Seed-corn funding

• Aerial robots for sample collection in forests
  Canopy gradient of trees is a crucial but elusive part of forest ecosystems. How can we use aerial robots to help us monitor the ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest?
• Inclusive digital innovation through community technology in underserved communities
  Can VR and XR technology, when deployed as a digital design method, enhance current Community Technology practices to further the inclusive and innovative design of safe online digital spaces for women from underserved communities?
• Measuring exercise more effectively (MEME): Using wearable devices to measure exercise
  Depressive and anxiety disorders are the two most prevalent types of mental health condition and the leading cause of global disability. How can wearable devices help us understand how exercise helps to improve mental health?
• Think before you B (AI), structured decision-making for AI public buyers
  Public authorities are quickly deploying AI and forms of automation, procuring it from tech providers and consulting companies. This happens under fragmented and insufficient regulation, limited guidance, and a significant digital skills gap in the public sector. How can we help local authorities to make informed and correct decisions?
• Designing audience-centric VR
  How can we make virtual reality experiences as safe, inclusive and comfortable as possible for the widest range of audiences? Through our collective practice-led research, this project will focus on shaping responsible and thought-provoking digital futures and digital innovation.

• Exploring digital futures through play
  How can we harness the power of play to imagine futures in more inclusive, accessible and collaborative ways?
• Profiling the energy consumption of video streaming over 5G
  As the streaming of video content only continues to increase, how can we make sure we’re trying to meet sustainability targets whilst using ever more digital online services? This project will look at the video streaming services pipeline and specific objectives around their carbon footprint.
• Cognition - making mixed reality experiences accessible
  How can we make virtual reality more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities or impairments?
• Wearable robots for enhancing embodied communication
  Could wearable robotic technology help enhance communication, especially for those with complex communication difficulties?
• Against digital fatalism: resisting technology hype through hopeful artful interventions
  How can we see through the hype around emerging technologies and increase the hope about the future?

• Striving for a fairer digital playing field in Brazil
  There’s been lots of positive effort to address digital inequality in Brazil, but not all of its output gets shared as widely as it might. This project is using technology to overcome social polarisation and reconnect societies in the country.
• Caring for fragile infrastructures to enhance urban sustainability
  A pilot project that aims to discover how immersive meetings can help stakeholders (re)engage with urban environments.
• Helping to boost kids’ confidence with maths
  Adult numeracy in the UK appears to be in decline, and maths anxiety widespread. Using digital technology, this project is linking maths and play, building positive attitudes to learning maths among primary school children.
• Heroic verse: a poetic push for maths and tech
  Poetry is humanity’s oldest linguistic art form – and surprisingly well-suited to improving the accuracy of cutting-edge digital technology.
• Sketching new perspectives on energy systems
  Could you draw a digital future? This project aims to promote better understanding of technological innovation by doing exactly that.