CARIAD invites everybody to SHOWCASE OF SOMABILITY AND RECENT CARIAD PROJECTS at the WMC on the 11th of November

Posted on by Wendy

 

Somability APPS graphic (2)-3This celebratory event will showcase Somability, an accessible software application, created by designers from Cardiff Metropolitan University and Cariad Interactive in partnership with Rhondda Cynon Taf Skills for Independence day care service and Artis Community. The project uses game technologies to capture movement and generate beautiful, graphic imagery. A compelling preview of Somability will be performed by adults with profound and multiple disabilities and their support workers on the Glanfa Stage. This will be followed by an explanation of the project, panel discussion and an opportunity for the audience to join in and explore the software. There will opportunity to see other recent work being undertaken at CARIAD, to meet participants, researchers, organisations, charities and businesses improving people’s lives through the arts.

For more information on Somability and other CARIAD projects see:

www.cariadinteractive.com/somability/ and www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/cariad

CELEBRATION SHOWCASING SOMABILITY AND RECENT CARIAD PROJECTS

WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE – GLANFA STAGE

11th of November 2014, 13:00 – 15:00

Order of event:

  • 13:00 Introduction, led by Wendy Keay-Bright, with input Rhondda Cynon Taf Skills for Independence
  • 13.20 Short Sharing of Somability with Artis Community
  • 13:40 Introduction to CARIAD centre and CARIAD student projects
  • 13.50 Panel discussion
  • 14:00 Open (mic) free expression with Touch Trust for peers, families, friends and visitors to try Somability
  • 14:20 Short Plenary discussion with RCT, Cariad, Artis Community and Touch Trust
  • 14:30 Networking and chance to view other CARIAD projects

 

The event will be open to the public and in a public space.

Please send all enquires and RSVP to lmclaughlin@cardiffmet.ac.uk

 

CARIAD attends Creative Minds Conference

Posted on by Wendy

CARIAD’s Leah and Wendy were delighted to attend the Creative Minds conference in @Bristol today. The day was packed with thought provoking and challenging talks, interactive activities and sharing of new ideas relating to arts and disability. The event showcased the work of leading arts organisations, educators, businesses and charities, specialising in working with people with learning difficulties. These included Disability Arts Cymru, Outside In, Carousel, OpenStoryTellers, Magpie, DanceVoice, Turning Tides and many many more check out the Creative Minds website for full listings, www.creativemindsproject.org.uk.

There was lots of debate, including issues of quality in the arts working with people with learning difficulties, and balancing corporate sponsorship and expectations with pure creativity in art making. The day also showcased the work of local artists with disabilities, new research and funding opportunities. CARIAD discussed many of their latest projects and discussed many new collaborations and potential projects! Thanks for the invite Creative Minds – cant wait to see the films and outcomes from the day and looking forward to working with you in future!

New CEWN funding success

Posted on by Wendy

20140430113038.m2ts.Still001Delighted to announce that Leah has been successful in her latest funding bid to work with special need teachers from Exeter House School and AnalysisPro! ProEngagementCoding will be developing new work and templates from our first collaboration with the project ProFoundCoding. The group will be seeking to extend their reach by designing a series of templates and to begin evaluations of the templates in action, a call for some volunteers will be going out soon!

 

Leah attends NESTA’s People Helping People

Posted on by Wendy

IMG_3608Leah had a hugely informative day attending NESTSA’s latest event, ‘People Helping People: The Future of Public Services’ in collaboration with NESTA and the Cabinet’s Office Centre for Social Action. This is part of the UK wide new agenda to connect organisations doing social good with public services and government. Goeff Mulgan, Chief Executive of NESTA led a packed schedule of talks, workshops and networking.

A key note speech from Rt. Hon. Brooks Newmark MP, Minister for Civil Society marked his first public speech since taking his newly appointed role, nice to meet you! We met with some of the most exciting innovators working in the UK and overseas who are committed to their organisations making contributions to society. Leah had some very interested conversations with CodeClub, Spice, Shared Lives Plus, FutureGov, and The Thought collective (all the way from Singapore!) amongst many more.

