Fieldwork in Brazil

This month, I am out in Brazil for a few things, one of which is to work with Professor Robert Young to track and document the Giant Anteater. I'm currently working on a film about this, but it's my first time out in the field with a colleague from Salford, figuring out what they do and getting an insight into their research. All of this is enriching my skills as a film maker, but also as a theorist interested in biotechnological and environmental change. I'm hoping part of what I learn at Salford will inform my theories on posthuman evolution, drawing particularly on an understanding of biological precedents for  species adaptation and change. It is one of the main reasons I took the role at Salford. I tell people that I spent the first decade of my career with humans and I want the next decade to be with non-humans. It's not quite as clear cut as this, but certainly a lot of what I have been arguing about posthumanism over the last ten years has led me much closer towards non-human species to understand how we might think about our own biological possibilities, but also the implications on disrupting. species categories through technology.

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Rio 2016 #Falta1Ano

This week, Rio marked the 1 year to go anniversary before the opening of the Olympic Games. I always try to get to an Olympic city ahead of the event and spent my time here attending the official press conference of the organizers in the morning, and the civic protest in the afternoon. Here's what the latter looked like. It was a small group and very peaceful. It was also not focused only on the Olympics, but instead a range of groups were present, all of whom have complaints that may be tied to the wider changes around the city.

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What I find fascinating about drones

A quick interview with Mind the Film productions for Project Daedalus

The Josh Award for Science Communication

This week, i was in my home city of Norwich for 'BIG' the STEM communicators Network, at which I received their Josh Award for science communication. The Josh Award is so named after Josh Philips, the first science communicator at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. You can read a bit more about Josh here. I had a chance to talk to his dad while in Norwich, which was really lovely. It was fantastic to be among such wonderful communicators and it was really humbling to see the range of talented people who are making a career out of professional science communicators.

This award comes at a wonderful time for me, as I find myself doing a lot more production, commissioning, and staging of science communication activities. During the event, I attended a session for freelancers, to understand what they need and what they are going through. it was led by my friend Greg Foot who has to be one of the best examples out there for this kind of work.

I'm really over the moon to have received this award. My first forays into science communication were when I was a PhD student and decided I needed to start building websites to communicate my research. I remember hearing that the average academic article is read 6 times and felt there was a lot more we need to do to get our work out there. Since then, I have made public communication, engagement, and involvement, a core part of my own research discovery process. From working with film makers on productions, to developing concepts around theatrical shows, to giving talks at festivals and speaking/writing for the media, communication is core to what I have tried to do as an academic.

My new role at University of Salford, along with the wonderful relationships I am developing around Manchester with the likes of MOSI's Sally McDonald, Natalie Ireland, and Marieke Navin, along with long standing relationships with other creative people in the city, it feels like this year is really going to be a fantastic time for me to have this award and, I hope, make a contribution to the prospects of other science communicators.

The major thing for me will be the Salford Science Jam, a weekend of science activity taking place at our university building in  Media City. Keep the 24-25 October free to come to Manchester!!

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Salford Alumni event

This week, I was privileged to speak at the University of Salford's London meet up. It was a unique event for me and incredibly humbling to see and speak to so many remarkable people who have come through the university, including a Lord who was involved with writing the House of Lords report on drones - the subject of my talk! It was a great way to conclude an extraordinary first academic year at the university.

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Project Daedalus London Showcase

On 22nd July, Project Daedalus set up an exhibition space to launch our new toolkit for drone artists. Here's a bit of a glimpse into what took place.

UK Space Conference & the Internet of Things

This week, I took part in a Battle of Ideas debate at the UK Space Conference in Liverpool exploring the Internet of Things and its transformative potential. It was a pretty far reaching debate, but my main argument focused on the need to step back and imagine a world where the IoT is not imagined as something in the service of humanity, but something which may serve a wider notion of ecosystem well being. This doesn't mean ignoring the desires and needs of humans, but instead trying to come to terms with what might be afforded by this technology if we adopted a wider perspective. I went on to advocate the need to think about an 'Interstellarnet of Things', which takes us beyond the confines of our planet in imagining the potential of this technology, along with the importance of thinking about some of the consequences of artificial general intelligence and the possibility that objects becoming sentient. In this regard, the idea of an Internet of Things at all misses the point - they will not be things, but beings, entities which may have a certain moral status by virtue of its capacity for volition or self-actualization.

