Though comparatively quiet after last week’s bountiful interactive documentary events, there is plenty to tell you, as the next REACT Sandbox theme is announced, and there is a call-out for ‘Making the City Playable’ research proposals. Read on to find out more...

REACT have just announced that the next Sandbox scheme will be themed around Play. They are inviting companies and academic researchers to register their interest, in order to potentially attend a wild camp (a games packed ideas lab) alongside the young people who will be involved in ideas generation, design and testing for the Play Sandbox projects, that will be developed at the end of this year. We are all rather excited by the prospect of having wonderful creatives and researchers pooling their efforts to create the future of fun.

Tim Kindberg and new IOS developer, Josh, have been building the framework for Matter 2 Media’s new app; Nth Camera. The app will allow people to synchronise filming across multiple devices, the use of which has lots of creative potential, from multi-angle shots to synchronised filming in different countries. Tim will be giving workshops with schools to run through the Nth Camera prototype app, and see how people want to use it. He will also be giving a talk about Nth Screen and Nth Camera at the National Film and Television School.

Studio residents Calvium have just announced the launch of an app they have been developing for the City of London Corporation. The app is a visitor trail and a map, which enables users to explore London’s famous Square Mile on foot and uncover the fascinating stories and secrets that permeate its history. Have a look at the app’s page on the Calvium website to find out more.

Part two of the Recife: The Playable City UK/Brazil cultural exchange is rapidly approaching. In January 20 creative practitioners from both the UK and the Pernambuco region of Brazil, met in Bristol to exchange ideas and develop new works that respond to the theme of The Playable City. Next week, Clare, Vic and the UK participants will fly out to Recife for the second leg of the creative lab process. UK and Brazilian participants will be working together to further their projects, which include multiplayer musical trees, reactive orbs of light that encourage mass gatherings and connected riverboats that are swathed in reactive LEDs. Follow the progress of projects and participants here.

Speaking of Playable Cities, the DCRC have just announced a call for research proposals for a conference we are running, exploring the notion of the Playable City, which will take place in Watershed this September. The DCRC is convening a research stream within the conference, and inviting proposals from a cross-disciplinary gathering of scholars who wish to consider the intersection between play and the contemporary city. The conference will take place whilst the work emerging from the 2014 Playable City Award is installed in Bristol. There are only two weeks left to apply for the Award, which could see your dreams for a playable, malleable, and idiosyncratic city being realised this Summer, so get your skates on.