Brunel University London is part of StoryFutures, a new forward-thinking research partnership aimed at shaping the future of immersive storytelling.
Backed by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) Creative Industries Clusters Programme, the £13m StoryFutures project will focus on driving the uptake of emergent technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality and AI by creating the compelling new types of content, and determining best practice.
The research cluster – which includes the likes of Sony Interactive, the BBC, Sky VR, Pinewood Studios and the National Film and Television School – will be based at Royal Holloway in Surrey and will help bolster the local economy by engaging and promoting creative SMEs across Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire and London.
Researchers from Brunel will specifically be involved in two of the cluster’s four research themes and will investigate areas such as data in the collaborative creative production workflow and emergent business models. Brunel is represented by Professor David Harrison, Dr Vanja Garaj and Mr Ian Ferris from Brunel Design and Professor Catherine Wang from Brunel Business School.
The programme is one of nine Creative R&D Partnerships being launched across the UK in support of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, with each focussing on a specific creative sector branch.
Dr Garaj, Head of Brunel Design, said: “The partnership in StoryFutures places Brunel at the forefront of R&D in Immersive Tech and opens up a number of exciting collaboration opportunities with the creative industries sector that will contribute to further the development of our design research portfolio.”
Professor Andrew Thompson, Executive Chair of the AHRC, said: “Combining world-class arts and humanities researchers with our globally renowned creative industries will underpin growth in this vibrant and rapidly expanding sector within the UK economy.
“These pioneering partnerships between industry and universities are providing a huge vote of confidence for a sector that is vital to the future prosperity of the UK.”
Reported by:
Tim Pilgrim,
Media Relations
+44 (0)1895 268965
tim.pilgrim@brunel.ac.uk