I'm not sure if the same is true in other work places – but January in the Studio seems to have been and gone in the blink of an eye. There has been a swathe of celebrity deaths, flu and germs have been taking us out one by one, and we've had some rather gloomy weather. So to combat this, here I’ve compiled a run-down of some bright and exciting news emitting from the Studio during this cold and barren time of year. 

In a tribute to recently departed David Bowie, residents Simon Johnson and Duncan Speakman resurrected a previous invention in the form of HipSync - a game that uses headphones to shield your music from those around you with the aim of grouping with those you perceive to be dancing to the same song as you. Studio residents gathered to partake in a specially prepared David Bowie version to honour the life and works of the iconic artist. It transpires that many of us have some questionable dancing skills, taking very few rounds to knock out individuals and reveal the dancing champion (we hope you're not turning in your grave, David). As displayed in the video below, the game proved to rouse a smile or two on an otherwise miserable day.

The @PMStudioUK in full silent disco mode (challenge: find the people listening to the same Bowie song as you.) pic.twitter.com/afuUvRNTgR

— Jon Aitken (@jonbehere) January 11, 2016

Resident adventurer Rosie Poebright of Splash & Ripple has launched her latest story experience using GPS. Commissioned by artistic laboratory Metal Culture, Running to Flight has been specially developed for use in Southend-on-Sea’s digital public space, NetPark – the first of it’s kind in the world. The sound walk involves installing an app on your phone, which prompts you to explore the surroundings of the park via location-enabled services. In Splash & Ripple’s trademark style, the exploration is accompanied by a mesmerising narrative, and the project has been developed with the collaborative efforts of residents Duncan Speakman, Simon Moreton, Tarim and alumni residents Calvium. The app is available to download on iOS and Android. 

Residents Tom Metcalfe and Seth Jackson of Strange Thoughts have teamed up with Ocado's sister-brand Fetch to produce a new piece of ‘Petnology’ – that’s technology for pets if you didn’t catch the pun. Watch the video below to weigh up the three ideas that came out of their recent workshop, and cast your vote for the piece of innovation that would best please your furry friends. The winning idea will be developed in the Studio.

 

Last week, resident interactive documentarians Anagram were announced as one of the 50 most creative companies in England as listed by The Telegraph. This comes as they embark on the second run of their previously sold out night-time experience, Nightwatchers, at the Tower of London. You can read more and purchase tickets here. Elsewhere in the world, Anagram have been making waves in New York - by being named in Columbia University’s “Digital Dozen: Breakthroughs in Storytelling” list, for their creative use of digitally enabled storytelling with Door into the Dark.

As REACT enters it's twilight weeks in the sprint towards the end of their 4 year funding period, the team are busy meeting and having exit interviews with the contributors they’ve worked with throughout their 52 projects. It seems like perfect timing that previous collaborator Alex Fleetwood and his team Sensible Object should launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the manufacture of their digital/stacking hybrid game Fabulous Beasts – that was developed through REACT. In just a week they have smashed over half their target, with another 23 days to go. With an expected delivery time ready for Christmas 2016, we recommend you take a look and be amongst the first to own the revolutionary game.

Urbanimals have now been long extinct, but in the review period of 2015’s Playable City award winner, we have released a little video to summarise and celebrate the season, which you can view below.

We’re excited to announce that the Studio website is getting a long overdue revamp to better communicate our exciting projects to the worldwide web. Hopefully, we should be able to unveil the first iteration of the new site by the end of February.