There was a lively atmosphere in the Studio last week as our Magicians in Residence intensively tinkered with their magical devices in preparation for their Showcase next Wednesday, we welcomed Objects Sandbox and Future Documentary participants who came to the Studio for their prospective surgeries/workshops, and we gloved up to brave the chilly evening air in search of light-hearted mischief as part of a Movember Daredevil Tournament.

REACT’s Objects Sandbox Surgeries are well under way. Academics and creatives are forming collaborations in order to explore the next chapter in the story of both objects and the Internet. Historically, technology and electronics have dictated the form of objects and consequently most look exactly like what they are. Additionally the Internet and the web are principally consumed through screens, so interactions and engagement with content takes similar forms.  REACT is taking this opportunity with connected-objects to break free from these constraints and create objects that explore a new language of design. The surgeries have brought a wave of interesting academics and creative practitioners into the Studio, and we’re all waiting with bated breath to see what projects emerge from the initial Ideas Labs and Surgeries. You can keep up to date with the emergence of Objects projects on their microsite here. Other REACT news: The last workshop for Future Documentary Sandbox took place this week, and we are looking forward to seeing a culmination of all the projects’ work at a Future Docs Showcase in the New Year. All the projects will also be showcased at i-docs 2014; a two-day event dedicated to the rapidly evolving field of interactive documentary, hosted by the DCRC.

At the end of last week, Josh, our new Graduate Resident, gave a talk on how AR technologies have inspired him to create objects like his Communication Quilt, and the amazing Shadow Bench. In the evening, some of the Studio folk spilled out into the cold Bristol night, to take part in a special Daredevil Tournament, resident Paul Archer’s thrilling app, that offers up one word challenges to players, allowing them to interpret these in whichever way they please. This Tournament was part of a nationwide cluster of tournaments, which took place in honour of Movember, the moustachio’d men’s health charity.

After three years in the Studio, the AlphaSphere (which made its first appearance in 2010 in the form of paper cups and a spaghetti of wires and is now a very finished article) has been launched into the European market. The nu desine team have sold their instrument in Japan and America, but they are excited about bringing their multi-faceted instrument to the market a bit closer to home. The AlphaSphere is currently being used by electronic musicians such as Talvin Singh (a master tabla player/electronic musician) and Enter Shikari, among others. Visit their website to find out more about the instrument and what it can do.

The Studio has bugled the final call to apply for the UnBox Labs 2014 this week. UnBox is a wonderful opportunity to work with academics and creative technologists in a multi-disciplinary festival in Delhi in February. The participants will be exploring ideas and developing responses to the theme of Future Cities. They will then be given the chance to showcase their work at the UnBox festival in India in October 2014. Matt is currently in Delhi meeting those involved and learning more about UnBox as a whole. The deadline for applications is 6 December, so if you’re interested you better get them in quick! Visit theREACT and UnBox sites to learn more.

The full No Boundaries website is going to be launched in the next week, at which point all will be revealed about the wonderful collection of speakers (which is still growing) that the NB2014 team have amassed. For those of you who don’t know, No Boundaries is a conference being organised in and hosted by Watershed, which will be ‘a symposium on the role of culture in 21st century society’. The launch of the full website also brings with it the chance to reserve tickets for the two day event, which takes place in February next year.

We are very excited to be welcoming Creative Scotland and Sync into the Studio next week. They are coming to the Studio to meet residents here and to discuss digital innovation in the arts and to establish valuable links between Bristol and Scotland’s creative technology networks. Sync’s ethos is much the same as the Studios, and we look forward to getting to know them better.

After just two months in residence, our Magicians, Stuart Nolan and Kieron Kirkland will present new tricks blending creative magic, technology and illusion. There may be a magic bird that analyses your personality, human electromagnets and open source magic. This news is bittersweet, as with the showcase comes the end of the magicians’ residencies. The dynamism, rapture and world of wonderful illusions that the magicians have brought to studio will be sorely missed. But nevertheless, we are all very eager to see the culmination of their residencies on Wednesday. Book your tickets here.