Digital R&D Fund continues to explore the potential of technology in the arts

29 Apr 2014 03:32 PM

The latest round of projects to receive investment from the Digital R&D Fund has been announced. The £7 million fund from Nesta, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Arts Council was set up to encourage collaboration between technologist, researchers and arts and cultural bodies.

The five new projects cover a diverse range of art and cultural forms, including film distribution, comics and museums. These projects will explore how digital technologies can help to get more people to engage in arts or culture, or to explore new business models for the sector.

John Kingsbury, director of creative economy programmes, Nesta, commented:

'This latest generation of projects will enable a broad range of groups to experiment and embrace digital technologies, an important area that may otherwise be left behind. Central to the Fund is that organisations learn lessons on behalf of the arts and research sector, encouraging wider innovation and offering a solid stage from which to do so.' 

The new projects

• CaptionCue by STAGETEXT, Screen Subtitling Systems Ltd and Dr Pablo Romero-Fresco of Roehampton University
• Past Paths by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, Microsoft Research, Collections Trust and Professor Peter Wright at Newcastle University
• Sonic Pi: Live & Coding by Cambridge Junction, The Raspberry Pi foundation and Dr Pam Burnard of the University of Cambridge
• SoundLab: Configuring Creativity by Heart n Soul, Public Domain Corporation and Dr Mick Grierson of Goldsmiths, University of London
• Pop-up-Play by The Spark Arts for Children, LJW Digital Creatives and Dr Craig Vear of De Montfort University.

Find out more about these projects and all others who have received support from the Digtial R&D Fund.

Native: a journal of the Digital R&D Fund

Sharing learning is a crucial part of every project benefitting from investment from the fund, and the vehicle for doing this is Native, a website and journal. Here you will find regularly updated details of the funded projects as well as a growing bank of articles and other content that gives practical insights into how to deliver innovative arts projects using digital technology. For more information, check out the website.

Links and more information

Go to the Digital R&D Fund website or check out the Native website and online journal.

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