Category / Creative, Digital & Cognitive Science

Top three most accessed 2016 paper BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth

bmc-media-luce-et-alIt is always nice to receive some good news just before Christmas.  The journal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth informed us that our paper ‘“Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media’ was in the top three most popular papers [1]This interdisciplinary paper crosses the boundaries between the study of maternity care & midwifery, sociology of health & illness, and that of the media.  With BU’s Dr. Ann Luce as first author, it is one of the top three accessed articles of nearly 400 articles published in 2016 (as of Dec 16th).     

 

Reference:

  1. Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V., Cheyne, H., van Teijlingen, E., Angell, C., (2016) “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 40 http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0827-x

Four new FHSS publications

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Congratulations to Dr. Carol Bond and Dr. Osman Ahmed in FHSS on the publication of their latest academic paper ‘Can I help you? Information sharing in online discussion forums by people living with a long-term condition’ [1].    Further congratulations are due to Osman who recently had three other papers accepted for publication [2-4].

 

Prof Edwin van Teijlingen

 

References:

  1.  Bond, C., Ahmed, O., 2016. Can I help you? Information sharing in online discussion forums by people living with a long-term condition. Journal of Innovation in Health Informatics, 23 (3).
  2. West L.R., Griffin , S., Weiler, R., Ahmed,O. 2016 Management of concussion in disability sport: a different ball game? British Journal of Sports Medicine doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096767
  3. “Educating the masses: Suggestions for improving online concussion information via the mainstream media” in Concussion (not available online yet)
  4. “Do Neurocognitive SCAT3 Baseline Test Scores Differ Between Footballers (Soccer) Living With and Without Disability? A Cross-Sectional Study” in Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine (not yet available online)

 

 

Researcher in residence programme

Technology in the hands

Open call

Digital Catapult and the RCUK Digital Economy (DE) Theme is now accepting applications for the Researchers in Residence Programme, to be hosted at the Digital Catapult Centre in London or at one of the local centres (Northern Ireland, Yorkshire, Brighton and North East & Tees Valley).

Projects can either be applied or more strategic in nature:

Applied projects will generally be user-centred and focused on impact generation in the short to medium term. Proposals should be relevant to one or more of the current Digital Catapult technology layers.

Strategic projects will help shape current Digital Catapult projects, and drive the creation of new activities or projects relevant to Digital Catapult’s overall mission. Proposals that highlight potential new directions, new users and novel means of impact generation are encouraged. The focus should be impact generation in the broadest sense. Projects could be undertaken on either a full time basis or via a series of short secondments to Digital Catapult.

Eligibility: Open to those with a contract of employment at a UK university, or PhD students who have submitted their thesis by the closing date, Sunday 8 January 2017.

Timeline: The closing date is 23:59, Sunday 8 January 2017 with decisions due by early March. The programme will run until 2018, with two funding calls each year. The next round will open for applications in summer.

Funding: all residencies will benefit from a grant of up to £25,000 to cover expenses, including travel and accommodation.

Further information

Newsletter and more information about Digtal Catapult

 

 

Sound recording, stories and memory: listening to stories ‘told’ by a tree

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Centre for Games and Music Technology Research.

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Speaker: Dr Panos Amelidis  (Bournemouth University Lecturer In Music & Audio Technology).

 

Title:     Sound recording, stories and memory: listening to stories ‘told’ by a tree

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 7th December 2016

Room: P409, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract: The village of Sellasia in Southern Greece has perfect conditions for the cultivation and production of olives and olive oil, an activity very important for the economy of its inhabitants. But, can an olive tree be transformed into a fictional conduit of storytelling using audio recording technology and its possibilities? This seminar refers specifically and discusses three aspects of a practice-based research project, an audio-visual installation, ‘Stories of a Tree’ based on the sound produced by the olive tree as well as the soundscape of Sellasia. The first aspect is the concept and research questions of the project. The second concerns the methodology which was implemented for its realization, and the content in which it was placed. The third is the artistic challenge of communicating something about history and memory, related to the Sellasia village, through the medium of composed sound and interactive technology using a mixture of field recordings and interviews collected during the author’s staying at the village, as part of a residency organized by McGill University.

 

We hope to see you there.

SHIVA project progresses with innovation funding

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The SHIVA Project has received Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) that runs for 12 months from August 2016 until July 2017. (HEIF 5+1+1.)

