We are very excited to announce Being There; a three year EPSRC funded project exploring how cutting-edge robotics can enable people to participate in public spaces, as a place to meet and share ideas. This project will see Watershed partnering with researchers from the Universities of Bath, Exeter, Oxford, Queen Mary University of London and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. The Studio was host to the first discussion on the topic this week, and we were visited by some wonderful people each of the Universities, who all had fascinating thoughts to share on how robotics can help to bridge the gap between the way we communicate in person and online. The research team will use the cat-sized programmable robot, NAO to help them in their investigation. They will be taking NAO into public spaces around Bristol and Bath to measure human interaction with robots, and we are all looking forward to having him around in the Studio to help us load the dishwasher.

Over the last few weeks, Tarim and Tine have been prototyping a light installation that they are shipping over to Iceland this weekend for the Reykjavik Winter Lights Festival. Their project will see the installation of 140 meters of LED cabling and 7 smoke machines over a footbridge in the City. The lights will glow blue, and will be proximity triggered to change colour amid puffs of smoke, so that people passing over the bridge will leave a trail of deep pink cloud behind them. Tarim and Tine plan to tour this installation, so fingers crossed we’ll see it appearing over the Bristol harbour one day. As soon as they’re back from Iceland, we’ll share what are sure to be beautiful pictures with you.

REACT are looking for someone to explore the latest in the field of experience and interaction design in the Internet of Things. This investigation will run parallel to Objects Sandbox, a REACT scheme which beginning this year, which involves 6 collaborations between creative practitioners and academics, working on their own projects which explore the field of design of objects connected to the internet. Read more about the opportunity here.

Ben Gwalchmai, a resident of the Studio will be hosting a book launch for his debut novel, Purefinder at the Bag of Nails on Tuesday 4 February. It will be an atmospheric and slightly archaic affair, with Ben reading chapters of his Gothic thriller, amid pints of real ale and cats, finishing with a round of Victorian drinking songs. If you fancy a read of his novel, which features ‘London, loss, fraternity, mystery, blood, mud, and guts combined’, you can download it as an e-book for 99p this month.

The No Boundaries conference is nearly upon us, and more speakers have been lined up to give talks at both the Watershed and the Guildhall in York. Tickets for Bristol are nearly sold out, and York is on its way soon, so book now. Tickets for the evening party will be on sale very soon.