Mediate

Opening

School of Art, Design and Media University of Portsmouth (Co-ordinator)	Institute of Psychiatry Kings College London
Faculty of Art, Media and Technology Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht	Audiovisual Institute Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Show Connections Limited	Autisme Europe

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• To design, produce, build and validate an intelligent, immersive, multisensory, interactive environment that reacts to each unique (PAS) user, allowing expression of multisensory experiences: creations which can be replayed and communicated to others.
  
• This environment will be transportable.

MEDIATE is NOT

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MEDIATE is a Dialogue between Disciplines

• Our project originally applied for funding to the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) - their conclusion was it was not science, no hypotheses - they suggested AHRB.
  
• The UK's Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) decided they could not consider it as it was therapy and suggested the UK's Medical Research Council (MRC).
  
• We knew it was not therapy, instead our history of seeking funding for MEDIATE shows that EC Programmes are genuinely funding multi-disciplinary research and not just paying lip service to the concept.
  
• So MEDIATE will lead to new expression (which maybe "artistic") and (which should be subject to "scientific analysis") which will lead to new understandings (which may be applied to "training"). Nevertheless, if it is fun and allows expression and the user feels in control (perceives a sense of agency) then it may well be "therapeutic".
  
  
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