“A shimmer, an unsteadiness, as if the building faded forward into stability and then retreated into insubstantial uncertainty.”

(Phillip K. Dick 1969)

Ubiquity: Journal of Pervasive Media: Issue #1: Volume 5,

22 Articles generated by The Fourth International Conference on Transdisciplinary Imaging at the Intersections of Art, Science and Culture – THE ATEMPORAL IMAGE.

The Atemporal Image: This manifestation of the Aleph is the Transdisciplinary Imaging Conferences Series, an international conference that generated the content for this issue of Ubiquity. The Fourth International Conference on Transdisciplinary Imaging at the Intersections of Art, Science and Culture – THE ATEMPORAL IMAGE – was hosted by i-DAT at Plymouth University on the 1-3 July 2016 (http://transimage.i-dat.org/). The Fourth International Conference on Transdisciplinary Imaging adopted the theme of the Atemporal Image and the series of papers included in Ubiquity explore how a new temporality informs and plays out across contemporary visual culture. Our contemporary quotidian lives are becoming increasingly indebted to virtual platforms for social exchange and cultural mediation. The ubiquity of social media has necessitated the birth of virtual graveyards; frozen digital reliquaries marking the cessation of our online busywork. Museums and culture conservationists are hurriedly digitizing material fragments of the Anthropocene in an anxious contest against time and entropy. In this world the family photo-album is no longer an object but a well pool of dematerialized data.

Future Past: The Atemporal Image is the fourth iteration in the Transdisciplinary Imaging Conferences Series, with previous iterations in Istanbul (2014), Melbourne (2012) and Sydney (2010). The next manifestation will be Edinburgh (2018).

01-02/08/2018

The Infinite Guide Workshop at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) 

Birgitte Aga / Coral Manton

Over two days Birgitte Aga and Coral Manton from i-DAT Collective worked with a group of young people and FACT Learning to co-design an AI chatbot using DialogFlow and Google Home Assistant. The group designed future AI personalities, wrote interactive, speculative near future narratives on Twine and co-created one AI chatbot on Dialogflow, each member authoring their own intents and responses, reflecting the different personality designs. Today the group devised their own public exhibition that took place in FACT, in which they performed with and invited the public to speak to their AI. This is part of a bigger project exploring near future narratives around AI, ‘The Infinite Guide’ – look out for the online launch, and exhibition opening at KARST on the 31st August.

Meet Emoti-OS: The chatbot helping to empower pupils
The computer program gives students the opportunity to engage in non-human, non-judgmental conversation

As London EdTech Week kicks off, Angus Reith, Computing Lead at Plymouth School of Creative Arts explains how his school is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to empower students…

nesta blog

emoti-os.me

• Applications will close at the end of July.
• Brainstorming and thinking will occur between October – December 2018.
• This will be followed by a sharing amongst the cohort, who will then co-design a call brief with the producers and University leads around what should be made in response to the brainstorm period.
• They will then have a chance to pitch to this call for up to 8 x £30k prototyping grants
• There will then be an Open Call for any remaining prototyping grants in January 2019
• Prototyping for all participants will run through March, April and May 2019
• An industry showcase will be held for all 8 prototypes in June 2019

South West Creative Technology Network. https://swctn.org.uk/

RESEARCH ENGLAND,’s Connecting Capabilities Fund,

Partners:

• University of the West of England, Bristol,
• Bath Spa University,
• University of Plymouth
• Falmouth University.
• Watershed in Bristol,
• Kaleider in Exeter,

Network Launch dates:

Bath Spa: 12 June, 17.30, 2018. Queen’s Square, Le Bath Boules, BA1 2PW

Plymouth. 14 June, 17.30, 2018. Ocean Studios, RWY, PL1 3QQ

Falmouth: 22 June, 14.00, 2018. Sandpit, Penryn Campus, TR10 9F

Bristol: 6 July, 16.00, 2018. Watershed, Bristol, BS1 5TX

With thanks to Ocean Studios and RIO for hosting the event.

Audience Intelligence

NPIF studentships in Artificial Intelligence and Data-Driven research

http://quorum.i-dat.org/

This research opportunity builds on i-DAT’s established history of digital practice-based research and its strengths in cultural computation, ludic data and playful experimentation with creative technology. The project will explore the application of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to enhance audience experiences, increase engagement and inform a discourse around the measurement of cultural value.

The aim is to create playful synergies between audience behaviours, interactive media environments, physical objects (or things) and modern integrative, sub-symbolic, computational techniques. The intention is to couple new interactive ways of engaging with large audiences and then to use machine learning techniques to create new experiences and at the same time generate new insights on audience behaviour.

This research is embedded in a unique transdisciplinary collaboration between software engineers, interaction designers, artists, cultural institutions and a highly active participation with audiences. The methods used will necessarily require a systematic relationship between digital practice, provocative prototyping and draw on established creative technologies production methodologies. This incorporates a reciprocal and participatory process whereby the measurement of audience engagement feeds into the audience experience and the creative events which are generating them. This will require, for instance, the construction of networked devices incorporating Machine Learning algorithms to engage, enhance and measure crowd interactions.

