A computer-generated animated presenter is delivering news to the people of Norfolk with the launch of the Eastern Daily Press’s "Brian".

He is part of a unique project pioneered by three Norwich companies and PA Sport, which took 18 months to come to fruition.

He works under their Newsfast service, using either broadband links or 3G-phone bandwidth to deliver news, weather and sports news updates.

Brian, which stands for Believable RSS Interactive Avatar Newscaster, can access the latest breaking news, with readers/viewers not getting their updates delayed for scheduled news, weather and sport bulletins.

He connects automatically to news, weather and sport RSS sites, where news is often recorded first - long before it filters into TV and radio bulletins or in the latest editions of newspapers.

Televirtual MediaLab, a pioneer of the use of virtual presenters and newscasters, has teamed up with Archant Norfolk, the parent company of the Eastern Daily Press, the University of east Anglia-based weather bureau WeatherQuest and PA Sport for the project.

Watch Brian perform by clicking here.

Miranda Fox has been taken on to read daily news bulletins on the title's website

Brian