Professor Stephen Brown gave a seminar for DMU staff on bidding for EU research funds. He talked about the EU FP7 IST research instruments (IPs, STREPS etc), what they are, how they are evaluated, why bids fail and what a successful bid looks like. This was grounded in his recent experiences of evaluating Digital Libraries, Cultural Heritage and Technology Enhanced Learning proposals in the most the recent round (call 3).

Some useful links are:

Comprehensive EC guide to "How to fail"

Introduction to Cultural Heritage & Technology Enhanced Learning, including links to programme descriptions, publications that describe currently funded projects and links to commission / project web sites and contacts.

Slides

The IOCT Masters Class of 2008 held a showcase exhibition in the main lab today. The students come from a wide variety of backgrounds across Art and Design, Computing and Humanities, all united in an interest in the trans/multi/interdisciplinary potential of creative technologies. None of them solely within traditional disciplines - they may be technologists with a creative dimension, artists working with technologies, designers with programming skills, or any one of many more such ‘crossovers’.

As areas ‘between’ traditional disciplines grow, the modern Masters student needs a portfolio of skills and knowledge to become employable in the future. The IOCT Masters students will be uniquely equipped for this future world, by gaining an insight into a range of methods and practices, research and development, knowledge and understanding, uniquely drawn from a number of Faculties in De Montfort University.

Throughout the course the students have developed and strengthened their individual creative technologies practice, bringing together eScience, the Digital Arts and Design and Humanities to cross traditional disciplines and boundaries, explore new ways of working and learning and broaden their future horizons. This has been exhilarating year for all of us involved in the Masters programme, reflected in the exciting and innovative work showcased in this brochure.
Dr Sophy Smith
Programme Leader

Brochure Slideshow

The Online MA in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University is designed for writers interested in experimenting with new formats and exploring the potential of new technologies in their writing. This first annual CWNM Salon is a unique opportunity to enjoy the best work from the first two years of the course with installations and talks from 6 course students.

Event description (IOCT Salon website)

Professor Hussein Zedan

Slides

This illustrated presentation gave an overview of the history of the digital arts from their origins in the analogue kinetics and Jazz/Poetry performances of the 1950's to current practice. Key themes like Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Life/Emergence, Computational and Generative, Interaction, Convergence, Communication and Networking will be identified and discussed. In particular Paul revisited predictions he made in the late 1980's when he suggested that any new media need a minimum 40 year gestation period which he suggests is now coming to term. He illustrated this hypothesis by using current web2 manifestations as examples of digital media emerging in their own right in contrast to our previous metaphorical adaptations.

Event description (IOCT Salon website)

In February 2007, DMU and Penguin Publishing collaborated to host the world's first wiki novel - "A Million Penguins." Over a five week period nearly 1,500 people signed up to edit the novel, over 11,000 edits were made and it was viewed over 500,000 times leading the CEO over Penguin Publishing to muse that it was maybe the "most written novel in history." In this seminar, Bruce Mason will outline the results of a research project held at the IOCT which investigated the social behaviour that unfolded during the writing of "A Million Penguins." What kinds of collaboration, conflict and compromise occurred and what did it tell us about future online writing possibilities? Did a sense of community arise or did we see nothing but chaos and vandalism? The seminar will not require any particular knowledge of wikis or online writing. For more information, email Bruce Mason (bmason01 at dmu.ac.uk).

Project description and report

With live demos of Clara 2.0 (a theremin-playing robot doll) and other curiosities, Sarah explores her own approach to digital arts. Her work may use computers and embedded microprocessors - but Sarah aims to create interactive objects with a tactile and convincing quality that extend beyond the computer screen and mouse. Sewer pipes, car park technology and roboticised toys are just some of the items she's appropriated over the last few years to create novel experiences. Sarah shows some of the thinking that goes into her work and reveals how she shamelessly mines ideas from cognitive science, stage magic, ancient music and other areas to come up with new ideas. She'll briefly discuss her latest work, inspired by an Edwardian funfair illusion, that's currently interesting researchers of human perception.

Event description and video (IOCT Salon website)

Professor Hussein Zedan, Mapping Human Creativity
(De Montfort Creativity Assistant)

One of the purposes of modelling is to understand and further analyse a given phenomenon. The phenomenon in this talk is "Creativity" and I will present an initial graph-theoretic approach to model it. It is precisely generic in nature and allows us to define the creative process.

Video

Toni Sant is exploring the 3-D online virtual environment called Second Life as a venue for performance by looking at examples of theatre groups performing online within Second Life. In addition to activities presented as theatre he is also observing broader performance activities within this online space. Additionally, this project involves an attempt to use Second Life as a pedagogical tool for generating an archive of work related to a history of performance on the Internet by relating it to previous work on other online virtual environments, such as IRC, MUDs, MOOs, and 2-D graphic chat networks like The Palace. Presently, the work revolves around a planned Second Life production of Shakespeare's Hamlet in one of three simulations of The Globe in this popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game. See www.ioctsalon.com for more details. Part of cultural eXchanges 2008.