Finally, I talked about the importance of the open data initiative and the need to overhaul some of the conventions operating around digital platforms which restrict our freedom to roam by precluding us from exporting our data into some universal language.

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#SciFoo @Google

My first #SciFoo (Science Friends Of O'Reilly Media) event just came to a close and it was a marathon of crazy conversations with people doing remarkable things in science, art, and technology. Some of my highlights were a conversation with a paleontologist about using a probablistic approach to explaining why mammoths became extinct, chatting with the Pope's astronomer, and running two sessions in the programme, one on Drones, the other on Google Glass. Here's a glimpse from start to finish...

#Scifoo about to kick off here at @google in Mountain view! Excited! @makingscience@TechMoonshotspic.twitter.com/qKxLcHRQ3N

— Georgia Dienst (@georgiadienst) June 26, 2015

at the Google holodeck for #scifoopic.twitter.com/MgieukSU1s — Professor Andy Miah (@andymiah) June 27, 2015

googling #scifoo (@ Googleplex - @google in Mountain View, CA) https://t.co/drwfXkOuh5pic.twitter.com/HJIU981h4g

— Professor Andy Miah (@andymiah) June 27, 2015

Google's driverless car shown at #scifoopic.twitter.com/fpqzbxNgJ6 — Professor Andy Miah (@andymiah) June 27, 2015

check out this 360 filming @GoPro rig at Googleplex #scifoopic.twitter.com/YXzpm4aRfU

— Professor Andy Miah (@andymiah) June 28, 2015

Google glass session. main room at tent, in 5. #scifoopic.twitter.com/xIzzHk1kBY — Professor Andy Miah (@andymiah) June 28, 2015

#SheffDocFest with @WellcomeTrust

A couple of weeks ago, I attended #SheffDocFest invited by The Wellcome Trust through their curator of the Ideas and Science stream Erinma Ochu. It was a fantastic experience, which came at just the right time for me, as I embark onto more documentary film making with colleagues in Salford. One of the main appeals for being at Salford was to work with environmental and life scientists, whose reseaerch is with non-human species. By working with them, I hope to enrich my theories around posthumanism and biotechnological change. However, the element of the #SheffDocFest that was most helpful to me was around the overlap between journalism and the art of documentary. Some argue that journalism has lost its capacity for in-depth investigative work and that the art of documentary making is providing a space for more creative, groundbreaking journalism to emerge. The few pieces I saw in Sheffield really hit home these possibilities.

The first film I saw was The Nine Muses, which was a lovely way of being exposed to artistic film making, which could be underpinned by a scientific narrative.

Next, I hopped over to a panel debate called Final Frontiers 101, which had the amazing Robin Ince with Alice Bell and David Kirby from Manchester. It was part of the Wellcome programme and focused on a discussion about how science and film makers work together to develop stories that are factually accurate, but also entertaining.

Next up was a mock commissioning session, whereby a panel sat through a process of imagining how a work gets commissioned, covering the stages of production from idea to screening. It was a great insight into the commissioning process, the range of people involved, the financial negotiations around release territories, and the sheer fragility of the whole process!

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After this, I had a chance to pop into one of the commissioning panels, focused on factual entertainment. It was a lovely glimpse into a crucial overlap that academics need to figure out - how to make their science entertaining.

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Before 6pm, I also managed to pop in to Site Gallery, which had a VR exhibition, exploring how film can be created for such devices. It was a quite eery space, with people wearing headsets standing in silence, moving around slowly. The content within the devices was the best I have seen and the potential of platforms like Oculus Rift are really creating possibilities to realise film in a way that could only be imagined back when VR first took off in the 1980s.

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I was then able to briefly pop along to a Film Londond drinks reception, before heading over to see 'Spectres of the Shoah', which, stylistically, made me think about how much you can do with a simple interview style documentary, bringing in archival images and footage to re-create a story from years ago. It was simply beautiful and breathtaking and a wonderful experience to hear about. Below is a photo of the director with Nick Fraser, who has been helping to push the film to new audiences.

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The final event of my night was the amazing story of Greenpeace, in the film 'How to Change the World'. As someone who believes we should all have the capacity to enjoy this aspiration, it was a wonderful way of reconnecting with the possibilities of environmental activism and how central image making is in the process of making change happen. The founding members of Greenpeace, particularly one of its founders Bob Hunter, for me, wonderfully encapsulated what we need to do to make change happen. Bob had the skills of a journalist, the insights of a scientist, and the energy of an activist. Despite Greenpeace's complicated early life, this film is a great starting point for changing the world.

