https://teachwitheuropeana.eun.org/stories-of-implementation/implementation-of-vintage-vr-soi-hr-109/">vintage stereo VR</a> and <a href="https://pro.europeana.eu/data/vintage-stereoscope-cards">examples</a> of how to create stories and <a href="https://teachwitheuropeana.eun.org/learning-scenarios/vintage-vr-ls-es-14/">lessons</a> with stereosonic VR prints</li> <li>The Smithsonian’s <a href="https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour">virtual tour</a> and downloadable <a href="https://3d.si.edu/">3D artefacts</a>, including a tour of a <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/vrhangar">hangar</a> from the National Air and Space Museum</li> <li><a href="https://sketchfab.com/museums">Sketchfab</a>’s cultural heritage section which can be accessed through <a href="https://sketchfab.com/virtual-reality">VR headsets or Google Cardboard-enabled smartphones</a>. There’s also a places and travel <a href="https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/categories/places-travel?date=week&sort_by=-likeCount">section</a>.</li> </ul> Image credits: Getty Images This article was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/antarctica-without-windchill-the-louvre-without-queues-how-to-travel-the-world-from-home-140174" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

Travel Tips

Russell Crowe spotted queueing up for COVID jab

One of Australia’s top film stars has been spotted in the queue with thousands of Sydneysiders waiting to get vaccinated. Russell Crowe has spent much of the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales and took to Twitter to confirm he was one of tens of thousands to get the jab over the weekend. “How I spent my Sunday. Lining up with 7000 good citizens to get shot 1 of vaccine,” he tweeted on Tuesday. “Book yours via NSW Health,” he added, along with a link to the Service NSW website. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> How I spent my Sunday. Lining up with 7000 good citizens to get shot 1 of vaccine. Book yours via NSW health <a href="https://t.co/WcppFuTlFO">https://t.co/WcppFuTlFO</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZyON96npWu">pic.twitter.com/ZyON96npWu</a> — Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) <a href="https://twitter.com/russellcrowe/status/1414704323544555520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2021</a></blockquote> Dr Karen Price, President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) applauded Crowe for publicly supporting the vaccine rollout, responding: “Follow Russell’s example and roll up your sleeve to get your COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can”. “It doesn’t matter if you are an accountant, construction worker, small business owner or Hollywood movie star - we all have a role to play in fighting this pandemic.” Since the end of February, about 2,728,897 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the state. 20,749 of the doses were administered in the last 24 hours. Image: Russell Crowe / Twitter

Caring

Antarctica without windchill and the Louvre without queues: How to travel the world from home

