Chief Executive of Neon Deepa Mann-Kler presents a masterclass for Artists Into Immersive.

On 3 August 2021, Deepa Mann-Kler, CEO of Neon and Future Screens NI awardee recently held a masterclass in association with NFTS Scotland and The Glasgow School of Art on how creatives are using Extended Reality to explore and push boundaries in Augmented and Virtual Reality. Mann-Kler shared her experiences as an artist and as Chief Executive of Neon, a company using immersive technologies to enhance health and wellbeing.

Deepa Mann-Kler is Chief Executive of Neon and Visiting Professor in Immersive Futures at Ulster University. Deepa is an is an internationally acclaimed, multi-disciplinary artist with over eleven years’ experience of major international exhibitions and public art programmes. Recent awards include Royal Television Society Finalist RETNE “Interactive Entertainment” 2017. WinTech Series Finalist “Tech Start Up Of the Year” 2018. PitchAtPalace Finalist 2018. TEDx Speaker “Being Human” 2019. Digital DNA Finalist “Tech For Good” Talking Sense AR App 2020.

Neon uses immersive technologies to enable choice for people over their own health and wellbeing. For more information on Neon visit www.discoverneon.com

The programme was made possible with support from StoryFutures Academy and Creative Scotland.

Cupboard Games have developed a game exploring ethical engagements with historical events.

Cupboard Games have developed a prototype PC game that seeks to address a common tendency in contemporary games that use historic tragedies and traumatic events as spectacle. Working with Dr Declan Keeney of Ulster University the Research & Development project sought to test a different methodology than standard historical games to see if a game could act as a tool to engage with historical events with integrity. Titled Checkpoints the game is described as a Playable Documentary. The designers focused on recounting the events that took place at the purpose-built permanent checkpoint at Coshquin, Derry/Londonderry on and around the October 1990 proxy bombing. To assist in the research, the team approached one of the first police officers to arrive at the Coshquin after the explosion, Robin Young as key advisor.

Addressing a key concern regarding trauma and spectacle, the project team set out a list of principles and guidelines for ethical game design and production. These guidelines sought to address issues of trivialising events and to ensure that the project did not raise any existential questions regarding the border on the island of Ireland. Furthermore, the team stated that the project was not to be politically motivated nor being created with the intent of pushing any specific political agenda.

The teams’ intention was to establish a framework for Playable Documentaries that address real events with games as a method of storytelling. Through first person roleplay, a player could experience and evoke the past. The framework established by the project could then be used for a variety of subjects from historical settings to recent events.

Cupboard Games is a boutique game studio developing carefully crafted, intimate experiences across genres and platforms. Established in 2015, Cupboard Games believe in combining rich narrative experiences with unique gameplay. Along with developing their own IP, they work with a diverse range of clients across the world to help with design consultancy and development solutions.

Participant

Robin Young is a retired sergeant in the Royal Ulster Constabulary-George Cross and Police Service of Northern Ireland and now, peace activist. Robin was the first police officer to arrive at the Coshquin checkpoint shortly after a huge bomb exploded near Derry/Londonderry killing 6 people. Robin appeared previously in a documentary ​We Carried Your Secrets, ​a film​ ​written and directed by Dr Declan Keeney in 2010,​ ​describing the event from his perspective.

TEAM 

Production Team 

David Baxter, Audio lead 

James Hugh Dalton, 3D environment artist 

Paul Dillon, Creative lead 

Jonathan Hatton, Technical lead   

Zaltina Yordanova, 3D character artist 

Research Team

Prof. Brandon Hamber, John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace based at the International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE), Ulster University

Dr Alan McCally, Honorary Research Fellow (History Education), Ulster University

Prof. Alan Smith, UNESCO Chair and Director of the UNESCO Centre, Ulster University.

Co-investigator: Dr Declan Keeney, Director of the Ulster Screen Academy, Ulster University 

This project was funded by a Future Screens NI Research & Development award.

Soft Leaf Studios have developed a prototype PC game addressing accessibility.

Soft Leaf Studios have produced a game prototype with accessibility at the forefront of its design. The wholesome point and click adventure Stories of Blossom was developed for test purposes to elicit feedback regarding a range of accessibility issues frequently found with computer games. The programme features inclusive game mechanics and controls for players from a range of visual, auditory, cognitive, motor abilities. Featuring a humorous storyline illustrated in watercolour style reminiscent of hand drawn children’s books the research and development project examined potential accessibly issues to provide guidelines for future game production. 

