Freezing - An Empathatic Approach, Immersive Arts Application

 Short name for your activity 0 / 5 words

Provide a name for the proposed activity, it should communicate something of what you plan to do.

Freezing - An Empathatic Approach

Provide a short summary of what you are applying to do 0 / 75 words

In 1-3 sentences tell us what you want to explore using immersive technologies. Think of this as a summary of your application, it might be something you do after you have completed the other parts.

I propose that my project will simulate the experiences of a Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies sufferer and hopefully provide empathy with these patients. I am drawing on my fathers own journey and my limited understanding and experience of watching him go through such a long ordeal. My main aim is to simulate through immersive technology the feelings of freezing cold, visual hallucinations, confusion/ delusions, and hearing voices in your head.

What question(s) do you want to explore and what will this funding programme help you to do? 0 / 300 words

Describe your proposed activity, outline what you want to do, explore or learn. Include how you want to use immersive technologies and/ or the immersive aspects. Explore funding is for exploratory work and does not require you to make a finished piece of work.

The aim of my project is to explore immersive techniques and technologies that can simulate the experiences of a patient who suffers from late stage Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. To add some context, my dad suffered from this and looking in from the outside, a great deal of the time he would just be lying in the hospital bed in my parents lounge unresponsive, but there would be periods of increased agitation, including time slips, feelings of extreme cold, visual hallucinations, hearing voices, and delusions. When he was still able to walk he would have episodes of a term called “freezing”, which meant he was suddenly unable to take a step forward or would move very slowly for up to a minute.

I want to enhance and adapt my creative practice and learn the skills I need to be able to create the type of immersive experience that emulates what another person goes through and so creates an empathetic bond in the process. By using immersive technology I want to simulate the extreme aspects that Parkinsons patients are exposed to and I am especially interested in learning the different ways the technology can create a deeper sense of empathy between the audience/viewer and the story, and the act (modus) of storytelling.

I’ll be using this funding to grow my skillset in creating immersive work, overlapping various audio inputs over visual and sensory feedback. I want to combine traditional theatre storytelling techniques with the latest technological advances to create an immersive visual/audio experience. I plan to attend workshops, open days, talks and courses to this end.

By the end of the “explore” period I hope to be on a solid footing for the next stage in development and production.

Which immersive technology(ies) you plan to explore? 

We suggest selecting up to 2 or 3.

360 degree video, binaural sound and haptics/sensory feedback

360-degree video

Augmented Reality (AR)

Binaural Sound

Extended Reality (XR)

Haptics and sensory feedback

Mixed Reality (MR)

Responsive environments

Spatial Audio

Spatial Computing

Virtual Reality (VR)

Other (please specify below)

Tell us about anyone else involved in your proposed activity, including any collaborators or partners and their roles. (optional) 

Describe your current creative practice, including reference to 1 or 2 past or current projects relevant to your proposed activity. 0 / 300 words

Tell us about you and your work. Include any information that will help us understand or support your proposed activity. For example, this could be a short bio and short descriptions of up to 2 past or current artworks or creative projects.

In the simplest of terms I am a creative. My work spans photography, interactive design, and putting pencil to paper, not necessarily in that order. I started having an interest in photography in my early to mid-twenties during periods of travelling but did not really pick up a camera in earnest until my early forties.

With my photography I try to express the experience, convey what was felt at the time, and to enhance the sense of actually being a part of the photograph. Was the experience direct and intimate, or is it indirect and conceptual?

The first past project I am sharing with you is from final year project for my MA in 2023 was entitled .beat.fuse.echo and is a photographic journey based around the concepts of pilgrimage, traversing the land, identity to a place and a time, and the projection of an individual's thoughts and experiences. It evokes clues to an ancient history of myths and legends that reverberate through the landscape to the present day. To beat a path, to fuse together different images, and to echo the past, present and future through a two-way data stream. The imagery was created by taking polaroid pictures which were re-photographed in-situ incorporating the detritus of the environment into the digital representation of the analogue original to add further depth and a sense of belonging to a place, interacting within a space, and having a perception of time. 

The second past project I am sharing is an experimental wooden zine/wall piece featuring images taken during a road trip to Iceland early in December 2023 during the eruption uncertainties surrounding Grindavik, the Blue Lagoon, and the rest of the Reykjanes Peninsula. The piece itself was created in 2024.

To support your previous answers you can provide up to 2 x weblinks/ uploads of relevant works.

https://beatfuseecho.myportfolio.com/exhibition

https://nigelwhitbread.com/iceland-roadtrip

Budget 

1

Pervasive Media Open Studio visit, attendance (7 hours) and travel

£222.66

2

Pervasive Media Lunchtime Talks online attendance (12 hours). 1 every fortnight = 12 talks over 6 months

£324

3

Laptop Rental over 6 months

£221.70

4

Ableton Live 12 (Audio Software) licence

£259

5

Resolme Avenue (Editing Software) Licence

£299

6

The remaining funding would be split between time spent on research and development, exploring different immersive technologies and accessing training. It could equate to just over 135 hours fair pay or just under 17 days fair pay spread o

ver the 6 months at a new graduate rate of £27.08 an hour.

£3673.64