SpaceX’s recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/spacexs-historic-launch-gives-australias-booming-space-industry-more-room-to-fly-139760">Falcon 9 rocket launch</a> proves humanity has come leaps and bounds in its effort to reach other worlds. But now there’s a quicker, safer and environmentally friendlier way to travel to the centre of the galaxy – and you can do it too. <a href="https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2020/gcenter/">NASA</a> has co-developed a free virtual reality (VR) adventure providing 500 years of travel around the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The experience is available to download from two major VR stores, <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1240350/Galactic_Center_VR/">Steam</a> and <a href="https://www.viveport.com/21f8b24c-783b-4af2-8e81-a63a14553721">Viewport</a>, in a non-collapsed star system near you. And this kind of spacefaring may be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential of virtual travel and tourism. The virtual travel bug Simply speaking, VR refers to technology that immerses users in a computer-generated world that removes them from reality. Augmented Reality (AR), however, aims to superimpose virtual imagery over a user’s view of the real world. Pokémon Go is a popular AR game. VR-based tourism has a longer history than you might think. In the 1850s, it involved staring at <a href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/stereo/background.html">stereographs</a> with a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/sterographs-original-virtual-reality-180964771/">stereoscope</a>. With this invention, viewers looked at slightly different images through each eye, which were then assembled by the brain to make a new image providing the illusion of spatial depth (in other words, a 3D effect). A century later, 1950s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinerama">Cinerama</a> widescreen viewing inspired cinematic travel though its large, curved screens and multiple cameras. The 1960s <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2014-02-16-morton-heiligs-sensorama-simulator.html">Sensorama</a> foretold a shiny future of multimodal immersive cinematic experiences, playing 3D films with sound, scents and wind to immerse users. In <a href="https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html">VR circles</a>, Ivan Sutherland became famous for inventing the head-mounted display, as well as augmented reality (AR). Travel restrictions under COVID-19 <a href="https://www.ft.com/virtualtravel">present an opportunity</a> for virtual reality travel to finally take off. In an era of lockdowns and social distancing, we could use VR to travel to remote, distant or even no longer existing places. Remote tourism is here (the <a href="https://www.remote-tourism.com/">Faroe Islands</a> offers a great example), and interest in VR tourism is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/solrogers/2020/03/18/virtual-reality-and-tourism-whats-already-happening-is-it-the-future/#5b39a26228a6">blossoming</a>. VR comes in many forms The word “virtual” can refer to an immersive 3D experience, but also 360° panorama photographs and movies (a <a href="https://wiki.panotools.org/Panorama_formats">cylinder, sphere or cube of photographs</a>). What is deemed “virtual” varies greatly across different devices and platforms. Let’s look at some of the ways this term is applied. Desktop virtual environments: these are computer-based 3D environments on a flat screen, without the spatial immersion of VR platforms. Cinematic VR: these are phone-based panoramic environments. Many desktop experiences of 360° movies or images can be conveyed in low-cost <a href="https://arvr.google.com/cardboard/">stereoscopic VR through smartphones</a>. Google Street view can be viewed in <a href="https://www.blog.google/products/google-vr/get-closer-look-street-view-google-earth-vr/">Google VR</a> on Android and <a href="https://3g.co.uk/guides/what-smartphones-work-with-virtual-reality">some Apple</a> smartphones, but it’s not real VR. Head-mounted displays: HMDs such as <a href="https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Google-Cardboard/">Google Cardboard</a> and <a href="https://arvr.google.com/daydream/smartphonevr/">Google Daydream</a> are what many people think of when they hear “virtual reality”. Some HMDs are self-contained, not requiring connection to a computer or console. Arguably, the market is <a href="https://3dinsider.com/oculus-vs-htc-vive-vs-psvr/">dominated</a> by the Oculus range owned by Facebook, the HTC Vive range, and PlayStation VR. VR in a pandemic In a post-coronavirus age, device sharing is problematic. HMDs aren’t easy to clean and VR software can quickly become obsolete, with new headsets sometimes not running two-year-old software. Users also have to deal with costly updates, eyestrain, and having to share displays that sat on someone else’s face. Developing and sharing content across different devices can be a nightmare but there are increasingly <a href="https://www.vrtourviewer.com/">simple</a> and effective ways to create <a href="https://www.pocket-lint.com/ar-vr/news/google/142054-google-arcore-android-s-equivalent-to-apple-arkit-explained">AR</a> and VR content, despite a bewildering range of platforms and equipment (there are more than <a href="https://www.archives.gov/files/applied-research/ncsa/8-an-overview-of-3d-data-content-file-formats-and-viewers.pdf">140 3D file formats</a>). Despite this, many VR projects are not preserved – including <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2425">virtual