The HEIF funding will be critical in terms of supporting the development of networks locally, nationally and beyond. The key aims will be to link user groups and stakeholders in education, health and wellbeing related to children, young people and adults, through the creative digital innovations offered by the SHIVA project.

This project which brought innovative virtual sculpting tools to children with complex disabilities, enabling them to partake in creative digital activities from which they had previously been excluded was recognised in the Time Higher Awards last November winning the Outstanding Digital Innovation in Teaching or Research Category.

Originally the SHIVA project on 3D modelling and 3D printing for young people with disabilities was funded by the EU Interreg programme with the duration from 2010 to 2015.

The original project team worked with the Victoria Education Centre (VEC) in Poole.  As the project ended in 2015, it was clear there was scope to take this project beyond the initial funding and the SHIVA project has successfully been awarded impact acceleration funding and more recently HEIF funding.

A new Research Assistant, Michelle Wu, an NCCA graduate (2016), is the latest member to join this team. Michelle will be involved in turning the SHIVA system into a deployable product with proper installation, configuration and usage instructions. This area of work will help make SHIVA accessible to all potential users in the UK and further afield and strengthen the potential for developing networks that will benefit from this award winning technology.

For more information on this project contact Alexander Pasko or Oleg Fryazinov within the Faculty of Media and Communication.

Jayne Codling within RKEO co-ordinates the HEIF project portfolio for BU. Feel free to contact Jayne if you have any questions regarding HEIF at BU or knowledge exchange activities including business engagement and innovation funding.

Fusion project leads to best paper award

Work by BU researchers examining the human aspects of Digital Rights Management has won a best paper award at the Fourth International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and IP Law. This is joint work carried out by Marcella Favale, Neil McDonald, Shamal Faily, and Christos Gatzidis.

This work, which resulted from research carried out during the FIF funded MADRIGAL project, examines the perspective of DRM from the perspective of content creators using qualitative socio-legal analysis.

In addition to this work, we were also invited to write an extended version of this paper for SCRIPTed, which is currently in press.

Well done Marcella and the rest of the MADRIGAL team!

Enhanced Rehabilitation Of The Upper Limb Following Stroke By An Adaptive Virtual Reality And FES Approach

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Games and Music Technology Research.presimage

 

Speaker: Nathan Barrett (A Bournemouth University PhD student based at Salisbury NHS).

 

Title:     Enhanced Rehabilitation Of The Upper Limb Following Stroke By An Adaptive Virtual Reality And FES Approach

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 30th November 2016

Room: PG11, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract: Of the approximately 150,000 people a year who suffer a stroke in the UK, 85% of survivors are left with some degree of motor dysfunction in their upper limb. Complete functional recovery has been found to occur in just 5% to 34% of cases. These low rates may be due to rehabilitative interventions that lack the volumes of specific motor practice needed to induce neuroplasticity – a form of cortical rewiring that allows the brain to adapt after damage. Assistive technologies, such as Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and virtual games, can augment such therapy and may be beneficial to a person’s recovery.

FES is a type of electrotherapy which has good clinical evidence for its use. Electrically-stimulated movements, however, often lack combined voluntary effort – a factor necessary to aid effectiveness. Virtual games, on the other hand, often inspire huge amounts of volitional movement, although, particularly with popular commercial devices, this movement isn’t always therapeutic.

Combining the two is therefore an attractive prospect, yet attempts at this have resulted in systems that are costly, immobile and commercially unavailable. There is therefore a need to combine the two within a system that fulfils the criteria for an effective assistive technology. The system, Esmé (the Electrically-Stimulated Movement and game Environment), is currently in development. This seminar provides an overview of the project and discusses next steps.

 

 

We hope to see you there.

Civic Media Hub launches ‘Innovation Lunches’

 The Bournemouth University Civic Media Hub is hosting a series of ‘Innovation Lunches’ with invited guests from institutions across the UK. Bringing together BU faculty, PGR and UG students from different faculties and areas of expertise, the innovation lunches offer time to discuss new methodological practices and share interdisciplinary approaches to questions around data, digital media and society. With the aim of fostering collaborations for future grant bidding and strengthening our interdisciplinary connections, innovation lunches foster a space for inspiring research.

