The first day of BEYOND 2020 certainly did not disappoint, with over 700 delegates from across 20 countries, day one on 30th November of this four day conference proved to inspire, educate and challenge in sessions that addressed how we can collectively build back better, a focus that many of us – both personally and professionally – have had to consider this year following the impact of Covid-19.

Based around the theme of Divergence, the first day of BEYOND looked at innovations in the way the world of Esports is responding to the pandemic, unveiled research on how audiences are communicated with, what happens when theatre and immersive collide, a deep-dive into The Tempest with Tender Claws & Royal Shakespeare Company, and how virtual production has and will continue to transform how we experience – and create content in – the arts, along with many more innovative and thought-provoking perspectives.

With over 175 speakers, including renowned names and new voices working across highly regarded and innovative new projects, it was impossible for day one to disappoint. MC’d by Joanna Abeyie MBE (Blue Moon), we heard from James Dean (ESL UK), Samantha Gorman (Tender Claws), Sarah Ellis (Royal Shakespeare Company), Matthew Shaw (ScanLAB Projects) as well as creative experts from ReKTGlobal, Hotdrop, i2 Media Research, Newzoo, Nesta, Nexus Studios and many more.

Delegates also had the chance to Meet the Researchers and Makers in sessions with the talent behind the R&D projects featured in the Immersive Futures Lab and ECR Poster Exhibition.

DAY ONE @ BEYOND: ON-DEMAND

In case you missed any of the amazing sessions, delegates can catch up on all the action via the on-demand videos, including:

WELCOME TO BEYOND WITH PROF ANDREW CHITTY

A warm welcome to BEYOND 2020 from Professor Andrew Chitty, Challenge Director for Audience of the Future and Creative Industries Clusters Programmes.

Watch now.

ESPORTS: RESPONDING TO THE PANDEMIC

Exploring the evolving relationships between organisers, players, audiences and advertisers, to gauge the response required for the sector to survive and thrive, with gaming experts Anna Baumann, ReKTGlobal, Heather Dower, Hotdrop and James Dean, ESL UK. Watch now.

CREATIVE DIVERGENCE: TOUR OF THE FRONTIERS

Panel session with Jung-In Jung and Lynda Clark from InGame offering a tour of the best of this work, from the worlds of gaming, theatre, VR, music, film, TV and visitor experiences, from the UK and beyond.

Watch now.

AUDIENCE RESEARCH: LANDSCAPE OF A PANDEMIC

How has lockdown impacted audience engagement across the Creative Industries, with key research insights from a spread of expert sector representatives.

Watch now.

To watch all of the videos from day one at BEYOND, keep an eye on https://beyondconference.org/ondemand/

There’s still time to grab a ticket, to access the BEYOND on-demand videos and catch the rest of the live conference, running from 30 November – 3 December 2020. You can also follow all the action via #BEYONDconf on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.

Highlighted below, a number of sessions throughout the BEYOND programme that directly address these issues, as well as showcase the best of what the industry has to offer in terms of the use of digital technologies to tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges.

2 Dec, 11am: Creative Emergence: Tech for Good

Featuring on the main stage (2nd Dec, 11am), Deepa Mann-Kler from Future Screens NI, part of the Creative Industries Clusters Programme, curates the Tech For Good session with a showcase of the best of UK creativity and research projects, unveiling projects that are utilising new and existing technologies to increase access and inclusion.

Commenting on the importance of diversity and inclusion in the creative industries ahead of her session at BEYOND, Deepa says: “For me tech for good is a mobilising framework for articulating the values, behaviours and attitudes that describe a focus on social impact, that is, putting people first.”

She goes on to add, “The outcomes of tech for good are more important than the mechanisms. They include the impact on the environment, communities, health, education, mobility and
transport. Everyone that works in this space is establishing a clear sense of identity and purpose. And that has to be a good thing.”

Deepa’s session sets out to illustrate how powerful tech for good can be as an enabler of increased diversity and inclusion and also demonstrates how it can provide mechanisms for people to access technologies in an open, efficient and sustainable way.

