Yes those six months since my last blog post!
Hope I am not alone in thinking time has both speeded up and become a smaller commodity this year as we emerged in April/May to the new world? Using one’s brain creative muscles once more and actually having work was a shock to the system for sure!
Bubbling away in the background during the long dark winter into spring lockdowns was my Arts Council England funded research and development project ‘HOYO’ , I realised today that I hadn’t actually written about how amazing, incredible and exceeding all my expectations it was. So here I am to update the world on what my truly wonderful team had managed to create and deliver against the backdrop of working remotely for the majority of the project and share more of where this is taking one aspect of my creative journey.
The project really got going in January this year, with lots of zooms and group sessions on the ever expanding Miro Board to research and share ideas across the creative team, sessions with writer Crystal Stewart with myself with some amazing academics whose research and field of interest all things touch. Learning about new neurones and the fact that we have more of these linked to touch than was previously thought. I do love research, so much to be discovered and utalised moving HOYO forwards.
Finally landing on the use of air to create the haptic hug, experiments with valves and compressors commenced in creatve technologist Harrison Cooke’s detached garage up in the hills. Prototype puppets been created in studio somewhere in the countryside by designer Sascha Gilmour and off researching the emotional connection of sound on humans, sound designer Jovana Backovic.
Call out flyer for public engagement
The start was not without its issues, the world of VR and its backroom of game engine technologies can be compared in a lot of ways to that moment in Alice in Wonderland where she is faced with a multitude of potions and food Eat Me-Drink Me. And a lot of potential rabbit holes, leading to the not quite right solution can be a distraction. Thanks to the voice of experience and key North West visionary for these new emerging realms Simon Benson, who along with Barney Steel of Marshmallow Laser Feast had agreed to mentor me through this project. The choices became simpler but ultimately truly focusing the key part of ‘HOYO’ the haptic hug, if that didn’t deliver then well neither would the project as a whole.
The biggest breakthrough for me developing ‘HOYO’ was the airbag designs inside the soft feeling jacket, this had all been attempted before with much more money! a paper from Disney out there in the public domain using some very impressive (expensive) kit to create a simulated snowball hit or a snake slithering around your body. Not what I was looking for, these had to emulate the parts of a hand,the places we would feel the contact if we were receiving a hug. This bit of the design I am unable to share, but with the tenacious work of both Sascha and now expanding team LIPA student designer Eleanor Ferguson and a craft heat knife the bags began to take shape.
With delay upon lockdown delay, we were eventually coming together for one precious week in the kindly donated space from ‘HOYO’ supporters Bruntwood Sci Tech. The first two days saw the narrative and stories form and rehearsed, day three 360 film expert Richard Tyson joined us and the five scenarios filmed. The team had grown a little more to now include yes more LIPA grads programmer Rhys Carl and sound binaural expert Findlay Clay from company Despite the Monkey and joined with his box of tricks and many metres of cabling Harrison. We had two days to test and programme the airbags to fit and match the VR experience, bringing our world of theatre into the virtual world. All under the strictest Covid working guidelines as we were still in lockdown but allowed to work.
So we had the rough films and it seemed to work, first into experience the hug was Sascha, in the link you can see what she is watching on the right and her real-time reactions and first thoughts on entering ‘HOYO’
Watching the team one by one experience the thing that had been my drive and passion for a huge part of 2020 was just astounding, we had done something beautiful, now it was time to share. Another delay in finding a time when everyone was free we headed back to Manchester Science Park. This time to check all was working and now with the completed 360 films with Jovana’s magical soundscape enhance with Findlays bianaural placement and headsets for the audience to use during the live element of the sharing by our puppets we set up. This was May 26th and for many of the allowed small audience their first outing back into the world, seeing some familiar faces who had supported my idea throughout was great with a specially proud lecturer from LIPA Sofia relishing seeing so many of the LIPA family involved on a project, j fellow Ideate alumni and key Manchester VR experts their chance had now come to experience ‘HOYO’.
So there we are, final reports in and ‘HOYO’ R&D was complete. This is however not the end ! following on from this I was successful in gaining ACE funds for DYCP which I am currently progressing with, learning more around the game engine and all things VR, and now looking to fund a further stage for ‘HOYO’ into a new avenue as a aid/treatment for those struggling to be touched. Early days but the journey for sure has not finished for me in these exciting creative new worlds.
Massive Thanks To
Harrison Cooke , Crystal Stewart, Sascha Gilmour, Eleanor Ferguson,Rhys Carl,Findly Claydon,
Richard Thompson, Jovana Backovic The HOYO creative team
Simon Benson, Barney Steel,John McGrath, MIF and Bruntwood Sci Tech
All Made Possible by
Arts Council England Thank You !
my little thank you marking the end of ‘HOYO’ Stage one
