Making the Digital Future Crafty

Following the success of our partnership with Special Education providers in schools and post-16 education we have now completed three additional workshops that explored craft materials and digital co-production. The overarching aim of the Making the Future more Crafty workshops was to use everyday materials and low-cost processors to enable teachers and pupils – particularly learners with profound disabilities who do not fit a set of definable user characteristics – to experience new opportunities for digital creativity. The workshops were led by Helen Leigh, a maker, educator and writer who specialises in creative uses of new technologies. Helen’s first book, The Crafty Kids Guide to DIY Electronics provided a lot of inspiration for the activities, which participants agreed were accessible, fun, and easy to adapt for the classroom, adding that learners who would  normally only be given technologies to use could be included in design and making. The workshops were funded through the Strategic Insight Placement.

Enchanting Technologies Digital Imagining 2

With funding from FabCre8, Members of the Enchanting Technologies network from special schools around South Wales gathered at FabLab Cardiff to create scenarios based on a series of technology probes. The ideas for the probes came from Digital Imagining Lab 1, held at Ysgol yr Deri. The probes were created by our technology/computer science/arts team: Parisa Eslambolchilar, Aiden Taylor, Jon Piggot, Patricia Puertas and MFA student, Sam Kitcher using Teensy, Arduino and Touch Board as low cost platforms for exploring prototyping, digital fabrication and co-production. By the end of the day we amassed a wealth of low-fidelity mock-ups, stories and sketches that demonstrate our shared vision for making enchantment the route to learning and self expression for pupils with profound disabilities.

The Vale of Glamorgan show

Members of the CARIAD team supported the Alzheimer’s Society at The Vale of Glamorgan show, by running Hand i Pocket sessions.  Visitors to the show were invited to stitch sensory textile pockets for people living with advanced dementia and the Alzheimer’s Society were on hand to offer advice and support.

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Wales Festival of Innovation

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CARIAD threw open its doors this month to share its pioneering design research. The LAUGH project team, based in CARIAD, are working with health professionals and the care sector to develop playful objects to be used in the care of people with late stage dementia.

The LAUGH design Challenge took place in PDR at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Llandaff Campus, and invited the public with an interest in design and technology to get involved as part of the showcase Wales Festival of Innovation, a national programme of events to celebrate ground-breaking activity in Wales.

The LAUGH team, which includes researchers from universities in the UK and Australia, gave participants the opportunity to use their expertise to help develop new products to stimulate laughter and fun for people living with advanced dementia.

This was one of dozens of participants in the Festival, which is organised jointly by the ESTnet (the technology network for Wales), the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and MediWales with the support of Welsh Government and industry partners.

Wychwood Festival

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CARIAD members recently ran a series of Hand i Pocket ‘funshops’ at the Wychwood Festival (3rd – 5th June 2016).  These sessions offered visitors to the festival the opportunity to get creative and make a sensory textile ‘Hand i Pocket’ for someone with late stage dementia.  A Hand i Pocket is a stitched textile pocket that looks colourful, is interesting to touch and comforting to feel that will stimulate and amuse someone with late stage dementia.

Working with Age Cymru and Dementia & Imagination (Bangor Univeristy) at the festival, CARIAD’s Funshops were a great success with many pockets made.

Hand i Pocket Funshops are a global community network making textiles for people with dementia. More information about Hand i Pockets can be found at: www.laughproject.info or www.handsproject.info

Tiree Tech Wave

Cardiff Metropolitan University recently teamed up with Alzheimer’s Scotland and the University of Dundee to run a creative community event on the Scottish island of Tiree.  Prof Cathy Treadaway and Helen Watkins from the Centre for Applied Research in Inclusive Arts and Design (CARIAD) joined forces with Dr Keireine Canavan and Chris Dennis from the Cardiff School of Art and Design (CSAD) and Dr Wendy Moncur from University of Dundee to run a Hand i Pocket ‘funshop’ in collaboration with the Taigh a’ Rudha care home, Tiree. Continue reading Tiree Tech Wave

Wales Millennium Centre – Hand i Pocket Funshop

CARIAD researchers collaborated with Age Cymru and Alzheimer’s Society to host a creative ‘funshop’ to coincide with Age Positive Week (27th September – 4th October 2015).  The Hand i Pocket Funshop was a free public event held at Wales Millennium Centre on Saturday 3rd October led by Prof Cathy Treadaway from the CARIAD at Cardiff Met.

People who dropped in to the Hand i Pocket Funshop were invited to make and decorate a pocket for someone with dementia, using an enticing array of cloth, thread, buttons and beads, with plenty of help and inspiration on hand. The idea was to create textile pockets that are visually stimulating, interesting or soothing to touch and fun to fiddle with. They might have things hidden inside or be a place to put things. Pockets could be made for specific people and include things personal to them and their life story. Continue reading Wales Millennium Centre – Hand i Pocket Funshop

Noah’s Ark at artsdepot

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We had a great time co-designing interactive artworks with young people from the Noah’s Ark children’s hospice at artsdepot. Using the fabulously accessible Touch Boardfrom Bare Conductive. The participants collaborated in teams to bring their favourite things to life by adding their own sounds to drawings. The culmination of the workshop was a set of paper-prototype “happiness machines” that included tickling, laughter, jokes, music and other references to the things in life that make us happy.

Somatopia lab

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First ever Cariad Interactive Somatopia Lab in Cardiff FabLab. Four teachers, two pupils and a technical demonstrator joined us for a rich mix of acting, moving, paper prototyping and storyboarding based on five Somatopia themes. Everyone set up their own Raspberry Pi, Pi camera and microphone and learnt how to use openframeworks to create a range of interactions triggered by sound and motion. The best part was getting to work up some of the ideas that emerged for learning some basic code.