This session explores how AR is being used to improve the lives of people living with autism; the use of VR and music with people who have learning and/or physical disabilities; plug-ins supporting people with dyslexia; social action initiatives that leverage an innovative mix of digital technology and people power to reduce pressure on public services and address the challenges of an ageing population, loneliness and inequality across the UK.

3 Dec, 3.20pm: Towards an Inclusive News Sector

Focusing in on the news sector, a panel discussion (3 Dec, 3.20pm) around the decolonisation of news looks at the need to recognise audience trauma and how we can make news more neuro-inclusive. Hear from panelists including Grace Quantock, (Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, Writer and Researcher), Linus Harrison (R&D Project Lead, Entrepreneur, Support Worker) and Shirish Kulkarni (Bureau of Investigative Journalism) as they debate and discuss these topic areas and challenge the status quo, including audience Q&A.

2 Dec, 10.10am: Creating Shared Experiences for Multicultural Audiences

On the Creative China stage, as part of a programme exploring innovation in the Chinese Creative Industries, the Creating Shared Experiences for Multicultural Audiences session (2nd Dec, 10.10am) looks at how creating shared new innovative immersive cultural experiences that enhance audience engagement require understanding the complex needs of a multicultural audience – what do we share, how do we differ, what do researchers and businesses need to know in order to create successful co-productions? Join John Cassy (Factory 42), Haili Ma (University of Leeds), William Latham (The Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL / SoftV Ltd and London Geometry Ltd) and Zhenyuan Liu (College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University).

Showcase: Interactive Theatre 3D Video

BEYOND delegates get exclusive access to the Immersive Futures Lab, a showcase featuring many innovative and ground-breaking projects using a mix of the latest creative technologies, including this project from creative technology company Charisma.ai: a interactive theatre 3D video production that integrates the digital platform Zoom with AI technologies to create an online storytelling family experience.

Structured as an interactive theme park, it gives families agency and choice to create their own story based on the much-loved Lewis Carroll tale. Alice, A Virtual Theme Park was born out of a collaboration from interactive and immersive storytelling company Charisma.ai, together with Creation Theatre and Big Telly Theatre Company. As well as experiencing the production in the showcase, delegates can Meet the Makers behind this experience at BEYOND on 2nd Dec at 11am.

3 Dec, 6pm: Creative Informatics: CI Lab – Games Go Guerrilla

As part of the BEYOND programme, this CI Labs: Games Go Guerilla event (3 Dec, 6pm) from Creative Informatics explores the world of indie gaming with designers and artists that are developing innovative and inclusive new games concepts. Hear from some fantastic independent developers, designers and composers, creating new gaming experiences that include exploring a fictional Islamic country under an occupying force, an LGBTQ+ dating game – for the undead, and a therapeutic game for children with Cystic Fibrosis.

Discover how a growing number of independent developers, creators and practitioners, are taking games in entirely different directions behind the well-known major studios, using data in innovative new ways and creating unique experiences.

Join Jamie Bankhead, CEO of Konglomerate Games, an award-winning video games company, to hear about their games project designed to assist with the physiotherapy care of children with Cystic Fibrosis. Together with artist, musician and video games developer Jack King-Spooner (maker of alternative games – check out https://jackspinoza.itch.io/) and Luci Holland, a composer and sound artist who composes and produces music and audiovisual art for film, games and concert. Tickets can be booked for this free event, as part of the BEYOND programme, via Eventbrite.

Watch the showreel below for a glimpse of many ground-breaking projects featured, including Framerate (ScanLAB Projects), Munkination (Royal Opera House / HAM the Illustrator), Live AR (Nexus Studios) and plenty more. The Lab includes early-stage prototypes utilising technologies including Virtual Reality, Haptics, Spacial Audio and other innovations.

The projects are drawn from the cutting-edge R&D work developed through the award-holders and networks supported by the Audience of the Future and Creative Industries Clusters Programmes.

MEET THE MAKERS

Not only can BEYOND ticket holders access these exclusive demos, but they also get the opportunity to ‘Meet the Makers’. The talent behind these innovative projects will be joining the delegation for the duration of BEYOND. Delegates can connect via email in advance of the conference, through the chat functionality on the event platform or via the Meet the Maker throughout the schedule.

