This happened
This week, I was in Seoul presenting at the Global Education Dialogue run by the British Council and co-hosted by hte Korean Council for University Education. The conference focused on the role of technology in the race for global talent and my talk developed the idea of 'intelligent learning systems' that can enable universities to get to a point where their staff student ratio is 1 to 1. Here's the @prezi
On Valentines Day, I was quoted in The Times for an article about the replacement of mirrors by screens. Here's a link to the article, but here's the full quotes I gave to Kaya Burgess, the article's author:
"As screens rapidly replace mirrors to occupy the reflective space in our lives, we find ourselves in a novel moment in history where we could, if we choose, actually see ourselves as others see us, rather than see the flipped version that mirrors generate. Yet, so far, we are sticking with the familarity of the reflected image. If selfie culture is realy about vanity and narcissism, then we might be smarter to use the screens to present us with what others see when they gaze in our direction and, if we do, the whole idea of reflection may become redundant. In 50 years, we might look upon our reflected selves with a degree of trepidation and anxiety.
"With the growing attention of the internet of things, the idea of smart mirrors is becoming ever more appealing. You could wake up in the morning and look into your smart mirror, which would quickly analyse your health and tell you if you are coming down with an illness, or whether you need to do a bit more exercise or get more sleep. Of course, these mirrors will not be mirrors at all, they will be ultra high definition screens, capable of providing all kinds of augmented reality content that will, hopefully, enrich our lives rather htan scare us all to death."
Today @SalfordUni, the Business School hosts a symposium on Digital Innovation, focusing on health applications. Here's my @prezi
Today, I published a piece on #drones for @conversationUK, which explores some of the new applications that are emerging and which were showcased at the Drones for Good international prize in the UAE last weekend. Here's the piece in full.
On 10th Feb, I will be the MC for an event run by the @UKTI in Paris looking tagged #FutureCity2015. In relation to this, I was asked also to make a film that would open the event, focusing discussion around new opportunities and foregrounding a number of technological changes to cities that are imminent.
Here it is:
The event is principally for business and will look like this.
09:30 Welcome by His Excellency Sir Peter Ricketts
British Ambassador to France
09:40 Current opportunities in France
Caroline Maurand, French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy
10:05 Focus on the Grand Paris Project
Serge Dupont, Société du Grand Paris
10:20 Current opportunities in the UK
Dan Byles MP
10:45 Focus on London Regeneration Projects
Sue Vincent, Urban Design London
11:00 Coffee Break and Networking
11:30 Inspiring Case Studies in the UK:
Introduction to the Greenwich Automated Transport Environment (GATEway) project
Pierre Lefèvre, Greenwich GATEway project
Value from the Work of Many Hands
David Roberts, Igloo Regeneration
Paris-London – communicating vessels?
Michel Mossessian, Mossessian & Partners
12:15 Inspiring Case Studies in France:
French Placemaking British style – a collaborative hands-on approach
Kathryn Anderson, Barton Willmore
Grand Lyon
Gilles Vesco , Grand Lyon
The FFR Grand Stade – An urban catalyst
François Clément, Populous UK
13:00 Networking Lunch
14:00 Pre-arranged 20 minutes one to one B2B meetings between
French and British companies until 17:00
This month, I will have been using the photo sharing platform @Flickr for 10 years, posting nearly 1,000 photos per year. For a while, Flickr seemed to lose pace, as other new photo mobile applications like Instagram and even Twitter image came about. However, for a big screen, high-res photo experience, it is still the most beautiful place to visit and I am still 100% behind it. Here is a journey through that decade, with a few highlight images.
Last night, I went along to shoot Rae Morris' first gig in her UK tour, which launches her debut album. It was an extraordinary night and she's clearly going places. A huge treat was also to hear Fryars, who are phenomenal, quirky, and all kinds of interesting. Here are some shots from the night.
Today, I am giving a talk at the #BETT2015 Show in London and also participating in a panel on social media in education. It's a huge event and I've never been before, so it will be fun to discover what it's all about. It's still early days for the Internet of Things in education, so there's a lot to talk about and I'll post slides here at the end of the day, summarising my talk and some of the discussions.
Tomorrow, I am compèring the Digital Utopias conference, an event curated by @ANDfestival and produced by @GoogleUK @ACE_NAtional @Hull2017 @theSpaceArts and @BritishCouncil It's an extraordinary programme. Here's the brief:
Digital Utopias is a one-day conference which will inspire and incite debate about how new technologies are enabling creativity across the arts. The conference aims to capture topical and diverse approaches to curation, archiving, collecting and creating from a range of art forms, from the visual arts to theatre.
