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JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
Minister for Education,
Science and Training
The Hon. Dr Brendan Nelson MP |
Minister for the Arts and
Sport
Senator The Hon. Rod Kemp |
ARTS AND AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL PARTNERSHIP
4 June, 2003 MIN 368/03
Today the Minister for Education, Science, and
Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, and the Minister for the Arts and
Sport, Senator Rod Kemp, announced the recipients of Commonwealth
funding for two innovative research projects.
The two successful showcase projects are "Auto
Nomad: A location-based handheld audio device for sound-art
applications" and "Fish-Bird: Autonomous interaction in a
contemporary arts setting" and were selected through national
competition by the Australia Council’s New Media Arts program,
Synapse, and the ARC’s Linkage-Projects program.
The projects will showcase cross-government
collaboration between the arts and science, and highlight the great
potential for scientists and artists to enhance each others’
research.
Outcomes of these collaborations, which represent
the cutting edge in arts and science research, will have benefits
and application in a range of industry settings. Australian artists
and scientists have a long history of cooperation and a strong
international reputation for innovation in experimentation and
research.
The media and creative industries are among the
fastest growing sectors of the new economy. In Australia, the
creative industries have been valued at $25 billion a year – as much
as the residential construction industry – or 3.3% of GDP. Creative
industries employ 350,000 people and, at 2.7% per annum, growth in
employment in creative industries outstrips the national average of
2.0%.
By adopting a ‘whole of government’ approach, the
Australia Council and the Australian Research Council (ARC) will
bring together innovators from diverse fields, make new connections
and progress the national innovation agenda.
Over the past three years, the ARC and the Australia
Council have worked together to ensure that creative arts research
and artistic practice receive support from the Commonwealth
Government in complementary programs. The two agencies have built up
a strong collaborative relationship, identifying areas in which
partnerships between the creative arts and science will result in a
significant contribution to Australian innovation.
On 28 May 2003 Dr Nelson announced further funding
for Linkage-Projects, which has now funded 586 new projects
this year, worth a total of $105.6 million over five years with a
total industry partner contribution of $158 million.
Research projects successful in winning funding to
commence in 2003 will be located at 33 universities around
Australia, and involve a total of 933 industry collaborations.
See attachment for information on the successful
projects:
Media contact:
Dr Nelson’s Office: Ross Hampton 0419 484 095
Australian Research Council: Genevieve Turville
0422 384 844
Senator Kemp’s Office: Richard Wise 0438 204 554
Australia Council for the Arts: Jennifer Cahill
0419 223 561
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PROJECT ONE - ‘Audio Nomad’ |
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ARC funding: |
$302,486 over three years |
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Australia Council Funding: |
$60,000 cash and $60,000 in-kind over three
years |
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Partner Organisations: |
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Sonic Architecture: |
$180,000 in-kind over three years |
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Host institution: |
University of New South Wales |
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Investigators: |
Dr Daniel Woo: Human Computer Interface
Lab, School of Computer Science
Professor Chris Rizos: Satellite
Navigation and Positioning Laboratory, School of Surveying &
Spatial Information Systems and Engineering |
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Artist: |
Dr Nigel Helyer: Sonic Objects; Sonic Architecture |
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Project description: |
Titled ‘Audio Nomad’, the project will develop
mobile hand-held, location-aware devices for augmented and
virtual reality systems.
Sound artist Dr Nigel Hellyer will work with
Professor Chris Rizos and Dr Daniel Woo from the University of
New South Wales to develop the hand-held wireless devices which
identify precisely the location of the user and deliver
location-specific sound-designs. For example, one of the
demonstration projects will assist users to re-trace the
physical course of the now demolished Berlin Wall and, where
there are now vacant spaces or re-built areas, the device will
deliver histories, oral testimonies and stories. Another
application will be a children’s guide to the Powerhouse
Museum’s Observatory Hill site in Sydney.
‘Audio Nomad’ works of art will be showcased at
the 2004 International Symposium of Electronic Art, the
major international event in new media art. Projected broader
applications seeded by this innovative collaboration could
include hand-held audio devices to assist blind users to
navigate complex urban environments and marine safety systems
able to generate audio warnings from an analysis of a ship’s
geo-spatial position. |
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PROJECT TWO - Fish-Bird Circle B-Movement B |
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ARC funding: |
$265,514 over three years |
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Australia Council Funding: |
$54,000 cash, $60,000 in-kind over three years |
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Partner Organisations: |
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Australian Network for Art and
Technology: |
$55,000
in-kind over three years |
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Artspace Visual Arts centre: |
$60,000 in-kind over three years |
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Museum of Contemporary Art: |
$30,000 in-kind |
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Patrick Systems and Technology: |
$30,000 in-kind over three years |
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Host institution: |
University of Sydney |
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Investigators: |
Dr David Rye, Steve Scheding, Stefan Williams:
Australian Centre for Field Robotics |
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Artist: |
Mari Velonaki: an artist working in the
field of interactive installation. |
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Project description: |
Titled "Fish-Bird: Autonomous Interaction in a
Contemporary Arts Setting", artist Mari Velonaki will work with
Dr David Rye and two early career researchers, Dr Steven
Scheding and Stefan Bernard in the ARC Key Centre for Field
Robotics at the University of Sydney.
The project will develop a work of art that is
also a persuasive experimental demonstration of an autokinetic
machine involving sensitive interactions between objects and
audiences. The artwork will result in an exhibition in which
members of the audience will interact with auto-kinetic objects
and their interaction will influence the behaviour of the
objects during and after the visit. To complete the project,
scientific advances will be made in areas of robotic vision and
man/machine interfaces. Engineers from Patrick Technology will
play a key role in systems analysis, software development and
problem solving.
The ARC Key Centre for Field Robotics at the
University of Sydney is a partner in the new ARC Centre of
Excellence for Autonomous Systems, which was announced in
December 2002. |
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