What we do

Our interdisciplinary research centre addresses the increasingly complex ways through which society engages with its digital media cultures.

The research centre brings together artists, computer scientists, social scientists and designers, drawing on the expertise of researchers who study technology from policy and social science perspectives, and others who make digital art and design technologies. 

Research fields include digital and data practices within healthcare environments, digital media art practices, digital communication hub developments, online community building, digital systems design and digitally-based cultural delivery and development.

We work with a community of dedicated academics, practitioners and PhD postgraduate research students, many of whom draw on their expanding networks of industry and cultural partners, across the City of Brighton and Hove, the United Kingdom and beyond.

Find out how to join us as a member, collaborator or student

Our research areas at the Centre for Digital Cultures and Innovation

Our interdisciplinary centre promotes digital inclusion as a driver for innovation informed by ethical, creative practice and positive social change. Theoretical, practical and artistic explorations address questions of digital inclusion with respect to six key issues:

  • Smart Infrastructure: Cities, transport, housing and energy
  • Public understanding of Artificial Intelligence
  • Networked collaborative practice and 5G
  • Digital health and wellbeing
  • Digital inequalities: inclusive innovation
  • Digital teaching and learning

Smart Infrastructure: Cities, transport, housing and energy

Digital is seen as key to creating new knowledge and driving innovation.

Researchers from the Centre for Digital Cultures and Innovation facilitate community building to enhance socio-cultural inclusion and to influence public policy, providing recommendations to enhance second language and cultural acquisition using mobile and ubiquitous computing.

We release software and data resources to be used by other researchers and developers whilst also facilitating community building to enhance socio-cultural inclusion and to influence public policy.

The Centre for Digital Cultures and Innovation contributes Natural Language Processing expertise to COST Action IC1307, the European Network on Integrating Vision and Language (iV&L Net), which brings together two previously unconnected research communities, Computer Vision (CV) and Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Digital artists Paul Sermon and Charlotte Gould installed the thematic work People's Screen in Guangzhou, China. Image shows large screen with multiple figures and a banner with the event title.

People's Screen was a telematic artwork by Professor Paul Sermon and Charlotte Gould. The installation brought communities together between Perth, Australia, and Guangzhou, China, allowing their telepresent selves to interact on the live public screens.

Research into public understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

Our centre researchers look into the development and implementation of machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions and their ethical consequences

We welcome collaborators and potential beneficiaries of our research into the ways artificial intelligence is mediated and understood and would like to hear approaches for PhD study in this area of research into digital cultures.

Image of a woman overlaid with a photograph of traffic

Networked collaborative practice and 5G research

Digital technology is present in all aspects of our lives, whether we actively engage with it or not. Our research into changes in technical applications, standards, methods, policies and infrastructures looks at how those elements impact on humanity, and in particular how the public can be empowered to crowd and community source projects and share related models, platforms and tools.

Harnessing open-source software and sharing best practice, enables further research on improving the efficiency and journey for user-generated content, as well as how human computer interaction can develop a smooth understanding through search engines visual searchability.

Research has included:

  • shaping new ways to encourage and sustain volunteer engagement in the area of complex game-based crowdsourcing and validation of contributed content. 
  • engaging people in local history through locative media and advances in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) including eye-tracking technology in order to provide insights for global implementations of search engines. 
  • work with the Digital Catapult Centre Brighton to support Innovation, SMEs and start ups. Leading the Immersive Lab, which provides businesses with support accessing and working with state-of-the-art VR/AR facilities, and the 5G testbed, which enables SMEs to generate use cases that benefit from 5G connectivity.

Brighton has unearthed the rules of engagement for audiences and the complexities surrounding the evolution of the specific formula that play on the on the narrative spatialisation, exploring how these configurations shaped the audience behaviour.

Researchers have also brought an understanding of the role of networked technologies within disadvantaged communities and new practices in museum-based technologies for exhibition and visitor feedback.

Our achievements in this aspect of our digital media cultures research include:

We include among our collaborators and partners:

We welcome collaborators and potential beneficiaries of our research into the use, value and reception of digital media in arts and exhibition practices and would like to hear approaches for PhD study in this area of research into digital cultures.

People at a Digital Catapult event

Led by Coast to Capital LEP, in collaboration with Wired Sussex and the University of Brighton, the Digital Catapult team offers innovation programmes and facilities promote the development and adoption of digital technologies.

Digital health and wellbeing research

The digital age has empowered people to engage in society, politics and government through effective participation by harnessing information technology. This research theme brings researchers together to examine issues of digital citizenship, smart cities, ethics and the use of digital in health and wellbeing.

A primary field of influence is our contribution to the development and evaluation of new digitally-enhanced care pathways, with notable work enhancing the opportunities for self-management amongst HIV patients. Former projects have included data gathering projects for eco-friendly transport.

Our achievements in this aspect of our digital media cultures research include:

We include among our research partners: 

  • Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • European AIDS Treatment Group
  • Klinica Za Infektivne Bolesti, Dr. Fran Mihaljevic

We welcome collaborators and potential beneficiaries of our research into the use of digital media for social, political and cultural change and would like to hear approaches for PhD study in this area of research into digital cultures.

Social media poster for film titled Human Planet Weaker Other, includes a swimming fish motif, subtitle an art data health film and logos from University of Brighton and UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council

The AHRC funded ART/ DATA/ HEALTH project tackles two key issues in healthy aging and wellbeing: health literacy and digital skills. It does so by creating an innovative and interdisciplinary process that offers the public and professionals new tools at the intersections of data science with art practice.

Research into digital inequalities and inclusive innovation

Our work in this area includes:

  • Data ethics, inclusive innovation and improving access to care in digital health and wellbeing.
  • Changes in technical applications, infrastructure, standards, methods, policies and infrastructures, including data science, data literacy and design guidelines.
  • Changes in the arts and creative practice and content, including serious gaming, user experiences and interaction, as well as new modes of audience engagement.

We welcome collaborators and potential beneficiaries of our research into the ways digital systems highlight inequalities or improve inclusivity and would like to hear approaches for PhD study in this area of research into digital cultures.

Research into digital teaching and learning

Our research at the centre considers digital inequalities, inclusion and accessibility in education, youth work and learning.

We welcome collaborators and potential beneficiaries of our research into the use, value and reception of digital media in arts and exhibition practices and would like to hear approaches for PhD study in this area of research into digital cultures.

Our research and enterprise impact

Our researchers work across digital industry-based client groups, healthcare and diverse arts audiences. Their work makes positive changes to the ways communities interact through and with their digital environments and brings an understanding of technology to numerous social and cultural areas of society.

Our research and enterprise output

Details of research publications and other outputs fostered by the centre and achieved by its members, along with funded projects delivered by the centre, can be accessed on the Centre for Digital Media Cultures' database of research.

 

Our most recently funded projects

Visit our institutional record of publications and projects