The event will provide an opportunity to discuss new tools and emergent practice, whilst delegates will connect with international arts organisations and specialists in the field to unpick the creative and critical challenges facing organisations today.
and here's the programme:
Sessions in the main theatre will be compèred by Prof Andy Miah.
10:00-10:20
Welcome from Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair, Arts Council England and James Davis, Programme Manager, Director, Google Cultural Institute
Main Theatre
10:30-12:00
Debate: After the future
Main theatre
After the future examines how art is changing in the digital age and how new behaviours and systems are emerging in the creation, exhibition, interpretation and dissemination of art. Through sharing recent and historical examples, the panel will examine the challenges of classifying a growing and chaotic field. Asking questions such as; What are the practical challenges and values, which should inform the future? And how can our media art history inform the sector?
Chair: Sarah Cook, Morgan Quaintance, Ruth Mackenzie (The Space) and Jon Thomson (Thomson and Craighead)
Or choose from the following sessions:
10:30-12:00
Clinic: What to do with your data?
Rehearsal space
Puzzled by Open data, big data and meta data? You are not alone! Led by CEO Gavin Starks and Art Associate Julie Freeman, this Open Data Institute session demonstrates what art organisations can do with their data and the small steps you can make right away.
Led by CEO of ODI Gavin Starks and Julie Freeman.
10:30-11:30
Showcase: Presentation and talk by James Davis, Programme Manager at the Google Cultural Institute
Studio theatre
Google Creative Lab UK will talk about their chrome web experiments, games and prototypes.
12:00-13:00
Lunch lower and upper foyer
13:00-14:30
Debate: Disruptive Innovation
Main theatre
This panel will unpick alternative models of “innovation” through examining production models and their cultural value. Interdisciplinary artistic practice can create new platforms, resources and art forms, but what are the benefits to artistic practice and how can cultural appropriation be avoided?
Led by Tatiana Bazzichelli (Curator and writer) Memo Akten (Artist), Lynn Scarff (Programme Director of The Science Gallery) and Jose Luis de Vicente (curator and researcher).
Or choose from the following sessions:
13:00-13:45
Showcase: Designing Performance (Performance & Interactivity)
Studio theatre
From sensory performances to projection mapping technologies, we invite The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Sarah Ellis, artists Marshmallow Laser Feast and theatre company Extant to discuss how performance is being enhanced by new technologies and the challenges of live performance in the flesh and online.
13:00-14:30
Clinic: Archiving & preserving in the Digital age
Rehearsal space
How do we ensure long-term access to digital information through collecting, archiving and preservation? This session gives hands on tips for museums, curators and collectors on both moving image and social media archiving.
Led by Dragan Espenchied, Rhizome and Luke Collins from Lux, Scotland.
14:00-14:45
Showcase: Copy and Paste (Literature & Publishing)
Studio theatre
Changes in technology have played pivotal roles in literature (from Gutenberg to GoogleDocs) and we invite showcases from writers, publishers and software developers who are looking at everything from generative writing, books as code and alternative distribution models.
Led by Jim Hinks, Comma Press and Joanna Ellis from the Writing Platform.
Afternoon break – 15 mins
Choose from:
14:45-16:15
Debate: Activate the Public Space
Main theatre
The public space is augmented with information, networks, forces, bodies, buildings and technology. How do we define the public space? How do we create work for a time where the distinction between being offline and online is harder distinguish. We hear from a range of organisations, who have opened up new social spaces, data and communities through gaming, networked objects and growing DIY communities.
Led by Ruth Catlow (Furtherfield) Prof Jennifer Gabrys (artist), MolMol (Yes Yes No) and Iain Simons (GameCity).
15:00-15:45
Showcase: Curating Networks
Studio theatre
Curating Networks showcases projects that rethink ideas of authenticity, ownership and authorship in relation to archives, collections and traditional formats and gallery spaces.
Led by Katrina Sluis (Photographers Gallery), and Irini Papadimitriou (V&A) and Hullcraft (Joel Mills and Hannah Rice) University of Hull.