Overall, the SheffDocFest was an amazing day - oh yes, I did all this in just one day 12pm-10pm. So grateful to have been there at this time, where film making is becoming a bigger part of my life. Congratulations to the Wellcome Trust for putting themselves into a new space, bringing science to film and film to science. Another big thumbs up for this amazing organization.

ps. can I have some money to make an epic documentary in Brazil next year with the amazing Professor Robert Young

Drone Society

Video essay, from my talk at #YorkFoi York's Festival of Ideas.

Drones at #CheltSciFest

This week, I took part in a panel at the Cheltenham Science Festival focused on the use of drones in every day life. I talked a lot about Project Daedalus and some new innovations, particularly high authority autonomous systems - essentially completely intelligent drones - while Gerry Corbert from the Civil Aviation Authority gave a run down of the rules and regulations surrounding application. He was quick to point out that the guidelines that surround UAVs were never designed for the very small UAVs which can now be picked up in toy stores or even the Apple store, but there were some key issues that seem unresolved. One of them relates to this video:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZkZ4FONiiw

This example of a form of augmented reality glasses being used to give FPV perspective of the drone's camera is provocative because the CAA guidelines stipulate that flying with FPV goggles is actually not legal, since the pilot must always have visual line of sight (VLOS). However, these glasses offer transparency which permits VLOS, while locating the drone's camera feed within the glasses as well. So the question is, 'is this legal?'

This seems one of the future directions around the use of augmented reality devices with drones, making even more complicated the way in which the rules operate.

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Project Daedalus with Arts Orgs

Last week, we ran a second event with people from arts organizations, talking about Project Daedalus. As for London, we showed them a range of applications, discussed all kinds of issues surrounding drone use, even gave them an overview of Amazon's new delivery drone patent, awarded in just April 2015. Many of the things we played are located in this Project YouTube playlist, which covers some of the things that are informing what we are doing.

Project Daedalus Art Event

In the first of our Project Daedalus events with arts organizations, we all went over to the Pleasance in London to offer some demos, talks, and sandpit style discussion, thinking about how to use drones in creative contexts. Attendees had a chance to fly some micro drones and a Parrot Bebop using the iPad control interface, while also hearing about 360 degree film making, design for virtual reality interfaces, including Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear, and generally think about how to interate a range of digital technologies around drones, to create immersive, compelling, and different audience experiences.

Project Daedalus is a Digital R&D for the Arts project, funded by Nesta, Arts Council England, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It was born from a collaboraiton between myself, Abandon Normal Devices, and Marshmallow Laser Feast.

Social Media and the PhD @LSENews

The second of three social media talks in a week, this one at the London School of Economics, focused on the early career researcher and how they can use social media to get their ideas out there quicker and make social media part of their research discovery process. When I was a PhD student, all we had to think about in terms of software was which bibliographic package we use.

Now, there are endless applications and key places where academics need to be, so that their work is discovered. Some of the key ones are ResearchGate, Google Scholar, Academia.edu, LinkedIn, and Twitter, but there are many more tools available that can help make our work more efficient, more accessible, and more engaging.

One of my key messages is that ignoring social media is like ignoring email in the 1990s. The question is not whether we do it, but how we do it well.

Social Media for Research Impact

This week, I gave a talk at Kent Business School focused on the use of social media to generate research impact. It was a staggering sell out event with around 1/4 of the total academic staff of University of Kent in attendance.

One of the key things I covered in my talk was the range of socil media platforms that are out there, evidenced by my A to Z of social media for academia, which was first published in 2012. It has since been shared in countless places and the list keeps growing.

The platform I like most at the moment is Journal Map, makes me wish I was an environmental scientist. Maybe in a few years ;) Here are my slides from the talk...

Electric Art - new commission

Over the last few weeks, I have been working with the Manchester Science Festival and Electricity North West to launch a brief for a new artistic commission titled 'Electric Art'. We have just pushed out the copy and here it is. Please share and submit! The MSF is a fantastic context for new and provocative art work and a really great week to be in Manchester!  

CALL FOR ARTISTS: ‘Electric Art’

Manchester Science Festival 2015, in Partnership with Electricity North West, and the University of Salford, Manchester.

