QUB will lead one of the VRACE projects, entitled “Physics-Based Source Modelling with Time-Variant Parameters”, the research for which is conducted by the Systems & Sensors group within the School of Electronics Electrical Engineering. The ESR will be based at the Sonic Arts Research Centre and work towards the expected results of the project together with Dr Maarten van Walstijn and researchers of the University of Performing Arts Vienna. In addition to the individual scientific projects, the network pursues a dedicated training program for the ESRs in the various fields of expertise of the consortium partners, which includes active participation in workshops, conferences and outreach activities.

Website: http://vrace-etn.eu

ESR Job Application Page: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/400308

Academic Consortium Partners:

• University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna AT (Project Coordinators)
• Technische Universität Wien (TUW), Vienna, AT
• Hochschule füe Musik Detmold (HfM), Detmold, DE
• Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TUe), Eindhoven, NL
• Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris, FR
• Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB), Belfast, UK
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), Leuven, BE
• Aalto University (AALTO), Helsinki, FI
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover (LUH), Hannover, DE

Industrial Consortium Partners:

• Mueller-BBM GmbH (BBM), Munich, DE
• Siemens Industry Soft-ware NV (SISW), Leuven, BE
• Sennheiser Electronic GmbH & Co. KG (SENN), Hannover, DE
• Facebook Reality Labs / Oculus VR, LLC (OCULUS), Seattle, US
• Centre d’etudes et d’expertise sur les risques l’environnement (CEREMA), Paris, FR
• SYOS, Paris, FR
• ARTIM, Gänserndorf, AT
• IESTA, Vienna, AT

Map a Voice was awarded with the Cultural Institute's Collaborative Innovation Grant for Early Career Researchers at King's College London. The project was supported by the Department of Music at King's College London and the Department of Media and Computing & Rapid-Mix at Goldsmiths, University of London. Map a Voice is currently developed at SARC at Queen's University Belfast in collaboration with Dr Kurt Werner (programming support), Dr John D'Arcy (workshop design support) and Dr David Bird (technical support).

For detailed information on the project, and on previous and upcoming workshop activities, please visit:

https://www.mapavoice.co.uk

The next workshop will take place as part of the Development Weeks at QUB on 24 May 2019 Friday. To participate in the workshop, please follow the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/map-a-voice-tickets-58644557450

The Crunch Test is a pilot research project at Queen’s University Belfast aiming to gather data on the relationship between sound and food based on first bite experience. 

Participate in the online survey (estimated duration: 15 minutes)
https://acsurvey.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bgfLndQH3AkflAN

Staff involved:

Professor Pedro Rebelo (Sonic Arts Research Centre) 

Professor Moira Dean (Institute for Global Food Security)

Dr Michelle Spence (Institute for Global Food Security) 

The audio in each of the three spaces will have different design treatments to reflect their architecture and use. The development of sonic materials will be based on a participative process with current patients and staff.  This will allow us to make use of sound in a reflective manner, triggering sonic memories or transporting listeners to another place.  For example the seaside, or birdcalls at dawn.

Multiple loudspeakers will be located in each of the gardens, carefully located to immerse each of the spaces in an ambient cloud of sound.  This might include loudspeakers hidden in planting or positioned at at height.  

Undergraduate and PhD students at SARC will be contributing to the creation of the sound environments.  They will also be undertaking research into the appropriate use of different soundscapes in this type of setting by performing several workshops with patients and staff. 

This project has developed from another SARC installation, The Soundscape Park Project. A permanent sound installation in Bridge Community Garden, East Belfast (www.soundscapepark.org).  It is anticipated that SARC will continue to feed into these sonic garden installations and continue to develop new and immersive sounds to make pleasurable outdoor environments.

For more information about either project please contact either Prof Pedro Rebelo p.rebelo@qub.ac.uk or Craig Jackson c.jackson@qub.ac.uk

The audio in each of the three spaces will have different design treatments to reflect their architecture and use. The development of sonic materials will be based on a participative process with current patients and staff.  This will allow us to make use of sound in a reflective manner, triggering sonic memories or transporting listeners to another place.  For example the seaside, or birdcalls at dawn.

Multiple loudspeakers will be located in each of the gardens, carefully located to immerse each of the spaces in an ambient cloud of sound.  This might include loudspeakers hidden in planting or positioned at at height.  

Undergraduate and PhD students at SARC will be contributing to the creation of the sound environments.  They will also be undertaking research into the appropriate use of different soundscapes in this type of setting by performing several workshops with patients and staff. 

This project has developed from another SARC installation, The Soundscape Park Project. A permanent sound installation in Bridge Community Garden, East Belfast (www.soundscapepark.org).  It is anticipated that SARC will continue to feed into these sonic garden installations and continue to develop new and immersive sounds to make pleasurable outdoor environments.

For more information about either project please contact either Prof Pedro Rebelo p.rebelo@qub.ac.uk or Craig Jackson c.jackson@qub.ac.uk

SARC put together an exciting programme in 2016 to continue their collaboration with DMNI under the theme “Performance without Barriers”. The programme involved a 6-month long collaborative design project, which started with a design event at SARC (7th - 9th June 2016). Five interaction designers worked with pupils from local special educational needs schools and brain injury rehabilitation charity to collaboratively design customised accessible musical interfaces. Two subsequent phases of this project involved going to the participants to show them progress of the designs and gather feedback. The project ended on November 27th with a showcase performance at The Sonic Lab, SARC. Alongside the design project, an international networking meeting for partners working in the area of inclusive music making, digital design, disability and well-being also took place on 10th June 2016.

This collaboration has impacted positively on the quality of life of disabled musicians across Northern Ireland. Participants’ composition and performance skills are enhanced by using accessible musical interfaces through a collaborative design process that matches physical and cognitive abilities to an appropriate gestural interface. Designers and musicians alike are given the opportunity to express their creativity on equal terms as collaborating improviser musicians.

Performance without Barriers 2016 design project culminated in a public performance at Ireland’s longest running contemporary music festival, the Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music.

Further information

Two major recent investments have positioned SARC_Immerse at the centre of immersive technology research in Northern Ireland:

1) A Central Research Infrastructure Fund of £100k by Queen’s University Belfast, and 

2) the £13 million investment by the AHRC, with co-funding from the industry sector, to secure the future of the creative industries in NI. This ‘Future Screens NI’ bid is the largest single investment in the creative industries in NI: https://goo.gl/vUiPV8.

People working as part of SARC_Immerse are:

Prof Michael Alcorn
Dr Trevor Agus 
Dr Zeynep Bulut
Mr Christopher Corrigan 
Dr John D'Arcy 
Dr Declan Keeney
Mr Michael McKnight 
Dr Matilde Meireles 
Dr Miguel Ortiz
Prof Pedro Rebelo 
Dr Koichi Samuels 
Dr Franziska Schroeder
Prof Paul Stapleton
Dr Maarten Van Walstijn
Dr Simon Waters
Dr Kurt Werner

Technical:
Craig Jackson 
David Bird