Category / BU research

Research Professional

BU research, Guidance

Every BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. To really make the most of your Research Professional account, you should tailor it further by establishing additional alerts based on your specific area of expertise.

Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to ResearchProfessional. These can be downloaded here.

Quick Start Guide: Explains to users their first steps with the website, from creating an account to searching for content and setting up email alerts, all in the space of a single page.

User Guide: More detailed information covering all the key aspects of using ResearchProfessional.

Administrator Guide: A detailed description of the administrator functionality.

In addition to the above, there are a set of 2-3 minute videos online, designed to take a user through all the key features of ResearchProfessional.  To access the videos, please use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/researchprofessional 

Research Professional are running a series of online training broadcasts aimed at introducing users to the basics of creating and configuring their accounts on ResearchProfessional.  They are holding monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with ResearchProfessional.  The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat.  Each session will cover:

  • Self registration and logging in
  • Building searches
  • Setting personalised alerts
  • Saving and bookmarking items
  • Subscribing to news alerts
  • Configuring your personal profile

Each session will run between 10.00am and 11.00am (UK) on the fourth Tuesday of each month.  You can register here for your preferred date:

27th November 2012: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/326491841

22nd January 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/637298448 

26th February 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/267446504 

26th March 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/518275168 

23rd April 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/255287520 

28th May 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/806064201 

25th June 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/492839664 

23rd July 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/771246561 

27th August 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/398714217 

24th September 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/882372120 

These are free and comprehensive training sessions and so this is a good opportunity to get to grips with how Research Professional can work for you.

BUDI to benefit from successful £3,834 Fusion Investment Fund bid

BU research, Funding opportunities, Fusion, Guidance

 

Following a successful fusion bid application I am going to Canada later this month. One of the aims of the trip is to promote the growing Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI), as well as develop new and existing relationships BUDI already has with our Canadian colleagues.

Rural dementia service provision is a growing strand of research work in BUDI (Bournemouth University Dementia Institute). GRIID is an international group exploring rural service provision led by Anthea Innes along with Debra Morgan (Canada) David Edvardsson (Sweden), Amit Dias (India) and Peter Birkett (Australia). The on-going collaboration received seed corn funding from HSC QR and is currently being written up for publication.  The trip to Canada will enable me to explore further activities to conduct under the GRIID consortia as part of the 5 year work plan of this international group.

It will also enable BUDI to continue to build on the existing links with Professor Morgan at the University of Saskatchewan, established by Professor Anthea Innes 5 years ago. During the trip I will have the opportunity to attend and present a key note lecture at the Annual Summit of the Knowledge Network in Rural and Remote Dementia Care. This annual Summit brings together around 50 province based policy makers, decision makers, practitioners and researchers who are eager to work collaboratively with the university to identify research opportunities and will provide a model to explore for the ongoing collaborative ways of working BUDI is establishing.  

Professor Morgan developed and leads a unique and highly esteemed memory clinic (Morgan et al 2011. Evaluation of Telehealth for Preclinic Assessment and Follow-Up in an Interprofessional Rural and Remote Memory Clinic. Journal of Applied Gerontology 30: 304-33) at the University of Saskatchewan and I will be visiting this clinic whilst I am there. The visit will not only develop my own practice, but will provide the opportunity to disseminate and share knowledge with the Dorset memory service teams on my return.

In Toronto I plan to visit Dr Pia Kontos at Toronto University. Her research on person centred care reinforces the focus in the programmes we deliver to undergraduate and post graduate students. Sharing her experiences of a more creative dissemination of research, compliments my PhD thesis which has used a visual methodology. A visit to another existing collaborator of Anthea, the director of the Canadian Alzheimer’s Association Education team, in Toronto, will allow us to explore potential educational work between BUDI and our Canadian Alzheimer Association colleagues.

So the week in Canada promises to be busy and I am sure fulfilling!

New wave of PhD students in the Psychology Research Centre

BU research, PG research, Research news

The postgraduate research community in Psychology has been growing over recent years in line with our expansion of staff and undergraduate students. We now have 17 PhD students in the research centre as we recently welcomed seven new students. We are pleased that our new PhD students have all received either studentships or scholarships to fund their work. These new research projects represent the disciplines of the psychology of health, cognition, and education, and highlight the varied application of psychology to advance both science and issues encountered in everyday life. We are really pleased to have these students join us and add to the research going on in Psychology. We have listed the students and their research interests below in case other members of staff have interests in common. If you do, and would like to find out more, please do contact the students or their supervisors.