heritage</a> projects! Even for the largest HMD companies, supplies can be <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/20/21177442/half-life-alyx-vr-headset-compatible-valve-oculus-rift-quest-htc-steamvr-available">limited</a>. Places you can virtually visit now Nonetheless, there are plenty of VR programs available to help relieve lockdown boredom, with many sites <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/virtual-reality/best-virtual-reality-apps/">offering</a> <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/virtual-reality-tourism-4129394">lists</a> of their favourite picks. The Street View app for Google Daydream and Cardboard provides a “virtual tour” of <a href="https://chernobyl-city.com/virtual-tour/">Chernobyl</a>. <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/@-10.50049963,35.75744511,1062.93460117a,116.59974009d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=CisSKRIgMzczNGFmOTk5MTIzMTFlOTliOTNjYmE2MDYxMWYzYzMiBXNwbC0w">Google Earth</a> and <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/@-10.50049963,35.75744511,1062.93460117a,116.59974009d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=CgQSAggB">Google Earth Voyager</a> feature travel sections, too. <a href="https://arvr.google.com/earth/">Google Earth VR</a> is available on the <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/348250/Google_Earth_VR/">HTC Vive</a> and <a href="https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1513995308673845/">Oculus Rift</a>. <a href="https://www.vrfocus.com/tag/tourism/">VRfocus</a> also has an interesting travel section. You can virtually explore <a href="https://grandtour.myswitzerland.com/">Switzerland</a> or <a href="https://www.virtualyosemite.org/">Yosemite</a>. Or you may want to stay in Australia. Australian company <a href="http://whitesparkpictures.com.au/">White Spark Pictures’</a> Cinematic/360 experience of <a href="https://www.dneg.com/antarctica_vr/">Antarctica</a> tours museums. Melbourne-based company <a href="https://www.lithodomosvr.com/">Lithodomos</a> brings “the ancient world to life” and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=no.hallingdata.hiddenar&hl=en_AU">Hidden AR</a> offers mythical augmented reality. Other links to check out include: <ul> <li>the Guardian’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/mar/23/10-of-the-worlds-best-virtual-museum-and-art-gallery-tours">review</a> of the world’s best virtual museum and art gallery tours</li> <li><a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/">Google Arts and Culture’s</a> virtual tours and online exhibits from myriad <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/partner?hl=en">museums and galleries</a>, as well as scavenger hunts – including at <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/project/virtual-tours">the British Museum</a></li> <li>the Louvre’s <a href="https://arts.vive.com/us/articles/projects/art-photography/mona_lisa_beyond_the_glass/">Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass</a></li> <li>the <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/515020/The_VR_Museum_of_Fine_Art/">VR Museum of Fine Art</a>.</li> <li>Europeana’s <a href="https://teachwitheuropeana.eun.org/stories-of-implementation/implementation-of-vintage-vr-soi-hr-109/">vintage stereo VR</a> and <a href="https://pro.europeana.eu/data/vintage-stereoscope-cards">examples</a> of how to create stories and <a href="https://teachwitheuropeana.eun.org/learning-scenarios/vintage-vr-ls-es-14/">lessons</a> with stereosonic VR prints</li> <li>The Smithsonian’s <a href="https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour">virtual tour</a> and downloadable <a href="https://3d.si.edu/">3D artefacts</a>, including a tour of a <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/vrhangar">hangar</a> from the National Air and Space Museum</li> <li><a href="https://sketchfab.com/museums">Sketchfab</a>’s cultural heritage section which can be accessed through <a href="https://sketchfab.com/virtual-reality">VR headsets or Google Cardboard-enabled smartphones</a>. There’s also a places and travel <a href="https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/categories/places-travel?date=week&sort_by=-likeCount">section</a>.</li> </ul> Escapism through gaming There are also VR games with which you can: <ul> <li>escape inside a physical exhibition of Assassin’s Creed – <a href="https://uploadvr.com/preview-e3-2018-assassins-creed-vr-wireless/">Temple of Anubis VR</a></li> <li>travel through New Orleans, <a href="https://store.playstation.com/en-au/product/EP2397-CUSA18498_00-TWDSSSTDEDITION0">but with zombies</a></li> <li>tour medieval fantasy worlds via <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B072MZ3NLC?tag=georiot-au-default-22&th=1&psc=1&ascsubtag=trd-3438856826073335000-22">Skyrim VR</a></li> <li>explore alien worlds with <a href="https://www.playstation.com/en-au/games/no-mans-sky-ps4/">No Man’s Sky</a> on PlayStation VR</li> <li>watch Amazonian <a href="https://www.viveport.com/6792ef3d-0775-4ab4-b3d3-3d9c15b64d47">shamans</a>, or</li> <li>explore <a href="https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/vr/">Minecraft</a> in VR.</li> </ul> VR can show your outer space, and also convey interpretations of <a href="https://www.viveport.com/1edac723-2fed-4e56-b509-b0b8e796ba81">time and space</a>. With it, there is vast potential for travelling to infinity and beyond. Written by Erik Malcolm Champion. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarctica-without-windchill-the-louvre-without-queues-how-to-travel-the-world-from-home-140174">The Conversation.</a>

