Matt and Flo – can you tell us a little bit more about your experience and how you came to be Creative Technologists?

Matt: My background is in running DIY artist-led spaces and live art projects. Over the last eight years, but particularly since the pandemic I began to become more and more interested in digital tech and the intersection between gaming and art. I’m interested in continuing remote access to project for people for access reasons as well as widening the reach of content as well. I am mostly housebound, so for me online access is really important.

Flo: My background is in design for theatre and performance and scenography, alongside live art practices and installations/experiences for audiences. I’ve always had an interest in creating immersive, multi-sensory artworks, and there are lots of digital ways in which these kinds of things can be realised.

Creative technology sounds like a really broad field. Can you tell us more about it?

Flo: Creative technology is a discipline that requires a variety of different kinds of skills. Typically it may be utilising a digital screen format to create or present artwork, such as interactive game experiences, but it could also include things like designing and building immersive experiences using Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), gaming software like Unity or Unreal Engine, 3D graphics, robotics, photogrammetry and 3D printing. It’s also about using computing technology as an artistic and expressive medium. An example of this is creating and writing a coding script, where the purpose of the programme is to act as an artwork in and of itself, blending different types of computer programming.

What technology have you used to create the Digital Map and how will you keep it up to date?

Matt: The Digital Map uses an interactive map platform called MapMe. It is a platform that works on almost all mobile devices and desktop. It’s really user friendly as it’s web-based, so there’s no app to download in order to access it. Even though it is hosted on a map, we’re thinking of it more as Digital Library of Heritage content. It’s a place whereby looking at a bunch of pins on a map, you can see the stories of the area you live in or in a part of the district you’re looking to visit. Anyone, no matter their location, can learn a little bit more about Bradford District and its many hidden stories.

Flo: This live interactive digital tool will be populated with content as the year progresses. It broadens out the programme, that can be a place for people to explore, learn and see the programme in the geographical context of the district. The Digital Map allows people to do a bit of a deep dive alongside creating an exciting opportunity to document the programme live as it is happening and we aim for it to exist after the year is over.