16:15
Closing remarks
Main theatre
16:45-17:30
Showcase: Crafting Code (Art and Science)
Studio theatre
Crafting Code explores the role of new materials in art production and how data can be materialised, examining the interchangeable role of artists, engineers and makers. We invite presentations on the ‘algorithmic’ opportunities this expanding field is developing, from design, digital sculpture and science to 3D modelling & wearable technology.
Speakers include Karen Gaskill (Crafts Council), Gretchen Andrew and Matthew Plummer-Fernandez.
16:45-18:00 Clinic: R&D as serious play
Rehearsal space
This session will bring together representatives from a selection of recent R&D projects to discuss how to design and manage a process that is playful and serious at the same time. Facilitated by a representative from the Digital R&D Fund, each representative will share their experience, before moving into a panel discussion and workshopping ideas with the audience. Creative technology projects are not just about delivering an end product - managing a R&D process which is creative, useful and rewarding for all parties is where the magic happens.
17:00-18:00 Networking Drinks
Foyer
18:00-18:30
Performance: The Measures Taken
Main theatre
The day will finish with an immersive digital art work. ‘The Measures Taken’ is a collaboration between Marshmallow Laser Feast and Alexander Whitley Dance Company. Both a dialogue, and a duet between human movement and the digital world, this performance promises to be visually striking and kinetically charged.
- See more at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/jobs-and-conferences/conferences/digital-utopias/programme/#sthash.ymmObLsu.dpuf
Today, I received an email from Google Glass, telling me that it's over! Here's what they had to say:
and I am also posting the 'memories' file they sent us - 'Volume 001 as they put it (how many volumes are expected?!). I will write a piece about this over the next few days, but what I find most fascinating is the sense in which this may be seen as a failure by critics. Certainly, we expect anything new to stick around for a while - even though we change our iPhones every couple of years hmm. Ok, well, maybe Google Glass for 2 years isn't so bad - but it's only been 6 months or so in the UK. That's a bit too brief.
It will still work of course, just no further development. But, so what? Does that matter? IT does enough as it is is and I can't imagine needing much support. Although, my first Glass did break due to overheating and the reflective foil of the projector bubbling up and rendering it unusable. The did send another one though, quickly. hmm, I don't know how to feel. Abandoned? Let down? Disappointed. Or, the owner of what will become a cult object - the first wearable camera, kind of.
Truth be told, I have had nothing but fun with this device, and the people who have tried it out have loved it. Here's the video I made from the IAAF World Junior Championships last year. This was typical.
So, I think I will stick with Glass for a while, but then RideOn just contacted me about these. Next..
This question frames a @BBC5Live debate tomorrow night I took part in @MediaCityUK . The show was in front of a live audience and went out on @BBC1 'red button' and Twitch, where it had 83,000 concurrent viewers. You can also tune in through the BBC Radio 5 Live channel. If you are nearby and would like to come to the live show, email me and let me know. I can put you on the audience list.
Here's the full brief and deets:
We have a special programme tomorrow night which you can hear on BBC Radio 5 live and watch via the BBC Sport website and Twitch, as we explore Gaming, and the Rise of the Cyber Athlete. With computer game events now attracting thousands of spectators, the industry has teams, managers, star players, they compete in the X Games, and there's even a transfer window - so is it a sport? We'll be debating that question with those involved in eSports on Thursday 15 January from 8.30-10pm.
We’ll be broadcasting from the Blue Room at Quay House in MediaCity, Salford, in front of a live audience. It’ll have a Top Gear feel to it – with refreshment provided to all
Take a look at this cool new tech from RideOn, which I mentioned in the prog, showing how augmented reality is fusing with real world sport experience to create a hybrid gaming experience.
Uploaded by Alon Getz on 2014-12-04.
Back in the summer of 2014, the International Amateur Athletic Federation brought me in to give some social media training for their athletes at the World Junior Championships. The others involved were the extremely accomplished Olympians Ato Boldon, Joanna Hayes, and Charmaine Crooks. While there, I conducted this interview with Ato Boldon, to give people an insight into a career in sports broadcasting. The interview focuses on what Ato did while he was competing to start making his way into this highly competitive industry.
By the way, in case you are wondering about the t-shirt, the back story is from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, when the Opening Ceremony ring display failed to open. It became a bit of a meme online, so there is an interesting story in terms of social media and sport behind it. Read more here
The #REF2014 results came out, but the details are still unpublished. I led the Unit 36 submission for the University of the West of Scotland, which managed to achieve a 25% growth in 3-4* research activity. We were particularly successful in our Research Impact evaluation and the two case studies each related to my work. Until the full documentation is made available, here's a snippet of what was submitted, along with my research output details.
