Category / Creative, Digital & Cognitive Science

Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network (CHAIN) Demonstration THIS COMING WEDNESDAY 23rd March 2016

CHAIN – Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network – is an online mutual support network for people working in health and social care. It gives people a simple and informal way of contacting each other to exchange ideas and share knowledge.

The online Directory can be used to identify and communicate with other members. You might wish to do this to draw from their experience, or to elicit an opinion on an issue or something you are doing. Or you might wish to find collaborators or liaise with fellow-travellers or people with specific skills or interests for a wide range of purposes. You can do this quickly and easily with CHAIN, and part of the advantage is that the people you find will usually be happy to help you if they can.

We are delighted to welcome a representative from CHAIN to BU on 23rd March at 2:30pm in Wollstone Lecture Theatre, Bournemouth House (BG10) to demonstrate how to make the most of being part of the network. All staff are welcome to attend, and please pass the invitation on to students who may be interested in learning more about what CHAIN has to offer.

Contact Lisa Gale-Andrews at lgaleandrews@bournemouth.ac.uk for more information.

BU BMC paper followed up by BMC Series Blog

international, open access, Publishing, writing

media childbirthOur latest paper in the international journal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth published late last month was highlighted yesterday in a BMC Series Blog.[1]  The blog post reminds us that the media plays an important role in providing the general public with information about a range of issues, including pregnancy and childbirth. The visual media, such as television, can provide planned information (education), for example in documentaries, advertising and the news.  Our paper “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media’ looked into how the representation of childbirth in the mass media affects childbirth in society as there is evidence to suggest that it can have a negative effect.  BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth is an Open Access journal therefore the paper is freely available for anybody across the globe with an internet connection, for access click here.

interdisciplinary-1Our paper is great example of interdisciplinary research, as celebrated at the forthcoming Interdisciplinary Research Sector Day on June 21st (see here).  The authors of our paper combine expertise in media studies, midwifery, sociology and health services research.   Moreover, it involved collaborations across universities (Bournemouth and Stirling) and within BU across faculties, namely the Faculty of Media & Communcation and the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences.

 

Ann Luce, Marilyn Cash, Vanora Hundley, Helen Cheyne, Edwin van Teijlingen & Catherine Angell

 

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

 

Digital vision of future local government – connecting our lives in 2025

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Research themes

nesta_logo

The report , Connected Councils, explores how councils can use digital tools to transform the way they work and save a potential £14.7 billion every year.

Digital technologies, from apps to online platforms, can help councils provide better services for their residents and mobilise communities to work alongside these services, as well as find new ways of collecting and analysing data, which could have a significant impact on the quality of future services.

Through a series of case studies the report imagines what life might be like in 2025 for ‘digital by default’ councils and their citizens – from retirees to young graduates and new parents.

Key Findings

Local government has made huge progress in enabling residents to carry out basic transactions online. But most councils have a long way to go to deliver smooth, frictionless services and fully digitise their back offices. Digitisation isn’t just about developing digital services; depending on the level of ambition, digital tools can help:

  • Save money and deliver better outcomes by intervening earlier and helping people manage their own conditions.
  • Transform the way that councils work internally, commission services and partners, diagnose and solve problems, use public space, and attract talent.
  • Make services smoother and easier to access, more personalised and user-responsive.
  • Put residents at the heart of local problem-solving and decision-making and create an environment which supports businesses to startup and scale.

The 2025 vision

Like the best tech companies, future councils will be lean, agile and data-driven. Siloed services will be replaced with multi-agency teams that form around specific local challenges. A truly mobile workforce has freed up public space. Almost all transactions take place online. Instead of two-dimensional council websites, interactive platforms connect users with third-party apps and services, and stream personalised content on local democracy, jobs and services.

Relational services (such as social care) still rely heavily on face-to-face contact. But digital tools help people to manage their own long-term conditions and connect to a broader network of support, such as peer mentors, health coaches, friends and family, volunteers and group-based activities. Digital technologies have helped councils take a more ambitious approach to place-shaping. A larger share of public contracts go to high-growth SMEs. Councils systematically engage residents in decisions about how services are commissioned, delivered and evaluated.

Read the report in full.

 

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Terrain Generation Using A Voxel Grammar-based Approach

PG research

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Title: Terrain Generation Using A Voxel Grammar-based ApproachVoxel

 

Speaker: Rahul Dey (a BU research engineer based at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 16th March 2016

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract:

 

As computational power has increased, so has the fidelity of computer graphics for real time simulations and video games. Terrain is a feature that is ubiquitous in any game that needs to represent an outdoor environment. The creation of larger landscapes for such simulations now requires some automated assistance in the form of Procedural Content Generation (PCG). Many procedural methods forego user design and interaction in favour of complete automation.