The research builds on i-DAT’s open infrastructure for ‘harvesting’ and visualising data through the incorporation of modern integrative, sub-symbolic, computational techniques which apply Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to augment, evaluate and increase public engagement of cultural experiences. This research has produced high impact events at the significant public venues (Tate Modern, Society for Arts and Technology (Montreal)), informed innovative cultural value metrics (Artory, British Arts Festival Association, Culture Counts and the AHRC Cultural Value Project), supported City Council open data initiatives (Plymouth City Council DataPlay and Edinburgh City Scape) and impacted on educational policy (Plymouth Creative School). This has led to further applications of this research through ERDF funding (Impact Lab) and HEFCE funded South West Creative Technology Network.

For an informal discussion about the studentship, please contact M.Phillips@plymouth.ac.uk

Audience Intelligence

i-DAT is extremely pleased to be a partner in this £6.5million Creative Technology Network:

“Digital technologies are transforming the way we work and play, and this collaborative initiative focuses on some of the most exciting aspects of this evolution. The use of Data to improve our understanding of complex problems, the ability to generate powerful immersive experiences and the insights generated by artificial intelligence provide completely new perspectives on the world. We look forward to focusing the wealth of research experience we have in these areas to nurture innovation across the region.”

(Mike Phillips)

Shared from: http://info.uwe.ac.uk/news/uwenews/news.aspx?id=3786

A project worth £6.5million is being launched across the South West to expand the use of digital technologies throughout the region’s creative, health and manufacturing sectors.

The new Creative Technology Network will bring together universities and industrial partners, pooling their research and innovation expertise to develop cutting-edge practices, techniques and products in creative digital technologies.

Supported by a grant from RESEARCH ENGLAND, and led by the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), the three-year project is a partnership with Watershed in Bristol, Kaleider in Exeter, Bath Spa University, the University of Plymouth and Falmouth University.

As new technology, including automation and big data, raises new challenges and opportunities for businesses, this partnership is designed to respond to industry needs across the health and manufacturing sectors and the creative industries, driving productivity and resilience.

The grant is part of RESEARCH ENGLAND’s Connecting Capabilities Fund, which supports university collaboration and encourages commercialisation of products made through partnerships with industry. The funding will kick-start the project, which begins in April.

Professor Martin Boddy, who is Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Business Engagement at UWE Bristol, said, “We are immensely proud to be taking the lead on this exciting project which builds on UWE Bristol’s vision to work with partners to enhance innovation across the region and nationally. This new network will stimulate the regional economy and will undoubtedly lead to new products and new ways of working, all thanks to shared research experience and technical expertise.”

Professor Jon Dovey, who is Professor of Screen Media at the Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education at UWE Bristol and leading the project for the Digital Cultures Research Centre said, “This project will bring together the best and the brightest researchers in creative arts, technology and design to work with companies old and new to show what new kinds of value can be unlocked by the application of creative technologies.

“We are going to be working with immersive media, processes of automation and the new availability of big data to support business to find new ways of working with their customers and our citizens. Watch this space for the amazing new products and services we invent in the next three years.”

Professor Mike Phillips, Director of Research at i-DAT at the University of Plymouth, said: “Digital technologies are transforming the way we work and play, and this collaborative initiative focuses on some of the most exciting aspects of this evolution. The use of Data to improve our understanding of complex problems, the ability to generate powerful immersive experiences and the insights generated by artificial intelligence provide completely new perspectives on the world. We look forward to focusing the wealth of research experience we have in these areas to nurture innovation across the region.”

Professor Tanya Krzywinska, project lead for Falmouth University, said, “Falmouth University is geared for digital creative innovation, so we are delighted to be part of this initiative. The creative economy provides 1 in 11 jobs and is one of the fastest growing sectors of the UK economy. Building on the region’s well-established digital expertise, this collaborative project offers real opportunities to deliver economic impact for the South West.”

Professor Kate Pullinger, Director of the Centre for Culture and Creative Industries at Bath Spa University, said, “The creative industries – from the smallest micro-businesses to the larger players – are a hugely important asset for our region and the UK as a whole. This collaborative project is going to generate new opportunities that will transform how we engage with ideas and digital technology across the sector. We are delighted to be working with colleagues across the south west on a project which plays to our region’s world-leading strengths.”

Beyond the Business As Usual
25th January 2018
Sandy Park Way, Exeter EX2 7NN

Innovate UK Beyond the Business As Usual Presentation.

People Count: playful technologies for measuring experience and behaviour, and other forms of Cultural Computation.

‘People Count’ explores the Quorum research initiative which builds on i-DAT’s open infrastructure for ‘harvesting’ and visualising data through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning [http://quorum.i-dat.org/]. The aim to augment, evaluate and increase engagement with social and cultural experiences. This research has produced high impact events at significant public venues, such as the opening of the Tate Modern Switch house where real-time social media analytics were incorporated into the 197,000-audience experience of the event. The research has informed innovative cultural value metrics such as the Artory audience evaluation app and civil open-data initiatives, such as Plymouth City Council DataPlay and Edinburgh City Scape projects. Research into conversational AI’s has also been woven into the learning environment at the Plymouth Creative School.

Mike Phillips