Create Fellows: The North West Creative Economy Engagement Fellowships
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Arts Languages and Cultures
Abstract
The project will support fellowships that aim to support:
- some of the UK's most talented researchers and nurture future leaders
- the broader skills development of high-calibre recent doctoral graduates in the art and humanities, particularly in relation to working with partners to support the wider impact of research.
- projects broadly aligned with the core themes, challenges and opportunities that are highlighted in the Industrial Strategy Green paper
- research which is cross-disciplinary and innovation-orientated"
- the best international talent
- some of the UK's most talented researchers and nurture future leaders
- the broader skills development of high-calibre recent doctoral graduates in the art and humanities, particularly in relation to working with partners to support the wider impact of research.
- projects broadly aligned with the core themes, challenges and opportunities that are highlighted in the Industrial Strategy Green paper
- research which is cross-disciplinary and innovation-orientated"
- the best international talent
Planned Impact
See Case for Support
Organisations
| Title | Popup view - Pop up gallery developed out of VR painting for creative economy engagement |
| Description | A way of viewing as a virtual gallery the products of digital artworks made in VR using the engagement methods developed by the research by Jessica Symons. A key challenge for Augmented and Virtual Reality is people's awareness of the terms themselves. The terms AR/VR mean little to the general public. Since there are already so many apps, technologies, digital and social media tools, there is little incentive for people to try to work out what AR/VR is and its value in their lives. Popup View addresses this knowledge gap by making AR fun, easy and sticky. It provides access to digital artworks via a phone app with a very simple message: |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | The product is being trialled in a number of different contexts, including digital arts and community arts festivals. |
| URL | https://visioninglab.wordpress.com/activities/connecting-rural-areas-to-the-creative-economy/ |
| Description | The research and engagement activities funded supported a number of researcher-industry partnerships within the regional creative industries sector, aligned with Industrial Strategy interests and priorities. Projects and their findings varied across the 6 fellowships, supporting research and development for industry application, including: - research focusing on consumer behaviour in multi-channel fashion retailing, using eye tracking technology in-store, online and via mobile (Tupikockaja-Omovie); - an AI collaboration between Manchester - Metropolitan University and Comma Press, Manchester, developing a 'chatbot' that can have conversations with its users about a selection of short stories (Jackson) - the promotion of creative employment in peri- urban and rural Cheshire using VR engagement methods (Symons) - interactive technologies and the mitigation and impact of loneliness (Long) - AI and haptic musical experiences (Prescott) - immersive holographic technology for modelling (Gholami) - |
| Exploitation Route | They are being taken forward by individual industry partners and also through dissemination of research outputs for academic audiences. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Retail |
| Description | The projects supported the ongoing relationship development and management between a multitude of industry partners and early career researchers within the consortia of HEIs involved, relating to the creative economy. Whilst these varied from institution to institution, the development of a suite of projects produced shared learning, for both industry partners and for the Create Fellows, in terms of their own professional development. The project which developed public engagement methodologies in the creative economy using VR in rural Cheshire, led by Jessica Symons, has led to a number of developments, including the upskilling of local artists, digital and rural workers in using VR for creative expression. Symons has now established a company 'Visioning Lab' to continue this on a consultancy basis. Another Fellow, David Jackson is continuing his research on the creative application of AI technology in narrative contexts and how these new forms affect their audiences. Researcher, Narrative and AI as a post-doc researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University. Current projects include: * £1m Innovate UK funded collaboration with SME partners Forever Holdings and Bright White creating VR experiences which allow people to meet their heroes * Immersive storytelling project about acoustic surveillance in collaboration with Digital Storytelling Labs, New York * Working with young carers to communicate and respond to feelings of loneliness and isolation with a digital music application. Funded by the Coop Foundation and UK Government and the Big Lottery Fund * Seed project which looks at how how machine learning tagging data for media could be improved to reduce bias and marginalisation effects for UK young people with South Asian heritage (NNHRC and Wellcome Trust funded) David is the co-founder of Algorithms for Marginalised People (www.ampunit) |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Retail |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | Position Paper for Cheshire East Council on developing the creative digital economy, written by Dr Jessica Symons |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Influenced the development of a rural public engagement programme using digital and virtual reality technologies in community libraries. |
| Title | Using eye tracking and mixed methods to research mobile consumer behaviour |
| Description | This research methodology is described by the researcher Zofija Tupikovskaja-Omovie following her experience as a Create Fellow. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The research tool has been trialled and the outcomes disseminated through conference papers |
| URL | http://methods.sagepub.com/video/researching-mobile-consumer-behavior-using-eye-tracking-and-mixed-m... |
| Description | Creative VR network in Cheshire East - Dr Jessica Symons |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr. Jessica Symons led engagement programme in Cheshire which engaged with 40+ organisations and artists across Cheshire including libraries, community centres, creative digital companies and local authorities, using VR technologies to prompt discussion about creative talent progression and access to training and skills development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | MAPPING YOUR RESEARCH ONTO THE INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY CHALLENGE FUND - part of NWCDTP PGR conference on digital humanities, human technologies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Workshop on research engagement methodologies with industry partner by CEEF FEllows, led by Symonds |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.nwcdtp.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Human-Technologies-Digital-Humanities-Conference-... |
| Description | VR network at University of Manchester - Dr Jessica Symons |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Development of a network of professional practitioners and researchers interested in immersive technologies, which consequently developed into VR Manchester, based at University of Manchester |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |