Announcement of the six MyWorld Fellowships in Residence led by Watershed
We are delighted to announce the six Fellowships in Residence led by Watershed, with Condense Reality, Zero Point Motion, Celestial, Air Giants, and Marshmallow Laser Feast with All Seeing Eye and University of the West of England (UWE).
Unlike more traditional Fellowships, we are encouraging people to make things and be part of an active network of people with extraordinary skills and expertise. Bringing together interdisciplinary research and collaboration and providing opportunities for connecting to new areas of technology with time to think is a magic combination. We can’t wait to support these Fellows in the process.
- Performance & audiences in the metaverse with Condense Reality (a practice-based and an academic fellowship)
- Motion and physical feedback in VR with Zero Point Motion
- Researching how AI can affect the creative process in drone light shows with Celestial
- Exploring new ways of interacting with giant tactile robots with Air Giants
- Exploring how people with different disabilities might experience and value various interaction mechanisms in location-based VR with Marshmallow Laser Feast, All Seeing Eye and UWE.
The fellows will complement the teams that are currently developing prototypes as part of the Collaborative Research & Development (CR&D) projects supported by Digital Catapult. These projects are designed to address emerging challenges from across different areas of the creative industries.
Our mission is to build on the strength of the West of England’s creative sector and world-class academic research linked to creative industries. Creating a globally recognised centre of excellence for creative industries’ research, development and production, collaboration is central to this mission. The partnerships enabled through the coupling of the MyWorld IDEAS fellowships and CR&D projects are excellent examples of how the richness and diversity of talent, knowledge and research approaches available in our region, across both technical innovation and content creation, can be brought together to create opportunities for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
The Watershed MyWorld Fellowships in Residence associated with the CR&D projects supported by Digital Catapult, really demonstrate the power and impact of the MyWorld partners working in collaboration to leverage and connect all the different moving parts of the programme to maximise the benefit for all the project teams involved. The CR&D project teams are working at the limits of what’s currently possible within each of their specific areas, these fellowships will work alongside those teams complementing and enhancing the R&D being carried out, examining it through additional lenses. We’re excited to see how the Fellowships bring new perspectives to the work of the CR&D projects funded by MyWorld.
The fellowships are aimed at freelancers, practitioners, industry, and academics and are intended to be a period of collaborative thinking and experimentation, applying practice, expertise, or relevant experience. They are an opportunity to explore ethical questions, consider what makes a meaningful experience for audiences, ask new questions and test high-risk ideas.
We believe our work will be stronger with greater diversity and welcome applications from those who are currently underrepresented in the culture, technology and higher education sectors. We understand that each of us brings our experiences, our backgrounds and our own unique lens to what we do so no one is expected to represent any specific groups.
The six fellowship opportunities:
- Condense Fellowship in Residence
£12,000 for six months at roughly 2.5 days/week.
We are inviting practitioners with live stage production experience to apply.
- Condense + Understanding Audiences Research Fellowship in Residence (academic)
£20,000 for ten months at roughly 2.5 days/week.
We are inviting practitioners with a background in behavioural science and interest in virtual stage technology, to apply.
- Zero Point Motion Fellowship in Residence
£12,000 for six months at roughly 2.5 days/week.
We are inviting practitioners with games development skills and human and computer interactions (HCI) knowledge to apply.
- Celestial Fellowship in Residence
£12,000 for six months at roughly 2.5 days/week.
We are inviting practitioners with C# programming and/or python coding skills to apply.
- Air Giants Fellowship in Residence
£20,000 for ten months at roughly 2.5 days/week.
We are inviting practitioners with experience in producing audience test events and interest in tactile and bodily interaction, to apply.
- Marshmallow Laser Feast + All Seeing Eye + UWE Fellowship in Residence
£12,000 for six months at roughly 2.5 days/week.
We are inviting practitioners with inclusive, user-centred design experience to apply.
Closing date for all Fellowships in Residence: Thursday 20 April 2023 10.00 a.m. (BST)