Guest lecture at the University of Hull, Scarborough Campus

Me, Myself and MRI

Following on from my lecture at Huddersfield on Tuesday, today I was at Scarborough giving the same talk to students on the second year of the Creative Music Technology course. The lecture covers a wide range of projects from my time before Apollo Creative, as well as more recent work like 'Me, Myself and MRI' and the Fountaineers Project.

Charmed Lives exhibition opens at the Rotunda, Scarborough

The 'Charmed Lives' exhibition opens today at the Rotunda Museum in Scarborough, featuring touch screen interactives created by students from the University of Hull. The interactives were created over six weeks by students on the Creative Music Technology course, with mentoring and lectures provided by Mark from Apollo Creative.

You can see a brief overview of the pieces on the cultiv8 blog.

The exhibition will be on until the 27th November.

Another day, another lecture!

Today was my annual visit to the Creative Music Technology course in Scarborough, to give my overview of practical applications of Creative Technology. Most of the group braved the snow and cold to get in for the 9.15 lecture slot.

Luckily for me the trains from York were running pretty well despite the cold.

Charms of the Sea

The Charms of the Sea project that we ran at Scarborough Campus University of Hull was featured in the Scarborough Evening News.

If you want to catch the exhibition at the Rotunda then make sure you get down before Sunday!

Scarborough Lecture - Pitching and Blogging

Today was the first lecture for the Creative Music Technology Course (Scarborough Campus, University of Hull). Following on from last years successful project, I am acting as the client/consultant for the students as they attempt to produce some exciting interactives for the Rotunda Museum. This year they are working with some more of Clarke's Charms, helping to show to the public 'charms of the sea'.

Carved bone Intuit Good Catch Charm (c) Scarborough Museums Trust

During the lectures today I covered two main topics: pitching ideas and blogging. The following links and sites I found particularly useful in pulling together the overview for the students.

Scott Berkun - How to pitch an idea
A great rundown of the techniques to use, including an overview of the classic 5 second (the film Chicken Run - "Great escape for Chickens"), 30 second (Elevator pitch) and 5 minute pitching templates.

TED: Ideas worth spreading
Technology, Entertainment, Design - TED shows how you can get across almost any idea, in as little as 18 minutes. A fantastic, inspirational set of online lectures available for eveyone to watch and be inspired. If you need to get a flavour, then this 'Best of ' compilation will get you hooked.

Garr Reynolds Presentation Tips
Avoid 'death by powerpoint' by following these tips for a more 'zen' like approach. This presentation tips handout is essential reading.

Present like Steve Jobs
Love or hate Apple, you can't deny that Steve Jobs has presenting down to an artform. This site has a video that talks you through some of his main techniques.


The result of this project will be a two week installation at the Rotunda.

Next week the students will be pitching their ideas for interactives and creating short videos to send to me. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

Scarborough Student Feedback

The project with Scarborough students at the Rotunda was completed in November, since then they have gone on to work on other projects. It was therefore nice to see some feedback on the University of Hull website, backing up the project objectives originally devised my myself and Rob MacKay.

"Charmed assignment very enjoyable – a real life brief so felt the pressure of getting it right and great to have feedback from Jan and Mark and others from Museum as get a feel for what to expect in work environment."

"I enjoyed the first assignment as it was a real life brief to which we had to respond. The subject matter was unusual and interesting and the scope for creativity was great.I enjoyed working with the people in our group. We worked well together which is important for creating a successful outcome. I particularly liked the feedback from Jan from the Museum Trust & Mark Hildred during the design process, as they were real industry experience comments which were really helpful." 

"The Rotunda Museum Project was so far one of the best experiences ever in my life! Never knew I could learn so much in so little time. Time spent on this project is simply invaluable! Hope to do some more similar projects in the near future." 

I hope that next years students enjoy it as much!

Students install at The Rotunda

Today was the final session on the Interactive Technology course at the University of Hull, Scarborough Campus. The students had to present their interactive installations at the Rotunda Museum and allow those of us marking to have a play.

Apart from a few technical issues (most of them not to do with the students) the whole event went very well. Each group had devised a creative way to present a selection of Charms from the collection.

I advise you to get down and have a look if you are over in Scarborough over the next couple of weeks.

Brain Awareness Week

Today I returned to the University of Hull, Scarborough Campus, to see what the students had achieved for Brain Awareness Week. I was impressed to find all the groups had managed to design some really interesting interactives. They ranged from a touch sensitive head to show the effect of drugs on the senses to a Wii inspired brain training game.

Interactive Lectures

I returned to Scarborough today to give a follow up to my regular Interactive Technology lecture on the Creative Music Technology course. This time I've been talking to the students about pitching for work and working as a team. Rather than just talk at the students, we set them the task of pitching some ideas back at me. They had to work in groups to come up with an idea for an interactive exhibit or display for International Brain Awareness Week

The groups only had a couple of hours, but came up with some really good ideas. The best part will be in March when I go back and they have to have actually built the exhibits. Glad I'm not them...!

News: Student samples the world of work with Apollo Creative

Not everyone realises it, but employers’ value work experience almost as much as the qualifications you achieve. As well as increasing your knowledge and experience in the world of work it helps to build on your experience of life within the workplace.

One person who doesn’t need reminding of this is University of Hull degree student Ben Johnson, who has been on a placement with Knaresborough based Apollo Creative for the last two months.

Ben is studying a three year Creative Music Technology degree at the University’s Scarborough Campus. This course centres around the creative use of the latest technologies including sound recording, mixing, sound design, electronics, web authoring and multimedia.

Mark Hildred, Creative Director of Apollo Creative, regularly presents a lecture on the course covering real-world applications of this technology. Following Mark’s most recent lecture, Ben was inspired to approach Apollo about securing a work placement over his summer vacation.

Apollo Creative was set up to specialise in the innovative design, development and manufacture of interactive light and sound products, providing a perfect fit for Ben and his studies. Ben was given the opportunity to help work on the development of the company’s latest product the “Ensemble16” – an interactive control system that allows lighting and sound to be controlled from switch and sensor inputs.

The product, due for launch in September 2008, can be used across a range of disciplines including museums, play areas, and sensory rooms. It also has applications within special needs schools, something Ben has been exploring through a series of workshops at the Forest School in Knaresborough - a special school for pupils aged between 2½ and 16 who have a range of learning difficulties.

Ben has also worked on the innovative sci-art project “Me, Myself and MRI”, designing a working prototype of the final exhibition. This project explores the idea of individuality using contemporary neuro-imaging technology, photography and audio-video work, and is a collaboration between several partners including Geodesic Arts and Archbishop Holgate's School, York. The final exhibition is due to launch at the National Science Learning Centre in February 2009 before touring around galleries and public spaces across the region.

Ben Johnson says – “It is fantastic to have been given this opportunity to work in such a creative environment especially as it is so close to what I have been studying. I hope that my experience here will help me with my final year studies and look forward to coming back to see how some of the projects have progressed.”

"Interactive Technology" Lecture

Today I gave what has become an annual lecture at Scarborough Campus of the University of Hull. It is part of the Interactive Technology course and involves looking at some of the real-world applications of this technology that I have been involved with.