Creative Informatics, the research and development programme that is a partnership across four organisations established to bring together Edinburgh’s world-class creative industries and tech sector, has partnered with Edinburgh Science Festival (ESF) to celebrate the end of its funded programme and showcase the wide-ranging community that has been built.
Since 2018, Creative Informatics has supported individuals and organisations working in the creative industries in Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland to do inspiring things with data and digital technologies. Events and activities inspired by the project come together in a festival programme packed with creative experiences, demonstrations and debates.
A new interactive exhibition ‘Unleashing the Power of Data’ runs throughout the two weeks of the festival at the National Museum of Scotland and showcases some of the artworks, objects and innovations developed by Creative Informatics community where VR and AI tools combine with light, sound and music across a series of immersive installations.
Exhibits include a VR obstacle course through digital landscapes traversing forests, valleys and cliffs from game designers Bear Hammer; a collaborative music making app that transforms phones into magic wands, allowing audiences to make music together in real time, created by Ray Interactive; an interactive light-box from artist Dominka Jackowska combining art, sound, and animation allowing users to manipulate sounds through drawing and movement; an AI-driven, Lego-powered DJ centre which allows visitors to create their own music using building-blocks, designed by Playable Technology; data-inspired art and sculpture from artists Rebecca Kaye, Mella Shaw, Caitlin Macdonald and Inge Panneels and a digital exploration into Edinburgh’s fabled ‘lost’ Empire Palace Theatre.
Part of the festival’s ‘Nights Out’ programme features interactive experiences and short talks from industry creatives and researchers showcasing Scotland’s global reputation in the video game, film and TV industries with Let’s Play, a data-driven evening for adult audiences at Summerhall.
Over the last five years the programme has engaged with almost 3000 businesses and individuals, with 683 benefitting from training and new skills programmes, and 136 SMEs supported to explore data-driven business opportunities. This work has sustained 429 jobs and created 210 new products, services, and experiences, in turn generating over £7.5 million in further funding and investment. As the funded programme draws to a close, Creative Informatics now looks to the future and legacy support for the community created in the past five years.
Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage at the University of Edinburgh Melissa Terras said “We’re really excited to be celebrating the achievements of the Creative Informatics programme at this year’s Edinburgh Science Festival. Our events have been specially curated to highlight some of the extraordinary work developed through our programme – from innovations in gaming and audio production to artistic creations that push the boundaries of how we think, feel and interact with the world around us. These events and exhibits showcase the incredible Creative Informatics community that has been built over the last five years, whose practice, products and networks will form a lasting and supportive legacy for creative professionals across Edinburgh and South East Scotland.”
ESF runs from 30th March-14th April 2024
Venues: National Museum of Scotland and Summerhall.
Full details at creativeinformactics.org or edinburghscience.co.uk.
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 