IMMERSIVE FUTURES LAB

Visit the Immersive Futures Lab for the full list of showcases to feature. Grab your ticket here for just £59 (concessions £29) for full access to the showcase, to Meet the Makers and catch sessions featured on the main stage.

The first day of the conference kicked off with introductory talks by Prof Chris Speed (University of Edinburgh), keynote Carly Kind (The Ada Lovelace Institute) and science and tech writer and conference host Gemma Milne. These were followed by four sessions where presenters explored the ways AI can enhance human capabilities.

The first of these four shorts was an exciting performance by ARS PRIX Electronica nominated artist and musician Harry Yeff/Reeps One/Reeps 100, who showcased his vocal artistry and discussed the role of AI and machine-learning in the field of experimental vocalism. In his talk, Parry Malm (Phrasee) explained AI-aided copywriting and highlighted the importance of language for brands’ success. CTO of ScriptBook, Michiel Ruelens discussed AI script analysis systems and the creation of DeepStory. This first part of the core conference programme concluded with Chanuki Seresinhe’s presentation of her work at the Alan Turing Institute and the intentions behind the founding of Popsa, a company that applies AI to curate visual content and produce exquisite keepsakes.

Ruelens and Seresinhe also joined Prof Dave Bull (University of Bristol) the first panel of the conference. Chaired by Prof Darren Cosker (University of Bath), this panel discussed whether contemporary AI tools are sophisticated enough to create content of any substance.

‘Imagine Me, Gentle Spectators’ was the second panel of the day and the conference. Chaired by Adam Ganz (StoryFutures), the panel included Prof Abigail Williams (University of Oxford), Guy Gadney (Charisma.AI) and Ian Hambleton (Maze Theory). Their panel explored the ways in which AI could potentially change the rules and experience of storytelling, both for narrators and audience. Drawing on their diverse backgrounds, the speakers suggests that these new tools and means of storytelling might have a place not only in entertainment but also education.

Other highlights of the first day were the talks given by artists and storytellers during the Creative Interludes. The first panel’s discussions on AI and its relationship to human creativity and the meaning of words carried through to Pip Thornton’s presentation. An artist and researcher, Thornton questioned the difference between the value and the price of words in an increasingly digital world. Artist Jake Elwes talked about the agency of the artist as opposed to AI’s ability to mimic visual tropes, and reflected on what would it mean to actually collaborate with AI in visual art production. Elwes discussed his work ‘Cusp’, which showcases the ways a photographic dataset learns from images of marsh birds and then generates images of creatures that fluctuates between the original images, and his latest work Zizi, a drag persona generated by AI datasets. The final speaker, Åste Amundsen (Computer Aided Theatre) continued the conference’s discussion of the uses of AI tools in performative modes of storytelling.

BEYOND’s second day featured two main panels. The first panel, chaired by Chanuki Seresinhe, featured Sarah Coward (The Forever Project) and Brendan Miles (The List), who discussed the role of AI in the preservation and dissemination of knowledge and culture, as well as the most significant problems that platforms of recommendation and discovery posed. Other conversation topics included curatorial practices, fed by user data, data collection, and data-driven experiences. The second panel brought together keynote Karen Palmer (Storyteller from the Future and Artist), Angus Bancroft (University of Edinburgh) and Prof Michael Rovatsos (University of Edinburgh). Chaired by Nicola Osbourne (University of Edinburgh), the panel reflected on the ethical and political challenges of data-driven economy, possibilities of AI implementation in daily life, and the realities of algorithmic bias.

Day two of BEYOND was punctuated by a series of short 5-minute talks. First of these was Lukas Dirzys (co-founder and CTO at Creative AI) whose talk introduced the audience to ways to revolutionise the systems that enable users to discover content and develop creative ideas. Vishal Kumar (Photogram.ai) introduced the company’s AI-accelerated software and hardware tools for modern photography. Ed Stack (Delic.Network) talked about the role of AI tools in the music industry and profit-for-artists platforms. Rony Seamons (AMPLYFI) discussed the future of business intelligence and the ways the company’s AI-powered tools can help business development by exposing and harvesting the information sources available on the Internet. Laura Smith (CEO and co-founder of Slanted Theory) introduced new ways of data visualisation through the incorporation of VR/AR/MR tools, disrupting traditional data representation.