CARIAD are committed to designing new innovations which have a positive impact on society. The Breaking Bread project will be following these initiatives closely as the project begins to scale up and work with volunteers in the community, we are excited to extend our reach to work across public services and government in Wales. Maybe even next year CARIAD will be one of the exciting new innovators.

First trial workshops of Breaking Bread hosted at Cardiff Met are a massive success!

Posted on by Wendy

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Thank you thank you, to ALL of our Breaking Bread participants who fought through the heat to attend our first trail workshop of our brand new service, Breaking Bread! Marion, Leslie, Jane, Liz, Gerri and Lyn teamed up with Daniel, Steve, Gareth, Helena, Ilid and Deirdre and made some delicious bread and pea and mint soup for lunch. A big shout also goes to Rhys (master baker) for hosting the session and Ray and his team at Food Technology, we couldn’t have put it together without you!

Our group also provided us with crucial feedback, tips and suggestions for the future of Breaking Bread. It seems that we have some very eager stakeholders and a very much needed and wanted service for the future. Lots of possibilities! In the immediate future we will be launching our new website where you can find information on what Breaking Bread does, our history, and where we want to go from here, keep an eye out for that. You can also follow us on Twitter @Breaking4Bread and a Facebook page is coming this week as a sharing platform for all things Bread! We hope you will all join us on the beginning of this exciting journey 

CARIAD hosts Hack Funshop for Dementia Aprons

Posted on by Wendy


DSC06349CARIAD had a fantastic day at the Hack Funshop today. We brought together health professionals and technologists with academics and keen students interested in designing for the ageing population. The aim of the day was to develop ‘dementia aprons’ – Garments that are embedded with smart technology in order to stimulate, amuse and engage people with late stage dementia.

We are grateful to Cardiff Met for funding the event and to everybody for sharing their ideas, designing prototypes and taking the time to contribute to this important research. Watch out here for more developments

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SOMABILITY developing workshops a Gladys resource centre Aberdare, with Eluned Parrott AM

Posted on by Wendy

We have had an amazing two days with Cath and the team at Gladys Resource centre, Aberdare. We have been developing with the carers and service users, fine tuning the final applications, ready for release soon! It is always such a wonderful experience working with such a committed team. CARIADInteractive http://cariadinteractive.com/ have been working around the clock bringing the original ideas the carers provided at the paper prototyping workshops to life. The first day was a huge success and we got a glimpse of what the final install in the centre will look like.

On day two we visited the local community hall for an interactive performance with a small group. We caught up with Wendy York from Artis Community and Eluned Parrott AM who came along to see some of our projects and the ways they take shape. It was a very special day and we were just thrilled to be a part of the service user’s engagements, they really were making movements irresistible! Thank you again to Eluned for making the trip and giving the project support. Watch this space 

CARIAD works with Connected Studio at the Millennium Centre

Posted on by Wendy

CARIAD has a fantastic day at the Millennium Centre today facilitating Connected Studio developing ways of making classical music more accessible to audiences through digital content and platforms. We also learned about new technologies and ideas to further establish links between academia and the media. We were reunited with Peter from PDR, Emily from School of Education and Katherine from CSAD.

We had an eventful day designing our new ‘Classy App’, a prototype to condense and consolidate some of the content on BBC 3 Radio, to renew and reinvigorate an audience with an interest in classical music but perhaps a bit shy about taking those initial first steps into the genre. Thank you Connected Studio, BBC, Hannah, CEWN and everybody else organising such a successful dynamic day, lots of possibilities!

CARAID visits CEWN event Living Longer, Living Well

Posted on by Wendy

Leah DSC05227and Gary Beauchamp from CARIAD had an informative morning at The Atrium this week, collaborating on the latest CEWN event, scoping potentials for creative knowledge exchanges under the title ‘Living Longer, Living Well’. It was an eventful morning, developing persona profiles and brain storming early ideas and interventions for our scenarios.

The afternoon saw the development of our int3erventions to new heights through re invigorating an old collaboration with ThinkArk and PlayArk creative companies in Cardiff. Looking forward to further collaborations developing our new ‘Breaking Bread’ service, facilitating residents in care homes to make bread. Watch this space!