A catered lunch will be provided. Events are open to all staff and students, but places are limited. RSVP to attend an innovation lunch to afeigenbaum@bournemouth.ac.uk

Exploring Methods for Investigating Algorithms and Data Processes w/ Lina Dencik (Cardiff University)

Wednesday December 7th @ 13:00-14:00 F305 (Fusion Building, Talbot Campus)

As algorithms tell us what we want to watch and predict the years we have left to live, few aspects of our social, cultural and economic lives are left untouched from data processes. Despite popular claims, this datification of society is never neutral. What does it look like to study data as emerging sets of power relations?  How can we approach algorithms as social processes? Join us for an interdisciplinary discussion on methods for investigating algorithms and data processes.

 Bio: Dr Lina Dencik is Senior Lecturer and Director of the MA in Journalism, Media and Communication in the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University, UK. Her research is concerned with the interplay between media developments and social and political change, with a particular focus on globalization and resistance. She has recently been working on issues relating to surveillance, visibility, and the politics of data. Her most recent book is Critical Perspectives on Social Media and Protest: Between Control and Emancipation (co-edited with Oliver Leistert, Rowman & Littlefield International, 2015).

14:Live with Dr Ashley Woodfall returns on Thursday!

Do you want to get creative for an hour? Do you have an interest in creative research methods?

14:Live is back tomorrow on Thursday 17 November with Dr Ashley Woodfall!8115-rkeo-14live-digital-signage-v3-0

Join us as we get creative and discuss Mess and Mayhem: Creative/Reflective Methods at Play. This mess and discussion led session will be a space to discuss the use (and abuse) of creative research methods. How can they help trigger meaningful research interactions, and how the outcomes might be understood?

This session will be exploring research in a creative environment from drawing, to molding, to improv’ and beyond. We ask if creative reflective methods can share something of your own life world and whether these methods can help unlock metaphorical insights that are missed through more traditional approaches.

Come along on at 14:00-15:00 on Floor 5 of the Student Centre for an hour of mess and mayhem. There will be free drinks and snacks!

If you have any questions then please contact Hannah Jones

Faculty of Management academics are keynote speakers at MEAconf

Two Faculty of Management academics, Dr Mohamed Haffar and Dr Elvira Bolat, are selected as keynote speakers for the 6th International Conference on Modern Research in Management, Economics and Accounting, which is held on 15th November at London South Bank University.

Dr Haffar from the Department of Leadership, Strategy and Organisational Behaviour is presenting on the following topic, ‘Guidelines for organisational sustainability in an era of radical change: The vital role of employees readiness and commitment to change’. Dr Bolat from the Department of Marketing is talking about ‘Digital transformation and its implications for academia and practice’.

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The MEAConference aims to pave an international way for leading academics, active researchers, experts, industry leaders and interested scholars to communicate and exchange their viewpoints on latest scientific findings and practical experiences in the fields of Management, Economics and Accounting. Besides, the Conference attempts to examine the scientific and practical challenges in their application process across all geographical regions as well as at diverse local, national, regional and international levels.

 

ESRC Festival of Social Sciences

Dr John Oliver, from the Advances in Media Management research cluster, recently delivered a keynote lecture at the Open Innovation Design Jam competition at the University of Glasgow. The event formed part of the ESRC’s Festival of Social Science programme of activities that ran from 5th-12th November across the UK.

The Design Jam also involved a number of short, intensive brainstorming sessions in which teams developed innovative solutions to challenges. This event was an opportunity for innovators and businesses to explore open, collective and user-led innovation.
Dr Oliver’s talk on media innovation strategies presented empirical data on how the innovation practices of UK media firms had transformed firm capabilities and corporate financial performance.

14:Live with Dr Ashley Woodfall

Do you want to get creative for an hour? Do you have an interest in creative research methods?

14:Live is back on Thursday 17 November with Dr Ashley Woodfall.8115-rkeo-14live-digital-signage-v3-0

Join us as we get creative and discuss Mess and Mayhem: Creative/Reflective Methods at Play. This mess and discussion led session will be a space to discuss the use (and abuse) of creative research methods. How can they help trigger meaningful research interactions, and how the outcomes might be understood?

This session will be exploring research in a creative environment from drawing, to molding, to improv’ and beyond. We ask if creative reflective methods can share something of your own life world and whether these methods can help unlock metaphorical insights that are missed through more traditional approaches.

Come along on at 14:00-15:00 on Floor 5 of the Student Centre for an hour of mess and mayhem. There will be free drinks and snacks!

If you have any questions then please contact Hannah Jones