Placing accessibility at the fore of game development is unique in a field that typically addresses such issues as an afterthought. Soft Leaf hopes to save game developers development time and costs in expensive User Interface redesigned, systems re-coding, rewriting dialogue scripts and extra audio assets that are usually required for accessibility compliance. Frequently, game retrofits are largely superficial and do not address core issues that prevent players with a range of abilities. Designing a game from the ground up with the focus on accessibility will allow for barriers to be addressed, iterations to be made, and gamers with disabilities to feel included. The project aimed to allow for innovative ideas to be discovered and identify gaps in the industry that need explored further. With the success of the prototype, Soft Leaf hopes to encourage more projects that address accessibility at the start of development to ensure that the industry grows, producing standards and raising awareness for fellow developers and the general gaming community.

Soft Leaf Studios is a game development studio based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Their mission is to develop games that focus on memorable characters and to provide accessible experiences that everyone can enjoy. 

For more information on Soft Leaf Studios and Stories of Blossom visit: https://www.softleafstudios.com

Team:

Conor Bradley, Company Director, specialising in Game Design, Programming, Audio, Writing and Marketing.

Clare Paterson, Creative Director, specialising in 2D Art, 2D Animation, Writing with a background in traditional art. 

Partners:

Academic Partner: Brian Coyle – Senor Lecturer in Game Design, Ulster University 

Industry Partner: Go Testify (Ella Walsh) - Video Game Testing Company 

This project was funded through a Future Screens NI Research & Development award.

Neon CEO and Future Screens NI Awardee Deepa Mann-Kler mentoring at StoryFutures Academy

Deepa Mann-Kler, CEO of Neon is mentoring at Queen Mary University of London for the Train the Trainer Programme run by StoryFutures Academy. The programme was initiated to provide innovative new ways of creating teaching materials and developing courses in immersive storytelling in response to skills shortages and a critical need to build a talent pipeline in the UK. Train the Trainer provides innovative new teaching tools and materials around new technologies and immersive storytelling. The scheme provides an unique opportunity for educators from institutes all across the UK to work together collaboratively.

Deepa Mann-Kler is Chief Executive of Neon and Visiting Professor of Immersive Futures with Ulster University. Deepa specialises in the use of immersive technologies for health. As a TEDx speaker and thought leader she regularly keynotes on the intersection of digital transformation, technical innovation, inclusion, ethics, bias, data and AI. Deepa is author of the first report on race discrimination with policy recommendations for the public sector in Northern Ireland "Out Of The Shadows." As an artist Deepa has a strong focus on public art light installations, notably Light Up Leicester 2020, Lumiere Durham 2019, London 2016 & 2013 in Derry/Londonderry UK City of Culture.

Neon is a creative immersive technologies company creating experiences in virtual, augmented and mixed realities. Recent awards include the Royal Television Society Finalist RETNE “Interactive Entertainment” 2017 and WinTech Series Finalist “Tech Start Up Of the Year” 2018.

https://www.discoverneon.com

StoryFutures Academy is the UK’s National Centre for Immersive Storytelling run by the National Film and Television School and Royal Holloway, University of London. Funded as part of UK Research and Innovation’s Audience of the Future industrial strategy challenge fund, the Academy will develop cutting-edge creative training and research programmes to ensure the UK creative workforce is the most skilled in the world in the use of virtual, augmented and real-time production technology for immersive storytelling.

For more information on StoryFutures Academy follow the link: https://www.storyfutures.com

Train The Trainer was launched in response to work on skills analysis carried out by StoryFutures Academy. The overall aim of the initiative is to support the growth and development of UK trainers and talent so that immersive can fulfil its potential in the UK with a creative workforce that is highly skilled in the use of VR, AR and MR.

For more information on Train The Trainer follow the link: https://www.storyfutures.com/academy/skills/train-the-trainer

Creative & Immersive development company Silverink have designed a new professional live video-streaming platform with creative industries in mind.

With the current social context of Covid-19, Belfast-based creative development company Silverink have designed a live video-streaming platform to cater to the needs of music artists and associated industry. Whilst many artists have adapted to the social platforms such as YouTube and Facebook to stay creative and keep in touch with their fans, their output often suffers from a lack of quality in platform output and methods of monetising. In response, Silverink has developed a quality platform for video live-streaming that integrates e-commerce and ticketing with a focus on fair pay for the creative industries. Fans can now support their music artists through paid access to curated streaming events and shop window options for merchandise and digital downloads. Music industry, management and the artists are offered branded pages and seamless global delivery of high-quality video and audio. Fans can enjoy quality music experience whilst the creative industries suppling the content benefit from the income they deserve through curated streaming events and within a unified digital interface.

Stage Left is a professional live video-streaming platform with integrated e-commerce/ticketing and a focus on fair pay for the creative industries. For more information on Stage Left visit: https://stageleft.live

Silverink is a Belfast-based creative/immersive development company with 20yrs R&D experience in the UK and EU. For more information on Silverink visit: https://silverink.com

Co-Investigator: Prof Frank Lyons - Professor of Music and Associate Dean of Research and Impact in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Ulster.

This project has been funded in part by a Future Screens NI Pre-Commercialisation R&D award.