Latest news with #Rhona
Edinburgh Reporter
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Art show at the Commie
Visual artist Rhona Taylor will present an exhibition Immersive: Exploring the Commie Pool at the Royal Commonwealth Pool's café from 6-22 June 2025, as part of the Architecture Fringe festival. The exhibition will display original prints showing the architectural and social significance of one of Edinburgh's public spaces. Immersive features a collection of original prints by Ms Taylor examining the Royal Commonwealth Pool's role as both an architectural landmark and a community hub. The exhibition is part of the artist's broader research project examining swimming pools as social, public and cultural spaces, with particular focus on their architecture, history, and contemporary uses. Rhona said: 'The prints in Immersive have developed from research into the building, its development, and its changing use since it was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games. I love swimming in the Commie, so it's been great fun digging into the archives to find out more about some of the things that went on behind the scenes when it was built.' The exhibition is presented in partnership with Edinburgh Leisure, which operates the Royal Commonwealth Pool for the council. This collaboration highlights the organisation's commitment to supporting arts and culture within the community spaces they manage. Ed Bethune, Operations Manager at the Royal Commonwealth Pool said: 'We're delighted to partner with Rhona Taylor for this fascinating exploration of our building and its place in Edinburgh's cultural landscape. The Royal Commonwealth Pool has been serving our community for over 50 years, and it's wonderful to see an artist capture both its architectural significance and its ongoing role as a space where people come together for health, recreation, and community connection.' The Architecture Fringe, from 6-22 June, will look at the intersection of architecture, design, and public space across Edinburgh, and Rhona Taylor's exhibition fits perfectly in the framework. Rhona is a visual artist based in Edinburgh whose studio practice encompasses painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and installations. She is a member of Edinburgh Printmakers, where she creates her screenprints. Her current research focuses on swimming pools as social, public and cultural spaces in Scotland and internationally. The exhibition is supported by Edinburgh Leisure, Creative Scotland, and The City of Edinburgh Council through the Visual Artist and Craft Makers Awards (VACMA) Edinburgh. Immersive: Exploring the Commie Pool The Royal Commonwealth Pool café 21 Dalkeith Road EH16 5BB Artist Rhona Taylor with some of her work PHOTO Greg Macvean Like this: Like Related
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Scots voiceover artist claims Edinburgh bus company used AI version of her voice without permission
It comes less than a week after another artist revealed a synthetic version of her voice had been used on board ScotRail trains. A Scots voiceover artist has condemned an AI company for creating a synthetic version of her voice - which she says has been used for announcements on public buses in Edinburgh. Diane Brooks says Belgian company Acapela is guilty of "stealing her vocal soul" after they used voice recordings she made for them 11 years ago. The synthetic voice, known as "Rhona", has allegedly been supplied to bus operator Lothian to use for passenger announcements. Diane believes Rhona may have also been used by other transport operators, and thinks other voiceover artists are likely to have been similarly treated. She said: "I am sorry to say and unbeknown to me, my voice is the voice on Lothian buses. I had done a text-to-speech (TTS) project in 2014 when TTS was in its infancy and had known my voice was on Acapela as Rhona, but thought it wouldn't get used as it has been. "I have felt very strongly for a long time that I had to do something, but felt a bit alone about it all, and what chance would I have against a big corporate company?" It comes less than a week after another Scots voiceover artist revealed an AI-generated version of her voice had also been used on public transport in Scotland. Midlothian-based Gayanne Potter recently revealed an AI version of her voice had been used for announcements on ScotRail trains, which left her feeling "violated". The voice, known as "Iona", replaced older messages on some routes which were recorded by a human. Gayanne says it is based on recordings she made in 2021 for ReadSpeaker, a Swedish company. Diane said when it was revealed that Gayanne's voice had been used by ScotRail, "it has given me the strength to do something about it, as it's an infringement of my rights as a voiceover artist". She added: "The worst thing is that I have no control of my own voice. I don't know where it will end up and basically, they have stolen my vocal soul. At first I was quite upset, but now I'm really angry. It's not right. "It's a relief to know I am not the only one who is in the situation and am sure more voiceover artists will come out of the woodwork with the same issue. We must stick together and show a united approach to it all and we can't let these big corporate companies take away our identities and our livelihoods." Diane said she was now taking legal advice"as I want to make sure I have all the ammo I need to take on these companies that really take advantage in the most profitable way for them". She said: "I hope strength in numbers will truly resolve this issue as AI is becoming increasingly dominant in everything we do and as voiceover artists we must be better protected in our work." Her work has included BBC Bitesize, TV and radio advertisements, and announcements for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She said she had recorded phrases for her agent, Scottish Voiceovers, now part of Voquent, on behalf of Acapela, but she had not been clear what they were to be used for and did not remember signing a contract. The recordings were later used by Acapela to create Rhona. Diane said: "You are trusting your agent to do the best for you and look at things." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Performing arts union Equity said such cases had become common, which it said infringed its members' rights. Liam Budd, its industrial official for recorded media, said: "It is extremely exploitative for companies to use and commercialise voice recordings to create digital replicas of artists from contracts which pre-date the development of generative AI or were not drafted explicitly for this purpose. "Sadly, we have heard from numerous performers who have lost control over their voice or likeness, and had their privacy and likeness hijacked through the misuse of AI. Such misuse is an attack on our members' fundamental rights. "The union continues to call on the [UK] government for legal certainty around the use of historic contracts for AI-purposes and greater enforcement of existing GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation] laws, which give our members much-needed protections, but are currently being ignored." A spokesperson for Lothian, which is owned by the City Of Edinburgh Council, said: "We have two different passenger information systems in use. One uses a recording of a commissioned voice artist for mp3 playback, and the other uses a text-to-speech engine to synthesize a voice. "Lothian is a licensed user of the text-to-speech engine, which originates from our equipment supplier and as such we were not involved in its creation." Lothian added the engine had been supplied by a passenger information equipment provider, which it has yet to name. It said it had "no direct agreement or contract with Acapela". The City of Edinburgh Council said it had nothing to add. Acapela, Voquent and Scottish Voiceovers have been approached for comment.
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Kitchen fall brought me back down to earth as I deal with broken ribs
My paralysed leg slipped, and I landed full force on my side, smashing into a table before bouncing to the floor and hitting my head. I knew instantly something was wrong. I couldn't move. However, I could reach my phone, so I managed to message for help. I lay there for 20 minutes on the floor until a friend with a spare key arrived. Then the ambulance came. And just like that, I was back in hospital. CT scans, IV lines, heart monitors, painkillers. One minute I was planning a road trip; the next I was flat on a trolley in the resus department, blinking at the ceiling lights I've seen too many times before. The diagnosis: two broken ribs. My first. And of course, they're on my paralysed side, where everything is more complicated. When the doctors said it would take eight weeks to heal, I could barely process it. Eight weeks is an age in this body. In this life. Falls are something I live with daily. They're an ever-present risk. Every step, every uneven pavement, every slippery floor there's a split-second possibility that my world could turn again. At the spinal cord hospital, the wards were full of people whose lives had changed because of a fall. We don't talk about it much, but it's one of the most common reasons people with injuries like mine are caused. What makes this harder is that it happened so fast. One second I was moving through my day, groggy from jet lag, sure, but functioning. The next, I was in survival mode. It's not just the fall that hurts. It's the trauma it triggers. The ambulance lights. The questions. The scans. The smell of hospital soap. The sound of the machines. It all takes me straight back to the worst days, to the mistake that caused my spinal cord injury in the first place. An injury I still believe 100 per cent should never have happened. And so, I find myself back in limbo. I should be in Edinburgh. I was looking forward to taking part in The Capital Conversation, sitting on stage alongside Rhona and Archie. Instead, I was patched in via Zoom from my sofa, propped up by cushions and codeine. I'm proud of the Edinburgh University team who made that happen, they didn't need to, but they did. That small kindness meant a lot, I also wanted to support Archie. I should be visiting friends across Scotland. Playing golf. Breathing in the cool Highland air. But instead, I'm in my flat in London, bruised and broken (again), looking out the window and trying to come to terms with another detour I didn't choose. This is one of the hardest parts of living with a spinal cord injury. Not just the physical limits, but the unpredictability. The fact that everything can change in a blink. You plan a week. A conversation. A game. A trip. And then suddenly, it's a hospital corridor and someone asking if you know what day it is. I've had a few messages from friends who've broken ribs before, all of them say it's brutal. No comfortable position. No quick fixes. No shortcuts. Just time, and patience, and learning to breathe through the pain. Another bump in the road, then. Another test. Another chance to practise resilience whether I feel ready or not. I'm tired of the tests. But I haven't given up. I can't. Because somewhere beyond the frustration, there's still a belief in the life I'm trying to rebuild. This fall has grounded me, literally and metaphorically. But I'll get up again, like I always do. Slowly, carefully, stubbornly. Not because I'm brave or special or built differently. Just because I have to. And because I've learned that even when you can't move forward in the way you hoped, you can still find a way to move in thought, in connection, in spirit. Even when your body breaks again, you can still show up with those core values that guide you everyday. As I laid in hospital opposite a 93-year-old lady who had also fallen I kept thinking maybe this was a sign to slow down, I had moved into human doing rather than human being recently and felt a wave of frustration come over me as I thought this should not have happened. So, as the weekend comes I will try to be kind to myself around the fall and reframe this as a point of rest and recovery from my recent travels.
