Blogs

Steve Benford

Steve Benford is professor of collaborative computing at the University of Nottingham’s Mixed Reality Laboratory.


Digging the crates: how DJs improvise like banjo players

Posted: Mon, November 04, 2013 - 10:43:07

If I hadn’t been a banjo player then perhaps I might have been a DJ. After all, both are cool, hip, and generally down with the kids. There are other similarities, too, as my colleagues Yousif Ahmed and Andy Crabtree have revealed through an ethnographic study of the lives of nightclub DJs. When I think of a DJ, I immediately…

Designing discomfort

Posted: Mon, October 07, 2013 - 10:22:03

Why is the Imperial War Museum North like Oblivion, the world’s first vertical drop rollercoaster? Sounds like the beginning of bad joke doesn’t it? But actually they do have something significant in common. Moreover, it’s something that speaks to how we interact with computers. Which is which? The answer is that both have been deliberately designed to make people uncomfortable.…

Interacting under canvas

Posted: Mon, August 19, 2013 - 12:46:45

I’m just back from a short camping trip and reflecting on how exciting it is to live under canvas. There is a visceral thrill to being in a tent as the thin fabric leaks noise, light, heat, and shadows. Laying awake in the dark you become aware of nearby voices, the sound of rain pattering on the roof, the tent…

Banjos and discrete technologies

Posted: Mon, August 05, 2013 - 3:39:05

I begin this post with a confession. I play the banjo. There, it’s out in the open and I feel better already. Actually, I play the tenor banjo in Irish style, although this is a distinction that probably only banjo players care about (but boy will they care). You’ll often find me on a Sunday afternoon in the Vat and…

Trajectories into practice

Posted: Tue, July 23, 2013 - 11:00:32

I’m Steve Benford, professor of collaborative computing at the University of Nottingham’s Mixed Reality Laboratory. My research explores new interaction techniques and concepts for creative and cultural experiences. I characterise my approach as performance-led research in the wild, meaning that my team initially helps artists and performers develop and tour new experiences, which we then study in the wild, ultimately…