Creative and cultural practice

Scotland is famed for its rich culture and longstanding history of producing talented poets, writers, artists, actors and more recently, producers, screenwriters and new media artists.  As technology continues to evolve at rapid speed, the opportunities and challenges for the creative and cultural industries are constantly changing.  Researchers at the University of Abertay are committed to maintaining and strengthening Scotland’s leading position in these industries.

Abertay’s research into Audience Engagement in Digital Media involves a groundbreaking new initiative with the BBC, BBC Prototype, aimed at engaging the 17-25 year old audience, an audience which traditional broadcast media have lost touch with.

Abertay researchers are currently at the experimental phase of developing and testing ideas.  They are producing new types of content, specifically multi-platform content, based around existing brands and existing content that the BBC already deliver.  12 prototype ideas have been launched this year. 

The longer term aim is to broaden this activity into a larger SME community and get traditional content producers more involved, with a long term view towards commercialisation.

Further research in this area concerns the way in which new technologies can be used to view and receive content; allowing viewers to choose how footage can be viewed, creating their own perspective. 

Collaborations with Learning Teaching Scotland is taking this method of research and content creation to primary and secondary schools and will involve using gaming technologies within the core curriculum with specific numeracy, literacy and ICT learning outcomes.  Harris said: “By finding out the best way to engage with those age groups and then creating content that can be delivered in a myriad of forms and linked with core subjects such as science, history or mathematics, the learning opportunities are immense.”

Researchers are also investigating the growth and behaviour of virtual communities, considering cultural aspirations and communal identities of online communities.

Successful online communities have developed ways to express shared cultural values through the production and distribution of digital media artefacts - commonly referred to as User Generated Content.  Abertay staff are investigating the traditions of specialist community development in the areas of Communities of Practice; and the role of individuals in constructing meaning through engagement with cultural artefacts explored in Object Centred Activity Theory.

Kenny McAlpine, a senior lecturer in computer arts who teaches the Creative Sound Production programme, is researching the use of technology as a tool for heritage preservation and tackling a problem which has challenged the custodians and curators of our heritage for decades, and has become more prominent with the new Culture Bill (Scotland) which makes explicit our cultural entitlement to engage with out history and heritage.

McAlpine said: “The issue is how we balance provision of access to heritage now, with the need to preserve it for future generations?  Specifically, what is the role of new technologies here?

“If we accept that digital collections and experiential access are to play a part in our cultural entitlement, it raises a further question – how does this work? How can we create digital recreations of works of art, architecture, books, or musical instruments that create anything like the experience and excitement of handling a fragile 400 year old original?”