Leader Live
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Cunard photo exhibition appeal prompts memories of shipping line
Images from the cruise line's past were collected for the Sea of Glamour exhibition, curated by photographer Mary McCartney, which will be launched in Liverpool later this month. After an appeal to find some of the people shown in the photos, former staff and guests got in touch with Cunard to tell their stories. Anne Logan, 84, recognised herself in a photo showing staff aboard the QE2 in 1975. The former stewardess said the picture, originally featured in British tabloid Reveille, brought back memories from her 30 years working on the seas, including serving celebrities who travelled onboard. She said: 'I looked after lots. Rod Stewart was with us three times, first with Britt Ekland then Alana Stewart and then Rachel Hunter – so with a different woman every time! 'Elton John and his wife Renate Blauel came across from New York to Southampton. He was very nice and polite but very, very quiet. He spent all of his time with his manager and she spent all of her time in the shops.' Ms Logan, originally from near Port Talbot in South Wales, worked on 19 world cruises before settling in Southampton where she became a care worker. She has not lost her love for being at sea and still goes on a cruise once a year. Another photo shows Leading Air Crewman Roy Eggleston with his then-girlfriend saying goodbye at Southampton before he boarded the QE2 as part of the 825 Naval Air Squadron in 1982, during the Falklands War. The romantic connection captured on camera did not last and the couple later split up but Mr Eggleston, now 69 and living in Sutton on Sea, Lincolnshire, contacted Cunard to reveal himself and described his former fiancee as 'a beautiful part of my life'. The exhibition also features David Lawrence, pictured standing aboard a lifeboat from the QE2 which he kept on the front drive of his semi-detached home in Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. His son Geraint, 47, said he was about four when his father bought the boat, which he named Rhona after his daughter. 'My dad was a little eccentric,' he said. 'He didn't often follow the same path as everyone else. If you think about it not many people would buy a lifeboat to keep in their driveway, but this wasn't the first time he had done something like this.' Mr Lawrence, a former coal miner, has since died but his son said: 'It's great to see that despite the loss, the story of my dad and Rhona lives on today.' Anniversary celebrations will take place in Liverpool from May 26 when Cunard's newest ship the Queen Anne will arrive in the city. The Sea of Glamour exhibition will be open to the public at the Royal Liverpool Building from May 28 to June 17 and will be free to view.
South Wales Guardian
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Cunard photo exhibition appeal prompts memories of shipping line
Images from the cruise line's past were collected for the Sea of Glamour exhibition, curated by photographer Mary McCartney, which will be launched in Liverpool later this month. After an appeal to find some of the people shown in the photos, former staff and guests got in touch with Cunard to tell their stories. Anne Logan, 84, recognised herself in a photo showing staff aboard the QE2 in 1975. The former stewardess said the picture, originally featured in British tabloid Reveille, brought back memories from her 30 years working on the seas, including serving celebrities who travelled onboard. She said: 'I looked after lots. Rod Stewart was with us three times, first with Britt Ekland then Alana Stewart and then Rachel Hunter – so with a different woman every time! 'Elton John and his wife Renate Blauel came across from New York to Southampton. He was very nice and polite but very, very quiet. He spent all of his time with his manager and she spent all of her time in the shops.' Ms Logan, originally from near Port Talbot in South Wales, worked on 19 world cruises before settling in Southampton where she became a care worker. She has not lost her love for being at sea and still goes on a cruise once a year. Another photo shows Leading Air Crewman Roy Eggleston with his then-girlfriend saying goodbye at Southampton before he boarded the QE2 as part of the 825 Naval Air Squadron in 1982, during the Falklands War. The romantic connection captured on camera did not last and the couple later split up but Mr Eggleston, now 69 and living in Sutton on Sea, Lincolnshire, contacted Cunard to reveal himself and described his former fiancee as 'a beautiful part of my life'. The exhibition also features David Lawrence, pictured standing aboard a lifeboat from the QE2 which he kept on the front drive of his semi-detached home in Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. His son Geraint, 47, said he was about four when his father bought the boat, which he named Rhona after his daughter. 'My dad was a little eccentric,' he said. 'He didn't often follow the same path as everyone else. If you think about it not many people would buy a lifeboat to keep in their driveway, but this wasn't the first time he had done something like this.' Mr Lawrence, a former coal miner, has since died but his son said: 'It's great to see that despite the loss, the story of my dad and Rhona lives on today.' Anniversary celebrations will take place in Liverpool from May 26 when Cunard's newest ship the Queen Anne will arrive in the city. The Sea of Glamour exhibition will be open to the public at the Royal Liverpool Building from May 28 to June 17 and will be free to view.