This research introduces a novel method to construct terrains by utilising user-designed rulesets. Terrains are represented using a volumetric approach which is a more powerful and flexible way of creating features such as caves, naturally formed arches and overhanging cliffs. Terrains are generated by using the provided ruleset as a grammar to parse the volumetric grid and transform voxels in sections of the grid.

 

This presentation will focus on the method that has been developed to generate these terrains, and detail some of the future work to be carried out during the rest of the course of the research.

 

 

We hope to see you there.

CfP: Lifestyle and communities: sharing in the digital era

conferences, international

ID-100267211It’s with great pleasure that we invite you to submit an abstract to a special track on “Lifestyle and communities: sharing in the digital era” of the ATLAS annual conference. It will take place in Canterbury, Kent, UK, 14th-16th September 2016.

Please see below for details, or click here… and share!
Led by: Lenia Marques, Jules Hecquet and Dimitrios Buhalis (Bournemouth University, UK)
Supported by: ETourism Lab

The leisure and tourism landscape has been subject to rapid changes in a world where internet and technologies have contributed to shape experiences, relationships, practices and lifestyles. In the network society, the sense of community is also varied and we can interrogate different meanings, values and practices at the heart of changing social interactions. The boundaries between online and offline communities seem to be blurred and they present new societal challenges, which also affect the industry, namely with sharing economy / collaborative consumption practices and communities (such as AirBnB, Uber, Couchsurfing, Meetup, Mealsharing, etc.).

The causes and consequences of such platforms in terms of lifestyle and the sense of community is yet to be studied. Therefore, we welcome papers which may explore, but are not limited to, the following themes:

  • Online/offline communities and lifestyle
  • Sharing economy / collaborative consumption and lifestyle
  • Social interaction in the digital era
  • Leisure digital practices
  • Events as online/offline communities of practice
  • Digital technologies in the tourism experience
  • Lifestyle challenges in leisure and tourism
  • Impacts of sharing economy / collaborative consumption in conventional industry production systems
  • Research methods in the context of sharing economy / collaborative consumption

The convenors are looking at possibilities for publication.

For more details, click  here or contact Dr Lenia Marques, lmarques@bournemouth.ac.uk .

http://www.atlas-euro.org/event_2016_canterbury/tabid/248/language/en-US/Default.aspx#track6

*Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network (CHAIN) Demonstration 23rd March 2016

CHAIN – Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network – is an online mutual support network for people working in health and social care. It gives people a simple and informal way of contacting each other to exchange ideas and share knowledge.

The online Directory can be used to identify and communicate with other members. You might wish to do this to draw from their experience, or to elicit an opinion on an issue or something you are doing. Or you might wish to find collaborators or liaise with fellow-travellers or people with specific skills or interests for a wide range of purposes. You can do this quickly and easily with CHAIN, and part of the advantage is that the people you find will usually be happy to help you if they can.

A representative from CHAIN will be visiting BU on 23rd March at 2:30pm in Wollstone Lecture Theatre, Bournemouth House (BG10) to demonstrate how to make the most of being part of the network. All staff are welcome to attend, and please pass the invitation on to your final year students who may be interested in learning more about what CHAIN has to offer.

Contact Lisa Gale-Andrews at lgaleandrews@bournemouth.ac.uk to book your place.

CEMP News

Centre for Excellence in Learning, Funding opportunities, Research assessment

cemp_big_021c-BU ORANGE

A crop of CEMP news all in one post …

Here’s the March 2016 CEMP newsletter

Here’s the call for abstracts for our 2016 Media Education Summit, to be held in Rome.

And here’s the March 2016 CEMP / CEL funding bulletin. CEMP CEL bulletin March 16

Thanks to Marcellus Mbah and Richard Berger for putting this one together.

As always, to find out more about CEMP research or to follow up one of the ‘leads’ in the bulletin, please contact Richard Berger or Julian McDougall.

For more information about BU research for REF UoA25 (education) co-led by CEMP and CEL contact Julian McDougall (MC faculty) or Debbie Holley (non MC / cross BU).

