Research
Artists & Audience Development
Artists & Audience Development
At Immersive Arts, we use an artist-led approach to working with immersive technologies to actively involve the audience - and through this research strand, we hope to learn more about artists working in this space and how we can develop audiences for immersive works.
This research is being explored by Paul Clarke (Associate Professor in Performance and Creative Technologies, University of Bristol), Verity McIntosh (Director and Principal Investigator, Immersive Arts, UWE Bristol), Oluwatosin Olufon, who is conducting a Practice-based Immersive Arts PhD at UWE Bristol and a Research Fellow, yet to join the team.
Artists & Audience Development
As a starting point, we are exploring the appeals that immersive realities hold for artists; the ambitions artists have for these emerging forms; how they evolve or diverge from existing artforms and ways of working; the ways that artists design for diverse access requirements; and concerns artists have about the impact of immersive artforms on the wider sector.
We are also looking into the ways in which audiences for immersive experiences differ from traditional arts audiences; who is missing and why; the impact and meaning of immersive works for audiences; the barriers to reaching an audience; the opportunities hybridity of immersive mediums offer to diverse and dispersed audiences; and models of best practice.
Meet the Research team
Paul Clarke
Associate Prof in Performance & Creative Technologies (he/him)
University of Bristol
Paul is Co-Director of the Centre for Creative Technologies and a researcher in the Centre for Sociodigital Futures. He established Bristol’s MA Immersive Arts (Virtual and Augmented Realities) and collaborates with the company Uninvited Guests on events that actively involve their audiences.
Oluwatosin (Tosin) Olufon
PHD (she/her)
UWE Bristol
Tosin is an immersive artist and researcher with a childlike fascination for Virtual Reality and 3D animation. Inspired by childhood tales/traditions, they use immersive tech to transform storytelling and explore its impact. Their work is deeply personal, rooted in the belief that every XR experience evokes emotion, sparks curiosity, and creates intimate experiences.
Verity McIntosh
Director and Principal Investigator (she/her)
Immersive Arts
Verity works with artists, technologists, researchers, and policymakers who are interested in immersive tech and its impact on society. As an Associate Professor at UWE Bristol, Verity founded one of Europe’s first XR master’s programmes and co-founded Bristol VR Lab. Her research focuses on inclusive design, XR ethics, and human rights in virtual environments.
We are also keen to learn from, and to amplify the incredible research being done by others around the world. If you have something you’d like to share with us, please get in touch.
