Sandpit: SerenA - Chance Encounters in the Space of Ideas

We live in an age of burgeoning information, and increasingly fast information access. The WorldWide Web has allowed us to make many positive changes in our society and environment, for example through social networking and e-publishing, but it also presents problems, by its very nature. There is now so much information being spread so quickly that it is becoming impossible for individuals to be aware of enough of it to enable them to take advantage of it.What is more, because of the information overload, we are having to rely more and more on search tools to find what we want. While existing search tools work quite well, after a bit of practice in using them, they are only able to give us information directly matching keywords in what we ask for. This is clearly useful, but its down side is that we are less likely than before to notice peripheral things, situations or people who are relevant to us, in the kind of serendipity or happy accident that led, for example, to the discovery of penicillin. It's becoming harder to notice such connections, partly because we are more narrowly focused in how we search for new knowledge, and partly because the search systems we use are very literal and not imaginative at all.This project aims to design a Serendipity Arena, called SerenA, which will proactively search information available in users' documents and on the Web to identify relevant knowledge and connections related to their work and their environment. The aim is not merely to search for shared keywords, like existing systems, but to use state-of-the-art technology from automated reasoning and computational creativity to identify things that users did not know they needed to know, using more advanced search based on metaphor and analogy. SerenA will be implemented as a physical presence in the working environment, and via personal technology, such as smartphones. With its users' permission, SerenA will proactively search for people and information in a user's local environment, both physically and virtually, allowing it, for example, to suggest that people who don't know each other might find some value in meeting (perhaps because they share an interest in particular aspects of the academic world), or to suggest a paper omitted by keyword search in a particular e-journal (because it has connections with other things of interest to the user who is searching).SerenA will have its own document-analysis technology, but it will also take advantage of the increasingly rich information available via the Semantic Web. The project will include development of a test-bed of information about music and musicology, as an exemplar of an academic field that can benefit from this enabling technology. Importantly, SerenA will have specially designed and carefully validated user interfaces, to make it intelligible to everyone interested in learning and discovery, of whatever kind.SerenA aims to draw man and machine closer together than ever before, enhancing its users' knowledge and their ability to interact with people likely to be important to them.

SerenA will provide impact to public sector organisations with research as a core activity (e.g. libraries), museums and galleries on a national and regional level. SerenA will facilitate public engagement with their contents and artefacts and create new links for users that would not otherwise have occurred. Commercial private sector beneficiaries will include businesses whose work is related to information search, visualisation or dissemination, such as professional research organisations. In addition, internet industries will benefit from the development of novel algorithms for proactive serendipity. Industries that develop and anticipate future technologies will benefit from using SerenA by establishing and extending links for those within their organisation to inspire the creation of novel interaction tools, systems and devices. The wider public will benefit as they view and user SerenA in public spaces. There will also be a range of indirect impacts as the algorithms developed in the project may lead to benefit in industries not directly concerned with research practices, such as the advertising industry or government agencies. The users of SerenA will benefit within a reasonably short timescale of the project start (i.e. one-three years) and the impact both of the algorithm development and the implementation of ideas generated by SerenA will endure for the longer term. Staff working on SerenA will develop skills ranging from computational algorithm development, integration of mobile and large screen technologies and networks, and application of evaluation methods in requirements specification and system design. The multidisciplinary team of researchers and investigators will all develop research skills in writing, presentation, preparation of public exhibits and technology integration. It is anticipated that all researchers working on the project will develop transferable skills that could be applied in industry, but that could also form the basis of an academic career. A series of engagement activities are integral to the SerenA project. SerenA will be implemented into two types of environments: Research environments (e.g. Horizon DTC) and Public spaces (e.g. Dundee Contemporary Arts, Sensation, Media City). These implementations will ensure engagement with SerenA during the lifetime of the project. We will also run specific dissemination activities with the public and with wider industry. We will run annual workshops that will showcase SerenA outputs, obtain key stakeholder input into SerenA developments, and obtain feedback from industry as to how best exploit SerenA results. In addition to engagement and dissemination activities, we will conduct specific dedicated activities to ensure that SerenA is publicised and delivered into the public and business community as quickly as possible. We will work with knowledge transfer experts at our own universities, with particular support from the Horizon digital economy hub. We will engage in media relations activities via our university press offices and also through a professional quality project website. All researchers on the project will be given the opportunity for training in public engagement, with those researchers who have a particular aptitude and interest in engaging with the public being provided with additional training. To maximise outreach activities we will work with two of the six Beacons of Public Engagement at UCL and Edinburgh. We have secured collaboration with Dundee Contemporary Arts and MediaCity and will work closely with KTN on Photonics and Plastic Electronics. The SerenA investigation team has extensive experience of liaising with the media, supporting start-ups and running conferences and workshops.