This new £5,000 commission seeks to help realise a visual art work, developed through the theme of ‘electricity’ for exhibition during the Manchester Science Festival (October 22 - November 1, 2015). The final work will create public debate around the role of electricity in our lives and may engage. We are keen to hear from artists working across genres from digital and mixed media to craft and performance. Thematic areas may include attention to the future of electricity, forms of sculptural lighting, smart grid design, laser and alternative fuel sources.

Your Proposal:

We want to hear your ideas at this stage but would anticipate that the final piece will be informed by dialogue with Manchester Science Festival (MSF), University of Salford, and Electricity North West.

·         Please write a 250-500 word proposal for your idea and include drawings and images where appropriate (PDF format). Include any information you can at this stage about what you need to make it happen (including time, resources and budget).

·         Include a PDF of images and information to evidence your previous work.

·         Articulate in which ways the work will stimulate public engagement with the science and technologies of electricity.

·         The art works will be installed or performed within the Manchester Science Festival programme (location to be confirmed).

·         Please let us know your anticipated technical and installation requirements.

·         Projects must have a designated lead who will be the key contact with the Festival team and who will be responsible for submitting a brief evaluation report about the event upon completion.

·         Please indicate your availability for the panel selection on 15th June.

Resources

Electricity North West - The Future

http://www.enwl.co.uk/about-us/the-future

The Science and Art of Electricity, 1914

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/electricity-the-science-and-art-of-1914/

Beyond/In Artists Who Engage in the Theme of Electricity and Alternating Currents

http://artvoice.com/issues/v9n43/art_scene/the_electric_company

Timetable:

Announcement of commission:  Monday 11th May 2015

Deadline for Proposals:  Monday 8th June 2015, 12.00pm

Selection Panel:  Monday 15th June 2015 12.00pm - 2.00pm

Winner notified:  Tuesday 16th June 2015

Development of project:  16th June – 3rd July 2015

Final details input into MSF online submission: Friday 3rd July 2015, 12.00pm

PR activity:  September/October 2015

MSF Launch:  Thursday 8th October 2015

Manchester Science Festival:  Thursday 22nd October – Sunday 1st November 2015

Please send your submissions to msf*at*mosi.org.uk (removing anti-spam measures).

Drone Testing for #ProjectDaedalus

Yesterday, Anna Frew and I spent the afternoon testing out minidrones for some workshops we have on soon with the BBC, a disability group, a school, and some arts organization employees. Each of the workshops aims to provide a flight experience and an insight into some of the things that drones can be used for within an creative setting. Here's what we got upto...

and here's the full edit of our 2hour session.

Media, Ethics, & Dementia

This week, I took part in a dinner debate about media, ethics, and dementia. The conversation was run by the Dementia Festival of ideas, a year-long programme of events designed to interrogate key issues in dementia studies and research, along with an exploration of how to create novel forms of public engagement and public responsibility around the subjects. The debate took place with a range of experts fom different areas of interest, from journalism to medical ethics and was a really far reaching discussion. What struck me is how much has yet to be done, to ensure that care is adequate, and that social stigma around dementia is challenged.

Some possible interventions will follow from this event, including finding a way to empower families of suffers to take more decisive action to influence best practice and care within hospitals, along with developing a university alliance that can take strategic action in influencing policy, agenda setting, and generating research funds.

The Sporting Future Today

Wearable Technology, Augmented Reality, & Drone Cameras

Today's talk at #SportAccord went really well. It was the first time I'd used flight within a lecture and fortunately nobody got hurt. In actual fact, it was all very safe and I think it made much more real the way in which drone technology is becoming a part of the fabric of our lives.

Here are the slides from the talk

and finally, the lecture itself

City to City Forum #SAC2015

Yesterday, I took part in a panel debate about what cities will look like in the future, what they need to do to deliver effective and compelling sports events, and how new forms of technological culture are changing audience expectations of urban life. My contribution focused on the Internet of Things, the role of Big Data, and the opportunities to nurture cultural change through technology.

Having been to 9 Olympic Games, I have seen a lot of change around how cities operate and yet there is still so much that can be done to use mega events as a catalyst for developing more digitally engaged legacies. I have yet to see a city that does this effectively and I think it has partly to do with the limited capacity of a city's people to own their digital legacy.

Consequently, my advocacy on this topic focuses on the need to create opportunities for data to empower people, rather than subject them to commercial exploitation. Sports have a key role to play given the growing economic impact around mobile health experiences.

Photo by Ksusha Kompan Photography