 

 

 

 

Cloud and Weather Simulation for Computer Graphics

PG research

We would like to invite you to the next research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

Speaker: Leigh McLoughlinresults_cumulo_2

Title: Cloud and Weather Simulation for Computer Graphics

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 2nd March 2016

Room: P302, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract:

In this talk I will discuss my work on cloud simulation for computer graphics. This work was designed to provide a means of simulating clouds and weather features, such as rain, using desktop graphics hardware. This involves elements of meteorology, numerical weather simulation and computational fluid dynamics, taken from the sciences and adapted to meet the more artistic requirements of computer graphics in which an element of control is required and the laws of physics may be wilfully disobeyed. The result is a lightweight physically-inspired cloud simulation scheme, capable of emulating the dynamic properties of cloud formation and weather effects.

We hope to see you there.

 

The use of technology to provide physical interaction experiences for cognitively able young people who have complex physical disabilities

PG research, staff profile pages

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Title: The use of technology to provide physical interaction experiences for cognitively able young people who have complex physical disabilities

ShivaSpeaker: Mark Moseley (a post graduate researcher from the Centre for Digital Entertainment (CDE) based in the Faculty of Media and Communication)

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 17th February 2016

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract:

Young people who have severe physical disabilities and good cognition may face many barriers to learning, communication, personal development, physical interaction and play experiences. Physical interaction and play are known to be important components of child development, but this group currently has few suitable ways in which to achieve this.

 

Technology can help to facilitate such experiences. This research aims to develop a technology-based tool to provide this group with the potential for physical interaction and physical play, in order to develop their knowledge of spatial concepts. This tool will utilise eye-gaze technology, robotics and haptic feedback (artificial sensation).

 

This presentation will explain the rationale behind this research as well as the aims and approach used in the development of a proposed tool.

 

 

We hope to see you there.

 

Creative England – Interest free business loans now open for applications

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange

creativeengland1_0

Creative England would  like to hear from creative digital companies who need anything from £50k – £200k in order to grow their business.

Eligible companies include those across content creation, games, tech and digital based in any of the English regions outside of Greater London. The interest-free loan is repaid over 3 years, and must be matched 50:50 with an alternative source of finance.

For more information please read the  FAQ’s and application guidelines.

You can also get in touch with kate.adam@creativeengland.co.uk for any further questions.

If you’re not sure if a Business Loan is quite right for the stage your company is at, then take a look at the  Equity Investment Programme, offering £40k – £100k of equity investment for digital SME’s.

An Artistic Stippling Technique for Animated 3D Models

We would like to invite you to a visiting scholar research seminar by Dr. Dongwann Kang next Tuesday afternoon.

ArtisticStippling

Title:         An Artistic Stippling Technique for Animated 3D Models

Date:         Tuesday 9th February 2016

Time:         3-4PM

Location: P302

Biography

Dongwann Kang received his Ph.D. degree in Chung-Ang University, South Korea in 2013. He also received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from Chung-Ang University in 2006 and 2008. He was the research fellow in Chung-Ang University from Mar. 2013 to Jun. 2015. Now, he is a visiting researcher in the SciTech, Bournemouth University, UK. His research interests include artistic stylization, emotional computing, image manipulation and GPU processing.

Abstract

Stippling is the creation of a pattern simulating varying degrees of solidity or shading by using small dots. Such a pattern may occur in nature and these effects are frequently emulated by artists. ‘Hedcut’ is a stippling style for newspaper illustrations. Specifically, this technique, which combines stippling and line drawing, employs a directional stipple pattern similar to cross- hatching. Unlike traditional stippling methods that represent the tone of a subject by the density of the stipples, hedcut evenly distributes stipples with such a directional pattern and adjusts the size and tone of the stipples. In this presentation, I present a hedcut rendering method for animated 3D models that satisfies these characteristics. To maintain frame-to-frame coherency in animations, I introduce a texture mapping-based stippling method. I execute a quadrangulation that captures the geometric structure of the surface, and obtain directional stipples by mapping a two-directional patterned texture onto each quad mesh. For even distribution of texture-mapped stipples on screen space, I propose a texture generation and mapping method that adjusts the number of stipples on the texture depending on the viewpoint.

Optimal 3D surface reconstruction from few 2D images

staff profile pages

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Speaker: Dr Simant Prakoonwit (Associate Professor Of Games Technology at BU)

Title: Optimal 3D surface reconstruction from few 2D images

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PMOptimal 3D surface reconstruction from few 2D images

Date: Wednesday 3rd February 2016

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract:

The talk will discuss a possible method to use a small number, e.g. 5, of conventional 2D images to reconstruct multiple 3D object surfaces. Each object’s edge contours in images are automatically identified. Sparse optimal 3D landmark points of each bone are automatically reconstructed by pairing the 2D images. The reconstructed landmark point distribution on a surface is approximately optimal covering main characteristics of the surface. A surface growing method or a statistical shape model, dense point distribution model can then be used to fit the reconstructed optimal landmarks vertices to reconstruct a full surface of each object separately.