Professor Andy Miah’s research on the ethics of human enhancement has transformed the working lives of three principal professional communities: curators of UK flagship festivals and exhibitions (Abandon Normal Devices festival, the Wellcome Trust, Edinburgh International Science Festival); journalists (coverage on doping); and politicians and civil servants working on technology policy (European Parliament, World Anti-Doping Agency). His pioneering research has led to the creation of new artistic work, shaped policy directions, contributed to public engagement with bioethics, and advanced debate on the ethics of digital and biological technology.
Research from the Creative Futures Institute (CFi) has generated original understandings of how social media has triggered change within the practice of journalism. The evidence shows how findings from 3 inter-related projects were a catalyst for skills development and generated new contributions to both civil society and the creative community. Impact is demonstrated across 15 organizations where new community media collectives were developed around the Vancouver 2010 (W2 Centre & True North Media House) and London 2012 Olympics (#media2012 & #CitizenRelay). UWS research led these organisations to invest £115,000 additional funds and implement these findings in their current work.
There are a lot of people to thank beyond the researchers involved in the creation of the impact case studies. For legal reasons, their names are omitted from the final documentation, but institutions include Abandon Normal Devices, London 2012 Creative Programmer in the North West, FACT Liverpool, CamGlen, Media Trust UK, Wellcome Trust, STV, and the Edinburgh International Science Festival.
In my first article for @ConversationUK I focus on the hypershort video format as an art work. This paper was stimulated by a talk I gave for the Encounters Short Film Festival in Bristol. Take a peek Here's one I made earlier (from China)...
This week, a new book of mine was published by the Russian International Olympic University. Co-authored with Alexander Zolotarev and Prof Lev Belousov, the book is published in Russian and covers such areas as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, the Sochi 2014 context, and how the International Olympic Committee is re-orientating itself around new and social media.
On Wednesday 17th December, I will host a webinar event for the International Olympic Committee MOOC on Sports Media, which will feature British Olympian Samantha Murray. Register here
Here is the overview:
Dear Athletes and Learners,
Do you know how to use social media to enhance your sporting career?
Are you prepared for the tough questions from the media that come straight after competition?
Have you thought about moving into the media after your stop competing?
Join Prof Andy Miah, Chair in Science Communication and Digital Media at the University of Salford, as he talks exclusively to Modern Pentathlon Olympic silver medallist and reigning world champion, Samantha Murray.
Following her Olympic success, Samantha has been exposed to a level of media attention she could never have imagined. From radio interviews, magazine articles, television shows and personal appearances, Samantha has done them all – hear exactly how she has dealt with her new found fame and hear her tips on how you can do the same.
Plus learn from Alex Trickett, Head of Sport for Twitter UK about his top tips for athletes who want to actively use social media platforms.
This live event will also include interactive polls and give you the opportunity to ask your own questions in a dedicated Q&A session towards the end of the event.
Limited spaces available, register now to reserve your place.
Best wishes
The IOC Athlete MOOC Team
This week, I judged the regional final of @FameLabUK with contestants from Manchester and Sheffield. It was a fantastic display of the talented science communicators around England's North and the winner was @Benstutchbury with a 3 minute whirlwind through 'Mucous'! It was great to be involved with this and I really look forward to growing this network in my new role.
Yesterday, I spoke for @arma_UK about everything social. Here's my @prezi #ARMAyork
This week, I've launched the 'International Drones for Research Network', an initiative that emerges from my thoughts around Project Daedalus, but also from the many conversations I have had with colleagues over the year about the utilization of drones for a whole range of research projects. Personally, I am curious to learn about new projects and want to share experiences and knowledge about how drones are developing and how they might be used. The network starts of as an email group, we will see where it goes from there.
Today saw the launch of the International Olympic Committee MOOC on Sport and the Media, which I led. We have some of the world's leading media pros in the course, including the IOC's Heads or Communications, Media Operations, and Social Media. We also have ABC Broadcaster Tracey Holmes, photographer extraordinaire Nick Didlick, awesome video journalist Yuval Lion, and athlete Jonathan Edwards MBE. The course is free to access and is designed to guide athletes towards a career in the media, after they conclude their life in competition. Subjects covered include broadcasting, writing, photography, video journalism, corporate communications, social media, and future media developments. Something for everyone!
