Digital Incubator: “Sonic Blankets and Sensory Training Models: Using Emerging Technologies for Community Benefit.”
June 25-July 2, 2018
Sonic Ars Research Centre, Queens University Belfast
Funded by the Office of the Vice President (Research), University of Regina; CanFASD; and the British Academy. Drawing from research developed with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.
This digital incubator brought together researchers from across the ImprovEnabled project. It focussed on accessibility and strengths-based approaches to disabilities that brought together researchers and community partners in seeking to address two challenges: (1) Can sound and digital tools be used to replace traditional disability interventions (specifically “sonic blankets” to replace weighted blankets for sensory disabilities) and (2) can sensory training be inverted so those who are often described as “disabled” are seen as trainers in sonic spaces because of their heightened sensory capacity. It will involve the University of Regina team (Caines, Stewart, student), the SARC Team, and a team from Engage Research Lab, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia.
Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) is an internationally renowned centre at Queens University Belfast. Researchers and artists travel to Belfast to utilize the unique sonic laboratories. The facilities at SARC include the state-of-the-art Sonic Laboratory, multi-channel studios, Broadcast Studio, Interaction Lab and computer labs. The Sonic Laboratory is a specialist acoustic space designed to provide a unique and exciting listening experience, in fact, the auditory equivalent of an IMAX cinema. Forty-eight loudspeakers, strategically located, can project and move sounds throughout the space, including underneath the audience. No other auditorium for sonic art performance and experimentation currently exists with this revolutionary feature. The provision of this facility gives Northern Ireland a unique and pioneering role in a rapidly developing field. This facility enables research teams to develop and implement cutting-edge initiatives in the creation and delivery of music and audio. The project also allows the researchers and partners to continue to plan for major international grants based on digital tools.
Incubator sessions included detailed exploratory, which aimed to establish if further work was merited, including the development of practical demos, plans, and working models, developed through workshops, sessions, meetings, and partnered activities during the week. Multiple ongoing projects resulted from the incubator week.
Incubator Participants
University of Regina
Rebecca Caines, Faculty of MAP, University of Regina, who will co-facilitate the incubator sessions with Michelle Stewart. Caines’ work focusses on community-based creative practices to support communities, with a focus on improvised theatre, sonic arts and creative technologies.
Michelle Stewart, Department of Justice Studies, Faculty of Arts. Stewart is an applied anthropologist whose research focuses on community-engaged projects and partnerships focused on cognitive disabilities, mental health and racialized health inequalities as they present in the criminal justice system.
Canadian community research partners: Shana Mohr , Lisa Brownstowne
University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Christian Jones is the coordinator of the Engage Labs with a background in sound and haptic interfaces. He is a Professor and Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Arts, Business and Law as well as Interactive Digital Media. His areas of research focus on health and wellbeing, environment and place as well as safety and protection. His background includes expertise in serious games, interactive experiences, and affective research and interventions.
Ben Rolfe has worked with the Engage Research Lab since its inception and has a background in serious games including working with virtual and augmented reality. Ben not only coordinated our visit to the labs in April but he has an expansive understanding of the capacities of the labs to think about ways to connect projects between campuses that leverage our collective access to different technologies at each of the labs including University of Regina, Queens University, and University of the Sunshine Coast.
Queens University Belfast
Paul Stapleton is a Professor in Music at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, and a key partner in the development of the incubator and the ImprovEnabled partnership with SARC. His work explores new musical instrument design, music performance, sound design, and critical improvisation studies.
The Sonic Arts Research Centre Team:
Faculty: Paul Stapleton, Simon Waters, Franziska Schroeder, John D’Arcy, Trevor Agus, Miguel Ortiz, Pedro Rebelo, Michael McKnight, Zeynep Bulut
Postdoctoral Research Fellows and research assistants: Koichi Samuels and Matilde Meireles
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Paula McHugh is Arts in Health manager at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. She is a key partner helping to connect Trust workers and service users with this creative arts research project, providing consultation and support for the Northern Ireland partnership, and the incubator activities.
The Drake Music Project Northern Ireland provides access to independent music making for children and adults with complex disabilities
The University of Atypical is a disabled-led arts charity, taking an empowerment based approach towards supporting disabled and deaf people’s involvement in the arts.
AGENDA
MONDAY JUNE 25th 2018
9:40AM Welcome Tea and Coffee
10AM-10:15AM Opening remarks by Paul Stapleton, Michelle Stewart, Rebecca Caines; and video testimonials from community partners and professionals
10:15AM-10:30AM Q and A
10:30AM-12:30PM Intro and pitch from each attendee
12:30PM-1PM Feedback and Q and A
1PM Lunch
2PM-5PM Small group work- hackathon
5PM-6PM Presentaions of hackathon demos
6/7PM Offsite dinner
TUESDAY JUNE 26th
9AM-12PM Listening, training, cognition session 1- presentations by John Darcy with Trevor Argus
12PM-1PM Open lab hour
1PM-3PM Community workshop on improv and listening in Broadcast Studio (with lunch)- Rebecca Caines
WEDNESDAY JUNE 27th
10AM-1PM Listening session 2 — presentations by Miguel Ortiz and Pedro Rebelo
3PM-6PM Showcase of SARC projects “Re-Assembled Slightly Askew”
THURSDAY JUNE 28th
10AM-12PM Engage Lab session- immersive and gaming- Christian Jones and Ben Rolfe
12-1PM Presentations by Simon Waters -” Distributed Listening,” and Franziska Schroeder – “Performance without Barriers”
1PM Lunch
2PM-6PM Wrap up and planning session