 

 

Student Supervisors Funding Title
Natalia Adamczewska Dr Samuel Nyman

Prof Jonathan Parker (HSC)

Prof Peter Coleman (University of Southampton)

 

 BU Vice-Chancellor fee-waive scholarship Psychological adjustment to accidental falls.
Anna Bobak Dr Sarah Bate

Dr Ben Parris

 BU fully-funded studentship Face facts: Why face processing skills should be improved in forensic and national security settings. 
Simon Ferneyhough Dr Jane Elsley

Dr Andy Johnson

 BU fully-funded studentship How does our ability to integrate objects and events change as we age?  
Abbey Laishley  Dr Julie Kirkby

Prof Simon Liversedge

(UniversityofSouthampton)

 

 BU fully-funded studentship Quantifying the role of working memory in efficient classroom performance 
Jessica Miller Dr Jan Wiener

Prof Siné McDougall

 

 BU Vice-Chancellor fee-waive scholarship & funding from Army of Angels PTSD and Navigation.
Sophie Nicholls Dr Sarah Bate

Dr Ben Parris

 BU Vice-Chancellor fee-waive scholarship Effects of Stochastic Sub-sensory Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation on Speed and Accuracy of Face Recognition: An Application to National Security and Forensic Settings. 
Michele Salvagno A/Prof Jacqui Taylor

Dr Milena Bobeva (BS)

Dr Maggie Hutchings (HSC)

 BU fully-funded studentship (online education) The Highs and Lows of Ubiquitous Mobile Connectivity: towards a model for pedagogical delivery that supports the well-being of learners 

 

BUDI introduces two new dementia PhD studies

BU research, Featured academics

The Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) would like to introduce two new dementia PhD studies by Clare Cutler and Ben Hicks.

Clare Cutler, a research assistant in BUDI, has recently started a PhD in the field of dementia. The PhD looks to investigate how experiences of war impact on living with dementia and how understanding such experiences may enhance improvements in knowledge, awareness, care and wellbeing. As experiences of war extend far beyond the battle field, the study aims to look at groups other than veterans and prisoners of war. This is particularly relevant as it will increase understanding and insight into how traumatic experiences affect people with dementia and may help to provide reasons to promote personal and therapeutic care. Clare’s academic background in history and archaeology along with working in the field of dementia provides an interesting collaboration between the two subject areas. For more information on this project please contact Clare on 01202 965163.

Ben Hicks has recently joined the BUDI team to undertake a PhD in collaboration with AgeUK Dorset. Previously he worked as a researcher at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) where he was a member of the health and well-being team. Before moving to BUDI, he managed a research project for the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) which informed the development of guidance documentation for carers wishing to implement and use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the well-being of people with dementia.  The current PhD looks to draw upon and advance this work, by exploring the use of computer game technology as a care intervention to improve the well-being of men with dementia in rural areas of Dorset.

Working closely with AgeUK Dorset and other dementia care providers in the local area, Ben will lead consultation groups with dementia experts, care practitioners, men with dementia and their family members to ascertain the most appropriate gaming technology to introduce; this could include the Xbox Kinnect, Nintendo Wii or the Nintendo DS. Having established the technology to be used, he will run a series of care interventions with men with dementia each lasting three months. He will determine the success and sustainability of these interventions by collecting qualitative and quantitative data prior to their introduction, immediately after their conclusion and three months post intervention.

The consultation period is due to commence in early 2013, with the care intervention phase likely to run through late 2013 to early/mid 2014 and the final results and guidance documentation to be published in 2015. For further information on the project please contact Ben on bhicks@bournemouth.ac.uk

Notes from ESRC ARMA WORKSHOP 2012 on challenges and opportunities for the social sciences in the current economic climate

BU research, Funding opportunities, Guidance, Research news

BU’s Teresa Coffin and Eva Papadopoulou (Research and Knowledge Exchange Operations) attended a training day hosted by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) aimed at discussing the challenges and opportunities for the social sciences in the current climate. The focus of the event included presentations from the main Department Heads who outlined their internal workings, grant application framework and advice for successful applications. They also discussed their amended research agenda, funding opportunities, various partnerships and current strategic priorities. Notes from the day can be found here:

ARMA Notes

NEW Online Ethics Checklist Launches TODAY!!