 

 

We hope to see you there.

 

CEMP Research Awarded EPSRC Extension Grant

student research

EPSRC_logocemp-logo

CEMP Researcher Phil Wilkinson has been awarded a grant by the EPSRC to develop further impact of CEMP’s Digital Capabilities project with Samsung. The grant will fund digital engagement activities with community outreach practitioners, educators, and academics with a focus on ‘Digital Families’.  The seminars will also be live-streamed online through G-Hangouts.

Phil worked with Julian McDougall and Mark Readman on the CEMP / Samsung project and his broader ‘Researcher in Residence’ work at IPACA forms part of his doctoral research in BU’s Centre for Digital Entertainment.

 

 

Research seminar by Fulgoni Professor Consumer Behaviour and Marketing – Please note change in venue

margaret hogg

Margaret Hogg, Fulgoni Professor of Consumer Behaviour and Marketing at Lancaster University, will be visiting the University on Wednesday, 10th February, to give a research seminar.  This will be held at 3pm in the Lawrence Lecture Theatre on the Talbot Campus.  Refreshments will be available after the seminar.

Professor Hogg is on the editorial board of the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Marketing Management and the Handbook of Marketing Theory and she is co-author of Consumer Research: A European Perspective (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg, 2013).  Margaret’s research has a broad inter-disciplinary base  with a particular interest in family consumption and buying behaviour including consumer behaviour in single mothers, care leavers, and fatherhood.  Margaret’s talk is entitled ‘Becoming Respectable: Low income young women, consumption and the pursuit of socially appropriate mothering’.

 

 

Shakespeare festival: open call for digital ideas

international

British Council

What is it about?

BBC Arts Online and the British Council, supported by the GREAT Britain campaign, are collaborating to enable audiences, in the UK and overseas, to experience and discover the best of British Shakespeare in all art forms. The plan is to open with a 24 hour live-stream on 23 April 2016 and to offer new content on a regular basis over six months.

The British Council, on behalf of the GREAT Britain campaign, is calling for ideas from artists and cultural organisations across the UK. Funding is available for international rights clearances and to support the production of new content.

Five key cultural organisations are already working with  to provide world-class content – Shakespeare’s Globe, The Royal Opera House, the British Film Institute, Hay Festivals and the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Shakespeare400 consortium coordinated by King’s College.

The content will be hosted on BBC Shakespeare Lives (bbc.co.uk/shakespearelives ) and promoted internationally by BBC Worldwide online ( bbc.com/culture) so global rights need to be cleared . The campaign will be supported by social media campaigns in order to drive audiences to this unique festival.

This is an unprecedented partnership project for the BBC and the British Council and  believe it has great potential for all organisations involved to increase their international reach and reputation.

How can I get involved?

We are particularly looking for ideas which appeal to younger audiences and convey the diversity and creativity of the UK’s Arts sector. If you are interested in applying, please complete the attached form.

APPLICATIONS CLOSE TUESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2016

Click here for more information including the application form.

Human Body Decomposition in CGI: Simulating Livor Mortis

PG research, student research

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Speaker: Dhana Frerichs

Title:   Human Body Decomposition in CGI: Simulating Livor Mortis

Human Body Decomposition in CGI

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 20th January 2016

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract:

Creating realistic looking scenes is an important goal in computer graphics. In particular, in the real-time games industry, one can observe an increasing trend towards realism. Despite this, ageing effects, such as rotting, are often neglected. This is particularly noticeable in the way corpses are depicted in game worlds, which show no signs of decay and tend to simply disappear from the world after a while. We aim to simulate these post-mortem appearance changes.

There are a number of different processes that affect a body’s appearance after death. In this talk we concentrate on the simulation of skin discolouration after death caused by blood pooling, which is referred to as livor mortis. The skin colour is affected by the red chromophore haemoglobin that is found in red blood cells, and the brown chromophore melanin, found in the outer skin layer. The skin discoloration is due to the changes in the haemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation in the body. Our approach consists of a simulation of post mortem blood dynamics in a volumetric mesh and a layered skin shader that is controlled by the haemoglobin and oxygen levels in blood.

 

 

We hope to see you there.