CreaTech Frontiers
Driving creative futures
CreaTech Frontiers is a 5-year £7.2 million project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), aiming to drive research and development, business innovation and skills and playing an instrumental role within the creative industries ecosystem across the West Midlands.
Led by Birmingham City University with Coventry University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Warwick and the Royal Shakespeare Company, the project is creating a network of four complementary, interconnected research and development labs in immersive audio and video technologies (BCU), virtual production, applied AI for createch and gaming, esports, and animation.
Serving creative industries
By building a responsible innovation ecosystem that serves the West Midlands' unique creative industries sector, the project has the potential to drive significant economic growth and create new opportunities for the region's diverse talent. It will support micro and small and medium-sized businesses to thrive and connect with high growth industries such as health tech and EV manufacturing.
An integrated business support programme, delivered with industry experts, enables businesses to explore immersive technologies, develop new products, services and prototype new content and concepts. Focus on current industry challenges will include responsible research and development and innovation, the integration of generative AI in content and processes, green production, IP protection and commercialisation.
In this video, hear from a creative practitioner who has used CreaTech Frontiers funding and support to explore VR, XR, immersive theatre and augmented reality — taking an idea from R&D to prototype.
Applications will include incorporating VR and AR technologies for live events; adapting game engines for non-gaming applications in music, theatre, and film; using game design principles to engage audiences; employing 3D modelling and animation techniques to create high-quality immersive content.
BCU Vice-Chancellor Professor David Mba
The creative sector in the West Midlands is a key part of Birmingham City University's heritage as well as the city’s future. We believe that supporting people in the region to develop the skills required is essential to keeping the ecosystem thriving – and this is what we are striving to do through the University's new strategy. We’re delighted to be leading this project, which can help secure the future of the creative industries for the region.
Meet the BCU team
Professor Lamberto Coccioli
Our project lead is Professor of Music and Technology at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. As a composer, performer and technologist he has contributed to the development of live electronics and interactive performance across Europe.
Meet LambertoProfessor Ian Williams
Our project co-lead specialises in AR and VR systems, and is co-chair on the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality.
Meet Ian
Dr Karen Patel
The lead for our Centre for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts (CEDIA) will oversee EDI research activity to support embedding EDI principles throughout project activities.
Meet KarenRichard Cornock
Head of Production at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and technical specialist is supporting the research and development hub. Richard played a key role in developing the Prism ADA128 convertor, now industry leading technology.
Meet RichardCreaTech Frontiers boasts an impressive array of industry partners, each bringing specific industry insight and input into project activities. Partners include: Vodafone, Digital Catapult, Rebellion, Holosphere, Capture Ltd, Elemental Compute, Reach plc, Birmingham Open Media (BOM), Advantage Creative, Covatic, and Hollywood Gaming.
Cultural heavyweights such as the Birmingham Opera Company and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group will collaborate on R&D projects, while organisations like TechWM, Create Central, and Culture Central will provide advocacy and industry connections.
Collaborative Doctoral Awards
Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) provide funding for 4-year doctoral studentship projects, developed as a partnership between an HEI-based academic in collaboration with an organisation outside higher education. They are intended to encourage and develop collaboration and build partnerships with a wide range of organisations in the public, private and third sector, including grassroots and activist organisations.
Applications and benefits
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Research and Development Innovation Grants
£1.8million will be disbursed through open calls to regional SMEs supporting businesses with R&D innovation across different levels of SME development including smaller SMEs who traditionally find it hard to access R&D innovation grants. R&D funding calls matching industry needs with input from world-leading academic expertise will be managed in partnership with Digital Catapult and other industry partners.
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Paid Internships
70 internships across the project will be embedded into businesses, in collaboration with industry partners.
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Collaborative Doctoral Awards
16 fully funded PhDs to nurture talent and drive innovation with businesses will be made available across the four universities.
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Research and Development Pilot Productions and Demonstrators
Curated by the Royal Shakespeare Company and showcased at SXSW, the project will involve collaboration between Birmingham Opera Company, businesses and researchers to stage new works co-created with young people in deprived areas of the West Midlands. This will include collaborations with The Birmingham Rep Theatre and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group to explore new technologies for performance.
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Regional Research and Development Test Bed
As one of the youngest regions in Europe, with nearly 40% of residents from ethnically diverse backgrounds, the West Midlands region offers a unique testbed for inclusive and culturally aware createch.
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Building apprenticeships
Establishing a trailblazer group to develop occupational standards for higher level technical and professional createch apprenticeships.
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International Showcasing
Through collaborations with international partners in the USA (SXSW) China (Central Conservatory of Music Beijing) and Austria (Ars Electronica), the cluster will enhance the global visibility of the West Midlands' createch sector, potentially leading to increased exports and inward investment.
Contact
For further information on the project, please contact Lamberto.coccioli@bcu.ac.uk (CreaTech Frontiers Director) and Laura.Veart@bcu.ac.uk (Project Manager)