POSITIVE REALITIES
POSITIVE REALITIES
A project using augmented reality to benefit wellbeing for young people in Coventry
Innovation with impact - how we made the virtual and the augmented a positive reality for Coventry UK City of Culture
Create Central invited the region’s most creative thinkers in film, TV, performance, games and digital media to immerse themselves in the rapidly growing world of augmented and virtual reality and then develop a prototype that would use those technologies to positively impact the wellbeing of young people in Coventry for Coventry UK City of Culture.
After workshops with local young people, training from StoryFutures Academy, the UK’s National Centre for Immersive Storytelling, and a rigorous selection process, Amrit Singh, Creative Director at Rebel Creatives and Nigel P. Harris, Creative Director at JellyBob were chosen as the winning team that would collaborate on a web-based augmented reality project called Urban Jungle.
They worked closely with partner agency, Positive Youth Foundation and a cohort of Digital Ambassadors between the ages of 16 and 25, who co-curated a series of place-based experiences and stories that spoke to their lived experience of Coventry.
The result was Urban Jungle AR - a smartphone augmented reality (AR) platform developed especially for Coventry’s City of Culture year which hosted a series of virtual performances by established and up-and-coming talent – from spoken word and grime artists to dance and circus performers, viewed using a smartphone or mobile tablet at locations around FarGo Village.
Akin to virtual busking, Urban Jungle uses innovative but accessible technology to raise the profile of young talent, offering them a platform in high-profile locations across their city.
A scaled-up version produced and directed by the two Birmingham creative businesses, JellyBob and Rebel Creatives was created especially for CVX Festival that featured content from the original pilot, plus new virtual performances featuring artists appearing at the festival; the project was a virtual companion to CVX: “a festival of art and performance in your pocket”.
“Create Central was set up to support the creative content sector to embrace new technologies and provide the building blocks for the future of media. With the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery, as part of BFI National Cluster Growth Fund Agreement, this is a fantastic project that demonstrates the benefits of collaborative working in the region.”
Urban Jungle AR Showcase video copyright of JellyBob and Rebel Creatives 2022
Urban Jungle is the result of collaboration with Coventry University, Birmingham City University, and Positive Realities: XR for Youth Wellbeing, an innovation programme that challenged regional companies to come up with an idea that uses immersive tech (AR/VR) to positively impact young people’s self-esteem, delivered in partnership by Coventry City of Culture Trust, StoryFutures Academy and Create Central with support from the BFI awarding funds from the National Lottery.