Category Archives: News

News

£18m hub set to revolutionise digital games and media research for good of society

Goldsmiths, University of London and partners have been awarded £18m to develop research in virtual reality, digital art, data visualisation and graphics, for the benefit of science, society, education and culture.
This new Digital Creativity (DC) Hub will harness the power of digital creativity to provide new technologies for games and interactive media, exploiting the space where they meet. The project will lead the way in developing innovative digital products which enhance our daily lives, from personalised digital health services to the use of interactive media in education, says Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson.
Chancellor George Osborne announced in the Budget that the University of York-led DC Hub is one of six new research centres that will drive forward the UK’s Digital Economy research, knowledge and skills.
The DC Hub will employ 15 of the best impact-driven digital creativity researchers in the world to transfer knowledge and expertise gained from £90m of investment in digital creativity research at Goldsmiths, York, Falmouth and Cass Business School over the last decade.
Professor of Computing William Latham leads the project for Goldsmiths. He says: “Our research and software development team will focus on the core themes of Digital Art and Graphics, Virtual Reality, Data Visualisation, and Procedural Content Generation.
“We are working in close collaboration with the teams across the DC Hub and aim to deliver cutting-edge research and software shaped by our engagement with our industry partners. The DC Hub led by The University of York builds on our close collaboration developed over several years.”
The DC Hub will ensure that:
• Research ideas find a fast route into the marketplace through partnerships with industry.
• Scientists, social scientists, government and the third sector work together to use the enormous potential of games and interactive media to achieve social good.
• Museums, galleries and publishers of games and media maximise the positive impact of the digital world on creative culture.

The DC Hub is co-directed by Professor Peter Cowling and Professor Marian Ursu, University of York.
Example projects include:

• embedding advanced artificial intelligence in commercial digital games through working with industry partners
• working with broadcast companies, producers and performance companies to develop new ways of interacting with TV programmes and theatre performances,
• developing ways to improve engagement with digital archives and digital assets for heritage sites and archaeologists
• engaging with local authorities to help them to reach citizens to understand policy changes through the use of games and media.

The DC Hub partners range from large organisations such as the BBC and Aecom, SMEs, including games companies such as Revolution Software and AI Factory, charities such as Dyslexia Action and New Visuality, and networks and funding organisations such as Game Republic and Creative England.

Careers, News, Staff profiles and activity

FREE ONLINE COURSE: Creative Programming for Digital Media & Mobile Apps

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Staff at Goldsmiths Computing have created a free online course that gives a verified certificate in Creative Programming.

Running for the six weeks 3 August – 13 September 2015, the course is for anyone who wants to apply their technical skills to creative work ranging from video games to art installations to interactive music, and also for artists who would like to use programming in their artistic practice.

About the course

Over 5-10 hours/week for six weeks, this Coursera course will teach you how to develop and apply programming skills to creative work. This is an important skill within the development of creative mobile applications, digital music and video games. It will teach technical skills needed to write software that make use of images, audio and graphics, and will concentrate on the application of these skills to creative projects. Additional resources will be provided for students with no programming background.

Course syllabus

  • Week 1: Introduction: sonic painter
  • Week 2: Interactive D/VJ app
  • Week 3: Music player and sensor controlled visualiser
  • Week 4: Game with physical modelling and synthesis
  • Week 5: APIs accessing and processing social media data
  • Week 6: Music machine

Course format
The course will consist of 2 elements: the development of technical skills for software design using a range of media, and the development of creative work that applies these skills. Each week will consist of:

  • a lecture on a technical topic (e.g. writing image or audio processing software)
  • a lecture on creative skills related to the technical topic (e.g. how to create better images through photography / editing or how to create more effective audio) as well as suggestions on project development.
  • a set of exercises to practice the technical and creative skills covered in the lecture
  • week-by-week guidance for working on your creative projects
  • an additional lecture for students with no programming background.

