Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) are the latest partner to join CreaTech Frontiers led by Birmingham City University (CreaTech = Creative Technologies). CreaTech Frontiers is a 5-year £7.2 million project led by Birmingham City University funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation. It aims to drive research and development, business innovation and skills by playing an instrumental role in expanding the creative and cultural industries sector throughout the West Midlands.
Tom Rogers, Creative Digital Producer at BRB, said:
‘We're excited to be part of the CreaTech Frontiers cluster and to continue evolving our digital innovation. It's great to be involved in a regional initiative that champions creativity and technology in the arts. This partnership offers a valuable opportunity for us to explore new creative possibilities and expand how we connect with audiences, particularly younger, tech-savvy communities both in the West Midlands and across the globe’
Prof. Lamberto Coccioli, Director for CreaTech Frontiers, said:
“We are thrilled to have Birmingham Royal Ballet on board as a new partner. BRB brings to the Cluster a wealth of experience and a commitment to explore new forms of live performance. This comes at an exciting time for the Cluster as we have now launched our first R&D innovation grant call to fund innovative ideas and projects only four months after the start of the programme. We hope to receive an enthusiastic response from creative companies and freelancers all across the West Midlands and we especially encourage first-time applicants with original and untested concepts”.
The Foundations R&D Innovation Grant call for CreaTech Frontiers is now open, with two grant strands available:
- EXPLORE – up to £5,000 + 5-10 days of R&D support and access to CreaTech labs. Introduction to collaborative R&D and development of initial ideas for innovative content, products or services.
- EXPERIMENT – up to £10,000 + 10-20 days of R&D support and access to CreaTech labs. Development of existing concepts, projects or prototypes for innovative content, products or services through collaborative R&D.
Businesses who are exploring or experimenting in the following subjects are particularly encouraged to apply:
- Beyond games (for example world building; game engine development; gamification and AI)
- Enabling technologies for creative outputs (for example AI, ML, data, haptics, robotics, cloud computing, future networks)
- Immersive (for example XR, immersive audio)
- Live performance (for example music and AI; augmented performance; digital storytelling)
- Screen (for example virtual production; sustainability in media productions)
- Visual arts (for example digital museums and heritage; digital content creation)
- Createch research (for example environmental, social and economic sustainability of creative applications of technology; EDI issues; cultural, social and economic challenges)
The deadline for applications is the 4th August. To find out more and to register your interest please visit the website.