Event description and video (IOCT Salon website)

Howard Skempton is one of the great originals of the English experimental music scene which burst onto the stage in the late 60s and 70s. Richard Orton is one of the pioneers of the electronic music renaissance in Britain and is an innovative composer and teacher of a generation of leaders in the field. Here (after 40 years) is a platform to let them explore, challenge - and maybe rewrite - some of the accepted historical clichés. Simon Emmerson (DMU) will chair.

Event description (Cultural Exchanges website)

One of the New Media Seminar and Concert Series organised by the Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre at De Montfort University, and held in the PACE Building, STUDIO 1, Richmond St., Leicester. 2-5pm: Symposium - Keynote speaker will be Agostino di Scipio (Music Conservatory of Naples): 'What is needed to give this presentation a title?'. Other papers: Ron Herrema (DMU), 'Paradoxically Algorithmic'; Bret Battey (DMU), 'Variable-Coupled Map Networks'; Ollie Bown (Goldsmiths), 'Compositional uses of continuous time recurrent neural networks'. 7pm Concert: Agostino di Scipio - two UK premieres: Untitled (Sound Synthesis, October 2001) and Untitled (Sound Processing, October 2004); Ollie Bown (Icarus) & Tom Arthurs (F-IRE Collective & Not Applicable Artists) a work for trumpet and interactive electronics; Ron Herrema - two world premieres: One or Two Things and Music for Being.

Event description (MTI website)

Since the 1990s Andy Campbell has experimented with the possibilities of writing fiction for the computer screen. His website Dreaming Methods combines fictional narratives with other media such as film, photography, animation and music.

Event description and video (IOCT Salon website)

Event report and photos (Jess Laccetti)

Videos (Jess Laccetti)

Event report (New Media Research group blog at the University of Bedfordshire, UK)

Over the last year, the Production and Research into Transliteracy Group at De Montfort University has been exploring the notion of transliteracy. At the Transliteracy Unconference in September 2007 we decided that a workshop in which participant could begin to make transliterate objects would be the next step in this process. The fact that no-one could actually describe what these might be like added an extra frisson to the idea. Hence at this event participants were invited to use materials provided by The Institute of Creative Technologies, along with their own ideas, to investigate the creation of transliterate object.

Event report and photos

Organised by Creative Leicestershire and ProspectIP, an innovation initiative of De Montfort University.

The Creativity Assistant is a tool designed to help develop creative ideas in a transdisciplinary multimedia context, based upon the thesis that "creativity is an emergent property".

http://cii.dmu.ac.uk

Venue: The City Rooms, Leicester.
Speakers:

Bill Thompson discusses the nature of knowledge in the network society.

Event description (IOCT Salon website)

Introductory event to learn how to use Facebook, a social networking website. Local business people talk about the benefits they've gained from using social networking, and take you through the process of getting yourself set up.

Video of the event plus photos, slides and links (Creativity Conversations website)

Bob Betts is Managing Director of Smith of Derby, a local and prestigious clock makers. Adrian Dent advises on funding applications and pursues his passion for Raku pottery. They will be talking about the conflicts and resolutions that present themselves when balancing your own creative needs and ambitions with the requirements of paying clients and funding bodies.

Video of the event plus slides (Creativity Conversations website)

Discussing creating spaces, both virtual and real.

Video of the event plus photos (Creativity Conversations website)

Presenting insights into online social publishing and their product "Oort Cloud"

Slides (Slideshare)

Examining the creative process from both a practical and an analytical point of view.

Video of the event plus photos, slides and links (Creativity Conversations website)

Reporting on PhD research.

Discussing conditions for creativity and the exploitation of ideas.

Video of the event plus photos and slides (Creativity Conversations website)

Making printed pages digitally interactive by embedding circuits in each page.

Event description and video (IOCT Salon website)

Exploring the reasons why we abandon or switch ideas, methods and view whilst being creative.

Video of the event plus photos, slides and links (Creativity Conversations website)

Discussing interdisciplinarity, media art, and networks.

Video of the event plus links and slides (Creativity Conversations website)

With guest speaker Matthew Linley, Director of the Phoenix, discussing the plans for the new Digital Media Centre.

Event description (IOCT Salon website)

Discussing composition, creativity, and transdisciplinary work.

Video of the event plus links and slides (Creativity Conversations website)

Considering creative swarms and how these may be used to enhance creativity.

Video of the event plus links and slides (Creativity Conversations website)

Discussing traditional media and new media, and extending the bounds of creativity.

Video of the event plus links and slides (Creativity Conversations website)

Discussing how to use Web 2.0 to assist creativity.

Video of the event plus links and slides (Creativity Conversations website)

An exploration of definitions, language, and associated terms.

Discussing representing and developing creative ideas.

Video of the event (Creativity Conversations website)

by Thomas Vanderwal, originator of the term 'folksonomy'.

Discussing creativity and collaboration.

Event report (IOCT blog)