Most students are expected to have some background in programming and/or computer science, and some experience of (possibly extra curricular) creative work. However, the course is also suitable for students new to computer programming but with a strong arts background, and a desire to develop skills in creative applications development.

Your instructors will be Goldsmiths’ Dr Marco Gillies, Dr Matthew Yee-King and Dr Mick Grierson.

Inspiration, News, Students, Women in Computing

Computational Arts student wins funded residency at Cafe Oto

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Goldsmiths postgraduate student Mari Ohno has recently been chosen for a  funded residency at Cafe Oto organised by Sound and Music.

The Embedded programme places composers into extended relationships with leading national arts organisations. Aimed at talented composers and creative artists at an early stage in their career, Embedded is a bespoke programme, providing practical hands-on experience and a range of significant creative opportunities.

Mari, a sound artist, composer and sound designer, will spend 18 months in residence at Café Oto, developing creative ideas and practice, as well as producing live events and collaborations.

Bio Effector  A membrane suspended in a gallery is vibrated like a drum by the sound of visitors’ bloodstreams, which are detected and modulated in real time.

A graduate from the MA in Creativity in Music and Sound at Tokyo University of the Arts, Marie creates sound installations and electroacoustic compositions that explore various dimensions of human perception.

Her works have been presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo Wonder Site, FILE (Brazil) and New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival. She has been selected for prestigious competitions including Japan Media Arts Festival, Tokyo Sonic Art Award, the International Composition Competition and Workshop Adelaide (Australia). In addition, her works have also been selected for participation in international conferences and art festivals including NIME, ISSTC (Ireland), Invisible Places (Portugal), WOCMAT (Taiwan).

Events, MSc Computer games and Entertainment, News, Students, Women in Computing

Goldsmiths students win Ukie Game Jam again!

Student Game Jam Winners - Copy_0

‘Code Name Spy’ has been named as the winner of the biggest ever Ukie Student game jam, making it the second consecutive win from students at the University of Goldsmiths.

The jam, which ran 11-12 May 2015, saw 14 teams from Ukie’s student membership competing against each other to create the best game possible in 36 hours, with the theme’ identity crisis’.

The teams were paired with industry mentors and supplied with food and drink, with the winning game being given an exclusive pitch on Square Enix’s project Collective and receiving a specially made trophy for their university.

Goldsmiths student team leader Aldo Curtis said:

We had a great time and we are ecstatic to have been chosen as the winners with our game, Code Name Spy.

“We wanted to make something different which fitted the jam theme and this is why we came up with a conversation game where you play through a seven year old’s idea of a spy movie. We spent a lot of time laughing about the art, sounds and the ridiculous script, but we learned so much from the jam.

“We had a great venue at Goldsmiths, and being partnered with an industry mentor, like our own mentor Ed Fear, meant we could get valuable critique, tips, advice and comments on the game which really helped us create the best game possible in the given time.

The full Goldsmiths team were Aldo Curtis, Sam Hayhurst, Sokol Murturi and Andrea Castegnaro, all students on the MSc in Computer Games & Entertainment.

Dr Jo Twist, CEO of Ukie said, “The standard of games that the Ukie students managed to make in such a short period of time was amazing. The jam offers invaluable experience to games industry stars of tomorrow and gives them a chance to get quality one-to-one time with key industry people. All the entrants have really done themselves proud.”

Mentor of the Universe and CEO of Utopian World of Sandwiches, James Woodrow said:

“I am completely lost for words. It is such a privilege to have been awarded Mentor of the Universe! It’s very moving to have been put forward by the team. They put in a lot of hard work and it was an absolute pleasure to have worked with such a terrific bunch over the course of the jam.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what they do in the future as they really came together to produce something quite beautiful for their first ever game jam and I am sure they all have bright futures ahead of them in the industry. I hope that everyone involved enjoyed the experience as much as I did.”

‘Code Name Spy’ and all other game entries from the game jam will be available on Ukie’s website in the coming weeks.

Study games computing at Goldsmiths:

Events, News, Students

GENERATION: Goldsmiths Computing undergraduate degree show 2015

FINAL_generation-yellow

Come to the 2015 undergraduate show for Goldsmiths’ Department of Computing, where students will demonstrate the most creative, innovative and accomplished projects that were produced during the academic year 2014-15.

Expect to see generative visuals + music, games, robots, projections, data visualisations, electronic instruments, product concepts and interactive installations.

And meet the creators of the work, who can tell you about the concepts and technologies, as well as their experience of studying computing at Goldsmiths.

Their work breaks down the boundaries between technical and creative disciplines, using computer programming to make work that is artistic, innovative and entrepreneurial. All are welcome. No booking needed.

  • Where: The Stretch, 2nd floor Goldsmiths Student Union,  Dixon Road, New Cross, London SE14 6NW
  • When: 3pm – 8pm Thursday 4 June 2015
  • Visit the GENERATION website
Inspiration, News, Publications, Students

Music Computing graduate wins top prize at Human-Computer Interaction conference

Music Computing graduate Pedro Kirk has won first prize in the student research competition at CHI 2015 conference in Seoul, Korea.

His paper Can Specialised Electronic Musical Instruments Aid Stroke Rehabilitation? won the top prize for any student in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. He successfully beat students from every other institution who applied, including MIT, Georgia Tech, University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon University.

Now studying on the MSc in Music Mind & Brain at Goldsmiths, he presented work that he produced as part of his year 3 undergraduate Music Computing project, which he showed at the 2014 Undergraduate Degree Show.

Abstract
Stroke patients often have limited access to rehabilitation after discharge from hospital leaving them to self-regulate their recovery. Previous research has indicated that several musical approaches can be used effectively in stroke rehabilitation.

Stroke patients (n = 43), between 6 months and 19 years post-stroke, took part in specially created workshops playing music, both in groups and individually, using a number of digital musical interfaces. Feedback forms were completed by all participants, which helped to develop the prototypes and gain insights into the potential benefits of music making for rehabilitation.

93% of participants stated they thought that the music workshops were potentially beneficial for their rehabilitation. The research project contributes to the field of HCI by exploring the role of computer based systems in stroke rehabilitation.

* Copyright is held by the owner/author(s). CHI’15 Extended Abstracts. Apr 18-23, 2015, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
ACM  978 -1-4503-3146-3/15/04.

Careers, News

BAFTA’s Scholarships open for MSc Computer Games & Entertainment

BAFTA

BAFTA is now accepting applications for its scheme to financially support a selection of UK students in their study of film, television or games. This year, the scholarship scheme is available to students on Goldsmiths’ MSc in Computer Games & Entertainment.

Each scholarship provides up to £10,000 to cover one year’s course fees, an industry mentor, and free access to BAFTA events around the UK for a year.

Applicants are also considered for one of three Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television & Games, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros., which additionally provides a short funded work placement within the Warner Bros. group of companies and access to additional Warner Bros. mentors.

In return, scholarship recipients are required to contribute to the BAFTA Guru online learning channel and take part in BAFTA’s outreach activity to young people.

How to apply

Complete and submit the online application form, along with any supplementary pages, by 5pm on Friday 12 June 2015. Shortlisted applicants will be informed the w/c 6 July , and must be available for interview on Wednesday 15, Thursday 16 or Friday 17 July.

  • The scholarships are available to UK nationals. If you are a non-EU citizen and have officially confirmed UK residency status you can apply for a scholarship, but you will be required to supply confirmation from the Home Office of your residency status. Citizens of other EU countries are not eligible to apply.
  • Students who receive a scholarship for the first year of a two-year course will be considered for a scholarship for their second year.
  • Students who have previously received a scholarship for the first year of a two-year course will be considered for a scholarship for their second year.

More information about the BAFTA scholarship