BU research, Research Ethics

I’m pleased to announce that the new online ethics checklist is live! Click HERE to access the online ethics checklist. Please keep in mind that if you submit a checklist, the person you indicated as you supervisor will receive an email notifying them of your submission.

Our IT developers have done a fantastic job creating an easy, collapsible, web-based form to replace our current paper checklist; the best part is that the form is collapsible, so it is entirely researcher specific. Not only will this online form streamline the submission process across the University, it will also provide a central repository for all approved checklists to facilitate the improvement of compliance within the Schools. The new online ethics checklist will soft launchs today for two months of beta testing and will fully launch on 1 January 2013. This two month period will give us time to beta test the checklist with a handful of student groups across BU to ensure all the technical bugs are sorted out.

Would you like to be involved in the beta testing? If so, please get in touch with me and we’ll set everything up! I’ve already had a handful of volunteers to test the checklist, but please let me know if you’d like to get involved. Additionally, please let me know if you’d like a sneak peek of the online checklist – I’m more than happy to give you a quick tutorial.

The link to the new checklist will be made available on the Research Ethics website.

 

BRIAN Unavailability due to upgrade – 1/11/12

BU research, Guidance

BRIAN is likely to be unavailable between 9am and 12noon on Thursday, 1st November 2012 whilst the system upgrades to a new version.  I say likely as the issues experienced yesterday with the network have put all systems at risk.  I will issue a blog post tomorrow to state whether or not the upgrade will take place and I will also put a warning notice on the log-in screen for BRIAN informing users of when the system will be unavailable.

The upgrade will include a new look user profile page within BRIAN and so your home page will look different, however, all functions will remain the same.  There will be the addition of a ‘Favourites’ tab, which will allow for a separate display of publications that you have flagged as a ‘favourite’ (please note that ‘favourites’ are only available in BRIAN and not replicated in the web based external staff profile pages).

If you choose to make a publication ‘invisible’ (you may choose to do this for publications of a sensitive/controversial nature) then this will be hidden in your external profile page.  However, if you co-author with another BU academic, the publication will only be hidden for the author who has selected to make it ‘invisible’.  Therefore, you will need to discuss with all relevant BU authors whether a publication will be visible externally by one or none of you.

There will be an improved link between Supervisors and PhD students.  When Supervisors add their PhD students to their BRIAN account, this currently creates a false link for the student in the external staff profile pages.  The upgrade will enable a hyperlink within the Supervisors external profile page to the Students external profile page.  More details will follow on this.

The authors for publications will be displayed in the external staff profile pages as ‘BU Authors’ and ‘Other Authors’.  The BU Authors will be hyperlinked so that users can go directly to a BU staff members profile page.

There will be a number of changes to the REF module, which will mainly benefit the RKEDO team.

There are a number of developments still to take place on BRIAN.  This includes the Grants module, which should go live shortly.

Please note that the user guides and videos will contain screen prints of the previous homepage.  These will be updated in due course.

ESRC Festival of Social Science, What Constitutes Evidence for Copyright Policy?

BU research

ESRC Festival of Social Science,

What Constitutes Evidence for Copyright Policy?

Thursday 8 November 2012, 10.30 am – 6 pm

Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University


What the Workshop is about?

This interactive event offers the opportunity for discussion on evidence for copyright policy between social scientists, policy–makers and producers and users of copyright works. The event, which is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, will take the form of panel and round table discussions between policy–makers from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), stakeholders from the creative industries and academics from economics, sociology, law and cultural studies with expertise in copyright. The focus is on what evidence from these fields of study is relevant and useful to policy–makers and those seeking to put their case to them.  For more information see http://www.cippm.org.uk/news/2012/june/ne001-esrc-social-science-festival.html

How I can participate if I cannot attend?