Cruising

How to cut queues at immigration – with maths

When going on holiday to a foreign country, there’s one part of the journey that everybody dreads: border control. Everyone has to have their passport checked by an immigration official when entering a new country – and even when leaving some – so queues are almost inevitable. At Heathrow airport – <a href="https://www.internationalairportreview.com/article/32311/top-20-largest-airports-world-passenger-number/">one of the largest in the world</a> – many arriving passengers are <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6030399/BA-boss-criticises-two-hour-queues-Heathrow-Airport-border-farce.html">experiencing waiting times</a> of up to two hours at passport control. Border control officials seek to manage these queues through staff rosters – and when there aren’t enough staff rostered on to meet the number of arriving passengers, then queues at passport control can become excessively long. Staff rostering presents what’s known in industry as an “optimisation problem”. It is used in hospitals for nurses, in call centres and even in schools, <a href="http://www.optimisationintherealworld.co.uk/2018/04/13/challenges-in-producing-a-staff-roster/">for playground supervision</a>. The main goals are typically to ensure that services are completed in a reasonable amount of time, and to reduce the cost of staff. But these two goals are often contradictory – since paying more staff usually leads to better service. And because of this contradiction, staff rostering can be a very difficult optimisation problem to solve. Meeting requirements To balance these two aspects of staff rostering, organisations or regulatory bodies typically impose “service requirements”, in the form of expected service times. At Heathrow airport, the <a href="https://www.heathrow.com/company/company-news-and-information/performance/airport-operations/border-force">service requirements</a> state that 95% of passengers should be processed at passport control within 25 minutes for EEA citizens and 45 minutes for everyone else. Unfortunately, the border force at Heathrow has been unable to meet the services requirements for non-EEA immigrants since February 2018. July saw the worst performance, with 24.5% of all passengers entering the UK through terminals three and four experiencing waiting times of more than 45 minutes at passport control. In <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/977533/british-airways-heathrow-airport-passport-control-queues-UK">June</a>, <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/991733/summer-holiday-travel-delay-Heathrow-airport-luton-airport-manchester-airport">July</a> and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6030399/BA-boss-criticises-two-hour-queues-Heathrow-Airport-border-farce.html">August</a>, there have been reports of passengers waiting longer than two hours. Having lots of valid data is critical to making a good roster and reducing waiting times. The main components of staff rostering are modelling demand, scheduling days off and assigning staff to shifts or tasks. If the demand is known exactly in advance – for example, if the number of playground supervision tasks are the same every day throughout the school year – then staff rostering only needs to consider the last two components. In more dynamic environments, such as airport arrivals, demand modelling plays a crucial role in staff rostering. In an airport, the demand for passport control is directly related to the arrival times of aircraft, which can in turn be delayed. For example, in May 2015 only <a href="https://www.caa.co.uk/Data-and-analysis/UK-aviation-market/Flight-reliability/Datasets/Punctuality-data/Punctuality-statistics-2018/">75.93%</a> of flights arriving into Heathrow airport were on time. <a href="https://www.caa.co.uk/Data-and-analysis/UK-aviation-market/Flight-reliability/Datasets/Punctuality-data/Punctuality-statistics-2018/">Of the remaining flights</a>, 17% were delayed by less than an hour, and about 7% were delayed by longer. Since <a href="https://www.heathrow.com/company/company-news-and-information/company-information/facts-and-figures">94% of passengers</a> are international travellers, border control is massively affected by flight delays. Digging into the data One of the worst options, in regard to meeting service requirements, is to roster staff according to the scheduled arrival time of all flights. Although this would be relatively cheap, it ignores the fact that air travel is routinely subject to delays. A better way for border force to reduce delays at passport control is to roster staff so that the largest expected demand can be served within the set service requirements. Basically, this would mean opening as many booths at passport control as possible, at the busiest time for arrivals – taking into account any expected delays. But this is a very impractical and expensive solution, and there are limitations with respect to the number of available staff – especially since <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmhaff/421/42105.htm">border force is already struggling</a> with insufficient numbers of staff. Fortunately, there is lots and lots of data relating to air travel, which can be used to model demand more accurately, and roster staff and employ other available technologies accordingly. Historical records of flight arrivals, the number of EEA and non-EEA citizens arriving and the demand at passport control are all available. Through the use of statistical and data science techniques, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forecasting">forecasting</a>, a sophisticated model of demand at passport control can be developed. Performing staff rostering with such a demand model may be conservative, meaning a higher overall cost, but it will be more likely to fit with the reality of air transportation. Yet proper demand modelling can also highlight situations – periods of time when predominately EEA citizens are arriving – where automatic passport scanners could provide flexibility in rostering staff, and which could decrease costs. Given the excessive delays reported at Heathrow border control, we can only assume that there is significant limitations to the demand model currently being used for staff rostering. By making better use of statistical techniques and drawing on the large amount of data that is available, it’s possible to significantly reduce the waiting time for passport control – even when flights are delayed.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100988/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Written by Stephen J Maher, EPSRC Research Fellow, Lancaster University. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-cut-queues-at-immigration-with-maths-100988" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

