Digital technologies and storytelling are powerful tools for interpretation, understanding, and driving change. StoryLab’s interdisciplinary research explores how advancements in and increased access to existing and emerging technologies can facilitate heritage revitalisation, promote environmental and cultural sustainability, and inspire social change.
StoryLab adopts an experiential and interactive approach to digital innovation and storytelling that includes 360 film, 3D data visualisation, soundscapes, extended realities (XR), as well as traditional filmmaking. Multimodal narratives and participatory research are central to our work, with novel combinations of art & design, audio, digital media and film, to support investigation, intervention, and knowledge exchange.
We work with a variety of researchers, organisations and industry-academia networks to develop creative artefacts and generate new knowledge and innovation, especially on complex issues such as equality, migration, heritage-making and revitalisation, social justice and climate change.
At StoryLab we focus on three key research areas.
Human Creativity, Design and Technology
StoryLab’s interrogation of multimodal storytelling, speculative design and creative technologies enables our researchers to create new, engaging and impactful narrative experiences. We use creative design and participatory processes between teams of experts and communities to investigate the impact of human creativity and technologies on social change.
Identity, Culture & Heritage
StoryLab employs innovative narrative practices to surface new voices and perspectives around questions of identity, culture and heritage. Our interdisciplinary research investigates how digital innovation and storytelling can encourage participation, interrelate diverse and oftentimes contradictory perspectives, and generate positive action regarding complex issues such as equality, migration, heritage-making and revitalisation, and social justice. We believe that democratic and integrated use of digital technology, immersive media and online platforms can empower local communities and promote participatory and sustainable management of their heritage and culture.
Sustainable & Resilient Communities
At StoryLab we use creative technologies, culture/heritage-led research and storytelling to enable broader and more diverse audiences to understand and engage with complex concepts related to environment and vulnerability, climate change and sustainability, human wellbeing and resilience.
Digital and sustainable innovation and creativity are invaluable tools for exploring the way people interpret the world and their place within it. These tools can ensure agency and empowerment, making communities and their places more resilient and sustainable, as well as contribute to safeguarding culture and heritage, and critical services and infrastructure from natural and manmade hazards.
For details please visit our projects page.
Bringing together academics and creative practitioners with wider industry and the charity and social action sectors is central to our work at StoryLab. Please get in touch with us to start a conversation about research collaboration, consultancy or to discuss PhD project opportunities.