The event will be complemented by digital interaction which will include an effective micro-blogging infrastructure to encourage participation and dissemination of information for those who are unable to attend.  There will also be write-ups following the Workshop detailing the events of the day.

If I am unable to attend, can I ask questions on the day from the expert panel?

Yes, it will be possible by using the hash-tag #cippm2012

There will be an opportunity for chosen ‘virtual questions’ to be raised and answered at the event, which in turn will be published on Twitter.  The tweets on the day will be captured on Storify which will be made available on the CIPPM website http://www.cippm.org.uk/  following the event.

We invite you to ‘tune in’ and join us in the discussion on the 8th November using the Twitter hash-tag #cippm2012

CIPPM associate director quoted in Financial Times

BU research, Featured academics

Prof. Ruth SoetendorpProfessor Ruth Soetendorp, Associate Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) in the Business School has been quoted in the Financial Times.  http://search.ft.com/search?queryText=ruth+intellectual+property The article titled ‘Students Need Better Education about Intellectual Property” (IP) goes on to reveal the recent research findings published by the National Union of Students (NUS), the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and the Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN).  According to the research, it has been established that “that while 80 per cent of students believe knowledge of IP is important, many students are not even aware of the potential scope of IP education. And even where it does take place, IP education is often restricted to plagiarism. Furthermore whilst 82 per cent of students feel it is important to know about IP to ensure everyone receives recognition for their work and ideas, significantly less make a connection between IP and commercial success”.

Professor Ruth Soetendorp, Head of IPAN’s Education Group is quoted as follows:

“This research highlights shortcomings in student IP understanding and its teaching in Further and Higher Education which have negative implications for the UK economy.  The UK needs to be world class in the creative arts, innovative in its product and systems designs, and pioneering in manufacturing processes.  In a global market these need to be underwritten by a proper understanding of IP embedded in an educated workforce.”

The Full Report can be found here http://www.nus.org.uk/PageFiles/12238/2012_NUS_IPO_IPAN_Student_Attitudes_to_Intellectectual_Property.pdf and the IPAN media release, quoted in the Financial Times can be found here http://www.ipaware.net/node/77

Bournemouth University is one of only two universities in the UK to have an innovative IP syllabus for final year law students. The Intellectual Property law unit which is offered to final year law students culminates in a collaborative project which brings together Law students and Design, Engineering and Computing (DEC) students.  The project requires the Law students to provide IP advice to DEC students on their final year ‘inventions’.  The project brings ‘IP law to Life’ and provides the type of IP understanding and commercial awareness that both parties need.

http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/newsandevents/News/2012/july/contentonly_1_7896_7896.html

The IP-DEC Project at Bournemouth University was pioneered by Professor Ruth Soetendorp in 1995.

Want to learn more about how to network effectively?

BU research

Networking is crucial in academic life and critical for participation in EU funding. In today’s world, to develop a strong academic career, publications aren’t enough; network relations can play a huge role.  Being well connected and carrying out research in cooperative partnerships significantly increases your chances of attaining a professorship and will allow you to grow your research career by participating in a range of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary projects.

Networking can be daunting and exhausting. To help you identify key players and how best to approach them as well as learning  how to network effectively with a range of stakeholders, expert Dr Martin Pickard of Grantcraft will deliver 3 hours of  fantastic guidance in this session on Talbot campus.  Booking is essential through the Staff Development website.

Environmental Change & Biodiversity Research Theme seminar on Thursday!

BU research

The Environmental Change & Biodiversity Research Theme is holding its first seminar of the academic year on Thursday 1 November. The seminar will be held in Kimmeridge House KG03 at 1200. Tea and coffee and biscuits will be provided.

The seminar will be quite informal and will be used as an opportunity to discuss ideas that are in development as well as presenting completed results. Additionally, this will be an opportunity for new PhD students in the theme to give a brief (about 5 min) overview of their PhD, and meet staff with overlapping interests. So far the following people have offered: Farah Al-Shorbaji, Adrian Blake, Katharine Bowgen, Danny Sheath and Ann Thornton. Their PhDs cover a range of subjects including the genetics, behaviour and ecology of fish, the effect of eutrophication of coastal habitats, and the effect of environmental change on birds.

