I was recently invited to the CULTURE lab at Newcastle University by director, Atau Tanaka. I would say it has the resources and creative power of 5 departments all housed in one spacious building. In the 12-some studios housed over 3 floors, over the course of 2 short days, I found people building multitouch tables, controlling synthesizers with the touch of fabric, and researching augmented spatial sonic realities. There is a full suite of workshop tools including a laser cutter, multiple multi-channel sound studios, full stage/theater with stage lighting and multiple projection, radio lab, and tons of light and interesting places to sit and do whatever you feel like doing. The other thing I found really interesting is there are no “offices”. Instead, the staff are dispersed amongst the students in the twelve-some studios, picking a new desk perhaps whenever they need a change of scenery? If you are ever in the area, it is certainly worth a visit, and I’m sure the people there will be very open to tell you what they are up to.

I also had the pleasure to give a talk on my PhD research in Resynthesizing Audiovisual Perception with Augmented Reality at the Lunch … Continue reading...