Research
Infrastructure & Ecosystem
Infrastructure & Ecosystem
Verity McIntosh (Director and Principle Investigator, Immersive Arts, UWE Bristol) and Asha Easton (Innovate UK Immersive Tech Network Lead & co-founder, XR Diversity Initiative) are taking a look at the bigger picture, at the infrastructures and ecosystems in which immersive art exists.
Infrastructure & Ecosystem
Some of the areas that this team is looking into are:
- the business models that exist globally that support the development of immersive works
- the dominant and emerging approaches to exhibition, distribution, touring and franchising artworks
- the persistent issues and challenges that obstruct a diverse and sustainable practitioner network
- the gaps in the training and development ecosystem that lead to the talent drain and innovator drop off, described by the House of Lords report ‘At risk: our creative future’
- as well as the ways that the Immersive Arts programme can address these gaps, and what else is needed, now, and next.
Meet the Research team
Asha Easton
Co-founder (she/her)
XR Diversity Initiative
Asha is Innovate UK KTN’s Lead for Immerse UK, she is particularly passionate about helping to promote diversity & inclusion in the industry. She is one of the original members of the London chapter of Women in Immersive Tech (WiiT), a co-founder of the XRDI, and an ED&I advisor to Europe’s first Metaverse fund, FOV Ventures.
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.
Amy Densley
Coordinator, Producer & Researcher at the DCRC (she/her)
Based at Watershed, Bristol
Amy coordinates the DCRC, and UWE research programmes including Immersive Arts and MyWorld, and is conducting research on exhibition and distribution of immersive art experiences for Immersive Arts. Amy has worked across numerous projects including Alternative Technologies: A Just Transition, Grounding Technologies, Documentary Film Council, Spoken Memories, and produced the 100th performance of I Am Echoborg.
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.