The next Environmental Change & Biodiversity seminars will be held on 22 November in Stevenson Lecture Theatre at 1200 and on 13 December in Christchurch House CG13 at 1200. Richard Stillman is the theme leader, so please let him know if you would like to present at one of the upcoming seminars.

Pool of external bid advisers – nominations sought!

BU research

As part of the Grants Academy programme we’re looking to set up a pool of external experts who can provide reviews of drafts of funding proposals for Academy members which will help develop bid writing skills and hopefully increase our chance of winning grants. Dr Martin Pickard (who facilitates the Grants Academy workshops) will provide some of this support, particularly for EC bids, however we are also setting up a pool of external reviewers with experience in different disciplines and of different funders who can be called upon to offer their advice.

I am interested to know whether any BU academics would be willing to nominate any of their external peers to potentially be invited to join the pool of external reviewers.

Nominations should be for senor academics who are experts in their field with significant experience of winning grant funding and/or significant experience of sitting on review panels. To avoid potential conflicts of interest it would be ideal if these people are recently retired or semi-retired, however this is not essential.

If you can think of anyone who would be suitable please could you email me their details.

Research by BU’s Dr Andrew Mayers will appear on ITV Daybreak this Thursday

BU research

In a bid to tackle children’s sleep problems, BU’s Dr Andrew Mayers in the School of Design, Engineering and Computing, has been running workshops for parents at Bournemouth primary schools for several years now. The workshops started because staff at Winton Primary School noticed that pupils were struggling to get through the day without falling asleep, and were often difficult to engage because of tiredness. Andrew welcomed the opportunity to work with the school, an activity that reflects the ambition of the university to undertake more public engagement. The success of these workshops have been receiving a great deal of national media attention, with previously reported features in the Daily Mail, TES, and an interview with Talk Radio Europe. To follow on from that, Andrew’s work with children’s sleep at Winton Primary School will feature on ITV Daybreak on Thursday November 1st, as part of a series that the channel is showing across the week. It is due to be aired at around 6.50am. While Andrew welcomes the media attention, he hopes that this will help publicise his ambition to develop a professional online resource for children’s sleep, working in collaboration with some of the leading UK sleep charities.

Global Women’s (GLOW) Research Conference

BU research, Research news

The first Global Women’s (GLOW) Research Conference was held in Liverpool this week. The conference brought together 150 researchers and clinicians from across the globe to discuss women’s health in both low and high resource countries. Keynote speakers included France Donnay from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Beverly Winikoff from Gynuity Health Projects.

BU was well represented with poster presentations from Vanora Hundley, Professor of Midwifery, and Emma Pitchforth, Visiting Fellow.

Vanora’s presentation examined the Use of oral misoprostol to prevent postpartum haemorrhage in home birth settings in low resource countries; a topic that has been the subject of considerable controversy in recent weeks. Emma’s presentation looked at Evidence response mechanisms in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in Asia and the Pacific.

One of the unique features of this conference was the mix of presentations. Presenters came from a variety of disciplines and alongside the well known international speakers were oral presentations from undergraduate students and early career researchers. This was a great opportunity to share experiences and build collaborations, and I would recommend that both staff and students look out for next year’s call for abstracts.

Register Online to attend Bournemouth University Dementia Institute Internal Conference

BU research

BUDI continues to work towards a truly collaborative approach to dementia and with this in mind our first internal conference will take place on the 31st January.  The theme of this conference is creative collaboration.  We are keen to explore new innovative approaches to all aspects of living with dementia and caring for people with dementia.  If you have an idea or a piece of work that you think could work well or has a potential link with dementia, then this is the opportunity to showcase your idea.  Abstracts are invited for posters and presentations and should be submitted by Friday 16th November at 12noon.

Abstracts should be no longer than 250words and the details can be found on the staff development page.

Presentations will be 10mins duration with five minutes allowed for questions.

Posters should be of A0 portrait size and an award will be given for the best poster on the day.

More to follow shortly.

Patricia Mc Parland

Project Manager BUDI

Prof. Anthea Innes Inaugural Lecture

BU research, Featured academics

Anthea’s inaugural, to be held on 14th November, entitled “Dementia: personal journey to policy priority” is currently fully booked.  If you would like to be added to the waiting list please send an email to Michelle O’Brien at mobrien@bournemouth.ac.uk. 

