Graduate School

Industrial Research - Games - Future Proof Computing - Intelligent Systems and Agents - Virtual Environments - Digital Storytelling research overview

The School of Creative Technologies’ researchers have a wide range of interests across the Creative Technologies multidisciplinary area, from the very artistic to the highly technical.

All our researchers’ work has its base in exciting new technologies and their application to support creative areas such as games design, animation and film narrative. We work closely with cultural heritage organisations worldwide to develop better methods of safeguarding our digital assests for the public and private sectors, and individuals.  We create intelligent systems and robots in order to analyse human motion, and also create business solutions based on artificial intelligence techniques.  We also undertake research and supervise students who develop the technology itself to support new applications, particularly related to teaching and training, for example: the use of virtual environments for healthcare training.

The School boasts a wide range of high-tech laboratories and cutting-edge technology. We are especially proud of our Virtual Reality Visualisation Centre, representing a world’s first for its innovative use of technology to create a flexible and adaptable virtual environment, and which you will be able to use while conducting your research at the University of Portsmouth.

For more information about how to apply please contact the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries using the Contact us page.

If you have any questions about studying for a research degree at the University of Portsmouth, please complete our enquiry form.

Key Facts

RAE rating: Our researchers entered their work into three very successful Unit of Assessments (UoAs) in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008: Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering (UoA 28), Computer Science and Informatics (UoA 23) and Art and Design (UoA 63).

Academic staff: 38, please see link to staff list webpage.

Postgraduate research students: 26

Internal links: Our researchers collaborate under the umbrella of the Centre for Cultural and Creative Research and the Centre for Art, Architecture and Design, as well as with the School of Computing, the Department of Psychology, the Department of Sports Science and the Department of Electronic and Computing Engineering.

External links: The School has many research partnerships with advanced technology and entertainment companies, as well as large organisations in the defence and healthcare industries.  We have extensive links with libraries and archives worldwide, together with comercial partners in the data managment/curation arena.  We also have close links with prestigious international collaborators in China, Canada, USA and Europe.

Resources

While conducting research at the University of Portsmouth, you will have access to the School’s well-equipped research centre (CiTech), housing a wide range of technology, including:

• Dedicated Optical motion-capture studio
• Extensive Video studios and broadcast equipment
• Sound studios
• High-spec specialist equipment, such as Prosthetic Robot Hands and EMG capture devices
• Multimedia laboratories, fully-equipped with the industry-standard animation, games, sound and video software
• A cutting-edge Virtual Reality Visualisation Centre, boasting a range of virtual and augmented reality systems.  The technologies range from large-scale immersive projection systems to smaller desktop tactile-feedback devices.

Research Centres

Centre for Cultural and Industrial Technologies Research (CiTECH)
The Centre for Cultural and Industrial Technologies Research (CiTECH) was established in 2009.  It's research focuses on the application of advanced computer-based technologies in the range of domains (digital preservation, healthcare, defence, security, education, entertainments, knowledge management and science), and also on creative technologies themselves and their impact on society.  It also looks at how technology is being, and will be used, to support creative area such as computer games design, narrative, animation, web/mobile applications and sound composition.

Institute of Industrial Research
The Institute of Industrial Research (IIR) was established in 2006 to enable industry and businesses to become more globally competitive through the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques. This is achieved through capitalising on research and expertise across the University of Portsmouth and developing this knowledge into bespoke solutions for our industry and business partners. The research at the IIR is mainly focussed on developing and applying intelligent techniques and algorithms on real-world problems. The resulting software enables the application or system to detect and to perceive, reason, learn and predict then act accordingly.

Research Areas

Future Proof computing

Stemming from research with cultural heritage institutions such as the British, French, Dutch and German National Libraries and the Digital Preservation Coalition, the Future Proof Computing researchers at Portsmouth conduct and supervise postgraduate research students in projects studying data curation, digital preservation and digital humanities.  In particular, we offer supervision for projects in e-archiving, emulation, virtualisation, technical registries, media transfer, preservation of complex digital objects such as computer games or digital art, database preservation and humanities data warehousing.

Games

Our researchers in the Games area conduct research projects in the rapidly growing discipline of ludological research, putting the University of Portsmouth at the forefront for the future success of the UK games industry.

If you are interested in undertaking research in this are, you are in good hands. Our researchers are extending the boundaries of computer games technology, both within the world of games and by migrating the technology to other areas.

Animation

The Advanced Computer Animation researchers at the University of Portsmouth work in the understanding and application of animation in real life training situations.

Our researchers offer you supervision in the animation field and its applications, such as simulation of medical consultations and entertainment, where we excel at research in the recreation of photorealistic facial animations in games and film.

Intelligent Systems and Robotics

The Intelligent Systems and Robotics researchers at Portsmouth conduct and supervise postgraduate research students in projects studying pattern recognition, intelligent robotics and their practical applications.

We offer supervision to students interested the above area and also in projects implementing computing frameworks for human motion analysis, multi-fingered robot manipulation (including prosthetics), data novelty detection and intelligent control for electric vehicle suspension.

Interactive Motion in Virtual Environments (iMoVE)

As technology improves and costs fall, Virtual Reality is being increasingly used for a wide variety of applications involving physical interation with Virtual Environments, including helathcare and rehabilitation, simulation, training and gameplay. The iMoVE research cluster is concerned with how hardware and software mediates these interactive experiences.  Our research is contributing to the understanding of how altering the virtual environment can influence movement and perception of movement, including how some visual and audio properties can influence walking speeds, reaching tasks and perceived self-motion.

Digital Storytelling

The research activitiy of the Digital Storytelling group falls into four broad categories: Academic papers, books etc (humanities/ social science); Filmmaking/ festivals; Art installation/ exhibition/curation; and New technologies/ new media and pedagogy.