News

This week, we have amazing new project commissions, a new face, an exciting research opportunity, an exhibition launch and an upcoming environmental data lab…

We have a lot of exciting REACT news this week. The six projects to be developed over the course of the Play Sandbox scheme have just been announced. From a flat-pack, interactive 360 degree cinema, to a stacking game that can sense wobble and score points, the projects all set out to explore new and transformative ways to mobilise play. The teams will be co-developing their projects with young people, and by the end of the six-month scheme, will have created working prototypes. We can’t wait to see how each project unfolds, and to do a bit of play testing along the way. Have a look at the projects here. REACT are also looking for an energetic, experienced and dynamic investigator to deliver a working paper about the scheme. Interested?

We are very excited to welcome Katherine Jewkes to the Studio as the new REACT Producer. Katherine will be working on Play Sandbox and organising a celebration all of the amazing projects that have emerged from the entire 6 years of REACT, for 2016. Katherine is joining us from National Theatre Wales, where she dreamt up and produced the digital elements of many of their wonderful productions.

Tom Metcalfe, who produced the Objects Sandbox scheme, has just finished his work at REACT. He will be staying in the Studio to explore experience and object design around the Internet of Things, focusing primarily on interactive print. We can’t wait to see what emerges from his research - Interesting prototypes are already popping up around his desk.

Last week was the opening of Blurring the Lines, a show that Watershed curated with the British Council’s Creative Economy team. The exhibition showcases the work of sixteen people who are reinventing participation and exploration at a time when growing urban populations, rapid advancements in technology and access to resources are changing the way we live and communicate. The show will run until 19 December at the British Council’s London headquarters. Do pop in and check it out.

This week, we are hosting a Sustaining Creativity Data Lab in collaboration with Julie’s Bicycle, an organisation who have set out to bridge the gap between the creative industries and sustainability. In the run up to Bristol’s year as European Green Capital, participants of the lab will explore ideas that make environmental data tangible and acessable, to help us better understand how to use it. We’ll update you on the outcomes of the lab in our next blog. If you are interested, come to the mini-showcase at the end of the lab at 6pm on Wednesday. Sign up here.

Tim Kindberg’s Nth Screen is inching ever closer to being released into the world. It is currently being piloted as part of the BBC I wonder series, under the title ‘Pushing Editorial and Technology Beyond one Screen’. 

Pocket Spacecraft are hosting a spacecraft-building workshop at the WIRED Next Generation conference. The workshop will give delegates the opportunity to co-design a thin-film spacecraft, which will be launched into space at Pocket Spacecraft’s next launch.

There are lots of things to come along to at the moment, so we hope to see you in the Studio some time soon. Remember to check out our events page schedule for upcoming Lunchtime Talks, we have some crackers coming up.