This month we welcome members of the Mixed Reality Lab at the University of Nottingham (@theofficialmrl) to share with us the amazing pioneering work that's going on right here in Nottingham. Plus we've got free food and drinks provided at the event thanks to our sponsors.

No tickets required, just turn up - it's free!

I'd Hide You: Playing with Live Video in Public

by Stuart Reeves

I'd Hide You is a mixed reality game by artists group Blast Theory. Runners play hide and seek on city streets, wielding video cameras and streaming themselves live to online players who can chat with them. Stuart Reeves (@5tuartreeves) will talk about the implications of I'd Hide You for live video streaming and how it reveals to us what is practically involved in creating high quality, interesting video broadcasts.

About Stuart

Stuart Reeves is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mixed Reality Lab at the University of Nottingham. He researches social and collaborative technologies, investigating how people use diverse kinds of interactive devices and systems in real world situations and places.

Pathway to the Proms

by Amy Dickens

From performing with an iPad to using gesture as a method of creating sound, using accessible technologies in creative activities presents interesting challenges. In this talk Amy Dickens (@RedRoxProjects) talks about her work with the Able Orchestra at the BBC Proms this summer; why it was important and potential futures for gesture sensing in creative technologies.

About Amy

Amy Dickens is a 2nd year PhD student in the Mixed Reality Laboratory at The University of Nottingham. Her background is in Audio and Recording Technologies and her PhD focus is on Gesture Controlled Sound for Users with Complex Disability.
Amy hopes her research will help to raise awareness of accessibility issues in creative activities and support discussions on how technology could be better used as an assistive tool.

Damp, mould, and the IoT - supporting charity work in vulnerable households

by Joel Fischer

Many people struggle to pay their energy bills, or suffer health issues exacerbated by damp and mould in properties. The Mixed Reality Lab has partnered with a charity that provides energy advice to the worst affected.

Joel Fischer (@joelefischer) will talk about how they co-developed the IoT Energy Kit with energy advisors to help detect issues around mould, cold, damp, and heating.

In reflection, some thoughts will be offered about how we might design IoT technologies to benefit those who are usually left behind by technological advances. More details on the project here.

About Joel

Joel Fischer is an assistant professor (lecturer) at the University of Nottingham and member of the Mixed Reality Lab. His research in HCI focuses on human-centred design to support human activities and reasoning in collaborative real-world domains such as Energy and Disaster Response. His research is multidisciplinary, drawing on ethnography, participatory design, prototyping, and studies of technology deployments.

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