BUDI are also holding a BU internal conference entitled “Creative collaboration” on 31st January and would welcome your attendance (please see BUDI website http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute/ for further details or contact Patricia McParland, BUDI Project Manager on pmcparland@bournemouth.ac.uk.)

NEW Online Ethics Checklist Launches on 1 November!!

BU research, Research Ethics

I’m pleased to announce that the new online ethics checklist is developed and ready to go live! Our IT developers have done a fantastic job creating an easy, collapsible, web-based form to replace our current paper checklist; the best part is that the form is collapsible, so it is entirely researcher specific. Not only will this online form streamline the submission process across the University, it will also provide a central repository for all approved checklists to facilitate the improvement of compliance within the Schools. The new online ethics checklist will soft launch on 1 November for two months of beta testing and fully launch on 1 January 2013. This two month period will give us time to beta test the checklist with a handful of student groups across BU to ensure all the technical bugs are sorted out.

Would you like to be involved in the beta testing? If so, please get in touch with me and we’ll set everything up! I’ve already had a handful of volunteers to test the checklist, but please let me know if you’d like to get involved. Additionally, please let me know if you’d like a sneak peek of the online checklist – I’m more than happy to give you a quick tutorial.

The link to the new checklist will be made available on the Research Ethics website as well as being placed on myBU.

The Haunter

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research

Joe Flintham (Media School) and Andy Pulman (Health and Social Care) recently received funding of £2000 from the Research Development Fund to help push forward with a project called ‘The Haunter’. This collaborative work with Tim Wright (digital writer and Visiting Fellow in the Media School) is an experimental narrative piece which brings together site-specific stories, walks in landscapes and homebrew electronics, in order to explore Thomas Hardy’s poetry.

The Haunter is a live event in which participants are tasked with carrying a haunted box around a prescribed route in the environs of Dorchester. At key points, the box, rumoured to be the same one which contained Thomas Hardy’s heart before it was interred at the graveyard at Stinsford, recites poetry written by Hardy following the death of his first wife Emma. The walkers’ journey through poetry and landscape leads them to encounter feelings of grief and absence, to unveil abandoned dreams and stories ended, and perhaps to reflect on lost or neglected love in their own lives.

 

In the immediate experience, the walk explores themes of bereavement and regret, and the interplay of places and memories, but it is also an experiment in new hybrid forms of narrative: the experience created by ‘The Haunter’ draws on new opportunities offered by site-specific media and the role that place and environment can play in the telling of a story; social and participatory dramatic experiences in which audiences play an embodied role in the enactment of a story; and the affective possibilities opened up by the interaction with physical objects.

 

In order to make these narrative explorations possible, a further hidden layer of experimentation is necessary: to build hybrid objects which are at once familiar and humane (such as hand-crafted wooden boxes) and at the same time, smart and technologically equipped (context-aware and digital-media capable). In order to deliver the experience of The Haunter, it has been necessary to develop custom electronic devices crossed with antique knick-knacks. This harnesses the smarts available in the newest mobile phones, but wraps their powers into a century-old world of caskets and poems, sea-side courtship memories and tracks through Hardy’s Wessex.

 

The result is a participatory narrative whose writing, delivery and design is built with the necessary openness to collaboration and experimentation: the walkers encounter not only the box and its poetry, but also landscape, weather, and each other; the writers of the story must interweave the given words of the poems and the medium-specific affordances of phsyical devices with the vagaries of walker behaviour; and the makers must match the predetermined world of system code and electronic hardware capacities with the richly unpredictable world of human behaviour and narrative imagination.

The RDF funding has facilitated the development of a prototype and specifications for a device that can be used to deliver site-specific media experiences that are applicable in a variety of settings such as heritage projects, health-walking and locative story-telling. The funding has also made it possible to allow students to learn the kinds of disciplines involved – physical computing, GPS systems and electronics, etc. Finally, we are currently exploring opportunities with potential partners who can support us developing the project further.

 

More information:

Tim Wright – Location-based Storytelling

Andy Pulman – Health Walking

Joe Flintham – Hauntology