The conference also included a number of fringe events that captured visitors’ attention in-between the conference proceedings. These included an Early-Career Researchers’ poster exhibition, showcasing the latest discoveries by young academics in UK Universities and a, Innovation Showcase, featuring projects creative research-led initiatives from across the country.

Photos from the conference are available to view here with session videos coming very soon. Feel free to sign up to the BEYOND newsletter to be notified when videos are added and also for the latest news on BEYOND 2020.

The posters demonstrate projects and discoveries from a range of the UK’s leading universities including Edinburgh, York, Glasgow, Manchester, UAL, Royal Holloway, and Queen Mary, among many others. Encompassing the full range of the creative industries, the research projects showcased at BEYOND’s poster exhibition lie at the intersection of research, art practices, and education.

In convergence with BEYOND core themes on AI, machine learning, and creative-led data, the early career researchers tackle topics such as biometric data as a paradigm for interactive music composition, creative-led data’s impact on the creative industries, chatbots as ethnographic interlocutors, AI as co-producers of museums, digital interventions in poetry, bespoke game controllers, data ethics, the place of VR in cultural heritage and many more. 

The poster exhibition is a way for BEYOND to demonstrate universities’ ground-breaking research outputs in the fields of the creative industries and AI, and champion the ideas and discoveries from young up-and-coming academics. It is also an opportunity for junior researchers to introduce their discoveries to the wider academic community as well as industry and artists, thus utilizing BEYOND’s vast network of knowledge exchange. 

For the full line up of posters exhibiting along with more detail on the poster topics and the early-career researchers’ profiles, please head to the poster exhibition section of the BEYOND conference website.

Delegates attending the BEYOND conference get full access to the Poster Exhibition, Innovation Showcase and main conference, featuring an inspirational line up of speakers, plus networking. BEYOND tickets are on sale now.

© Main photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash

Last year, BEYOND reflected on the future interrelationship between the creative industries and technological innovation. The core topics of discussion included: the challenges and opportunities of narrative-building in the creative industries and the future of storytelling; the development of the UK Fashion industry; the skills necessary to build a future creative workforce that embraces innovation and digital technologies; and working on the intersection of the multiple fields that comprise the landscape of the UK’s creative industries.

The 2018 BEYOND programme also included shorter sessions focused on artist-led innovation and research, the significance of scientific discoveries for the creative sector and the impact of creativity beyond the creative industries.

This year, BEYOND returns as a two-day conference in Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms on 20-21 November. Addressing the role of AI, machine learning, and creative-led data in the creative sector, a series of panels and debates will discuss the advances, applications, capabilities, limitations, and indeed failures of such technologies.

The conference includes panels and speaker sessions that reflect on themes exploring the role of AI in the creative industries, both as a tool and assistant, and as a creator itself. It explores whether AI can produce artwork and products similar to those humans have created and continue to create? Is AI simply a handy tool for the creative industries or does it open the door to a more comprehensive understanding of our own creativity and artistic approach?

Although BEYOND considers the benefits of applying AI and machine learning in the creative industries and artistic practices, it also highlights these technologies’ limitations and potentially negative impacts on culture-production and the creative sector. The conference explores algorithms that unlock the unforeseen value of substantial data sets, the implications of curated searches, recommendations and discovery on existing digital and media platforms. The ethical and moral questions that surround the emerging data economy and its relationship to the creative industries will also be addressed.

Keep an eye on the BEYOND 2019 agenda for the latest speakers and sessions.

In addition to the full conference programme, delegates can also attend the Poster Exhibition and Innovation Showcase to experience demos and work from pioneering creative industry researchers and businesses.

There are also a number of fringe events taking place alongside the conference and open to BEYOND attendees – check the programme for details.

Funded by UK Research and Innovation as part of the Industrial Strategy, BEYOND discusses the most current concerns and issues on the interrelationship between the creative sector and the advances in AI technology – read more about the conference themes