International Travel

Good news for New Zealand passport holders: No more queues at Heathrow!

New Zealanders who travel to British airports are now able to skip the long immigration queues due to UK authorities giving the all clear to go through the ePassport gates. The British High Commission announced that electronic passport gates are now available for New Zealanders who carry electronically enabled passports. The self-serve terminals, which are similar to the ones that are used at Australian airports, significantly speed up the processing of arriving travellers due to the use of facial recognition. The facial recognition software matches the traveller with the image printed in their passport, which eliminates the need to come face-to-face with border officials. British Home Secretary Sajid Javid said that the change offers New Zealand travellers a “smooth” arrival into the UK. “Our new global immigration and border system will improve security and fluidity for passengers coming to visit or work in the UK,” he said in a statement. “Expanding the use of ePassport gates is a key part of this and allows us to improve passenger experience arriving in the UK while keeping our border secure. The change is also applicable to eligible Australian nationals. With Heathrow being the busiest airport in Europe and having 80 million passengers passing through it last year alone, anything that speeds up the arrival process is a good thing.

International Travel

5 tricks to choose fastest line at supermarket

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that the queue you choose at the supermarket is always the slowest. Whether you’re queuing at the checkout, sitting in traffic or just waiting in line at the post office, it feels like the queues around us always seem to move faster. Well, that’s all about to end. David Andrews, author of the new book Why Does the Other Line Always Move Faster? The Myths and Misery, Secrets and Psychology of Waiting in Line, reveals some of the top secrets to picking the fast lane. “The slowest lane will always be the one you are personally in,” Andrews writes in his new book. Why? That’s because when you’re in the fast lane, you don’t even realise you’re moving more than those in the line next to you. According to Andrews, it’s largely psychological. If someone cuts in front of you, it exacerbates your state of frustration and adds to your perceived wait time. There are ways to choose a winning queue though. Follow these five line commandments and never wait again. Rule 1: Choose the line with more men Researchers from the University of Surrey have found that men hate waiting more than women. Pick a queue with more men in it, as they’ll likely be in a rush too. Rule 2: Think twice about the express line The allure of the express line might be strong, but studies show it isn’t necessarily the best option. Mathematician Dan Meyer reviewed check out data from his local supermarket and discovered that the fastest queues have fewer people, not fewer items. He found that each person in line adds 48 seconds to the wait, while an individual item only adds 2.8 seconds to your time in the line. When you consider the time it takes to process payment, swipe rewards cards and finish a transaction, it makes sense to opt for a line with fewer people. Rule 3: Withdraw cash before you shop Paying with cards may seem like the easiest option but Meyer found that cash-only lines are much quicker. Withdrawing money before you shop has also been shown to help with budgeting and preventing unnecessary purchases, so it’s a win-win. Rule 4: When in doubt, choose the left line Fact: Lines to the left are often shorter, because the majority of people are right-handed, and studies show right-handed people naturally gravitate to the right. Rule 5: Master your mind A lot of this frustration that comes from waiting in a slow queue is psychological, so Andrews recommends having a distraction on hand. Grab a magazine or bring your headphones and tune into your favourite radio station to make passing time that little bit more pleasant. Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/gardening/2015/04/how-to-grow-cucumbers/">Top tips for growing cucumbers</a> <a href="/lifestyle/gardening/2015/04/guide-to-vertical-gardens/">Your guide to vertical gardens</a> <a href="/lifestyle/gardening/2015/04/fast-growing-vegetables/">10 great fast-growing veggies</a>

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