The Bath Digital Festival is an annual platform for igniting innovation and connecting with communities. The University of Bath is a sponsor and partner of the festival which is a vibrant hub for the south west of innovation, creativity, and cutting-edge technology. Highlights of the Bath Digital Festival which include events from University of Bath digital tech experts.

Katrina Kelly, Head of Community Engagement at the University of Bath, says:

We are thrilled to be sponsoring Bath Digital Festival again this year. Our contribution to the local cultural sector is important to us and the Digital Festival aligns well with many of our research strengths at the University. If you can get to the Digital Festival's morning showcase events this year, you'll be able to explore a lot of our research, with demonstrations covering health and wellbeing to augmented humans and even digital motion capture for the film sector. Being part of this vibrant festival is very exciting.

Wednesday 14 May

Register a place for the Sustain Showcase which includes demonstrations from the Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour (IDSB).

9.30-11.30 Sustain Showcase

  • How do online interactions shape what we believe? The Carrier Tool – Dr Will Smith, Dr Jiahao Eric Yang, Institute Research Associates
  • Seeing Society, Preserving Privacy – A demonstration of Social Pulse– Dr Lukasz Piwek
  • Threats and Trade-offs: Can you grow a business while surviving cyber threats? – Dr Joanna Syrda
  • Investigating the balance of privacy versus security in parenting environments – Katie Thomas
  • Growing Up Gaming: Understanding the views and actions of UK teenagers on digital gaming harm – Catherine Bostock
  • How do people engage with multiple online communities and why does it matter? – Dessi Bocheve
  • Masking online identity – Jessica Johansen

13.00-14.00: IDSB Workshop Bias and the art of AI systems development: a practical guide

Register a place for this hands on workshop with facilitator Dr Julian Padget, Department of Computer Science, for anyone who works in AI and who has responsibility for approving, developing and maintaining systems with “AI inside”.

14.00-15.30 Growing up and being in the digital age

Register a place for this facilitated panel discussion with IDSB experts on growing up with smartphones, AI and being online. The panel will include IDSB Director Prof Adam Joinson (facilitator), Prof David Ellis, Dr Olivia Brown, Prof Danae Stanton Fraser and Katie Thomas.

Thursday 15 May

9.30-11.30: Beings Showcase

Register a place for this showcase includes demonstrations from the Institute for the Augmented Human (IAH) on:

  • Smart prosthetic upper limbs – Dr Leen Jabban
  • Prosthetic interfaces – Dr Elena Seminati
  • Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI)

CAMERA, the University of Bath’s Centre for the Analysis of Motion, Entertainment Research and Applications, will also be showcasing alongside the IAH. They will be sharing insights on their newly refurbished facilities and discussing the potential a deeper and more detailed understanding of motion unleashes in redefining our understanding of being human. This includes:

  • Showreel – providing video overview of CAMERA facilities and projects
  • Avatar Personalisation VR demo on the revolutionary impact that personalised avatars can have on emotions, entertainment, training, education and emotional self-regulation applications – led by Dr Anca Salagen
  • Markerless Gait Analysis demo on how markerless motion capture is transforming stroke patient rehabilitation and injury prevention as well as sharing challenges of integrating technology within clinical practice in the UK - led by Dr Logan Wade

The Department of Compute Science will also showcase the following innovations:

  • Race Yourselves cycling game developed at Bath – the VR exercise game with an exercise bike and a VR headset and screen will be available to demo
  • Breathe Hero – a video game for rehabilitation for children with MS and other lung diseases
  • Actigaze where you can type with your eye movements
  • VibeStride founded by Dr Zoe Jeffrey, Research Associate and alumni – the physical education app helping teenage girls engage with mainstream sport

11.30-12.30: Augmented Human Futures: The Positive, the Negative, and the Wonderfully Weird

Register a place for this IAH event which includes short keynote talks followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A:

  • 11:30–12:00: Keynote by Tilly Lockey on people-first innovation in human augmentation, the need for inclusive design, and her vision for future possibilities (Tilly will also introduce the three speculative futures of the positive, negative, and weird as part of her talk)
  • 12:00–12:10: A short ten-minute talk by Owen Collumb on his experience of working with developers as a BCI pilot at Cybathlon and his hopes for more inclusive technology futures
  • 12:10–12:20: Short perspectives from Dr Ben Metcalfe, Deputy Director of the Institute for the Augmented Human, and Dr Leen Jabban, on future opportunities and challenges in prosthetics (Leen) and broader augmentation (Ben)
  • 12:20–12:30: Panel Q&A discussion for inviting reflections and audience questions, moderated by Lucy Paine, Entrepreneur in Residence at the SETsquared Bath Innovation Centre and TechSPARK Ecosystem Developer

13.00-14.00: The Big Conversation

Register a place for this BRLSI session with Dr Ben Metcalfe, Deputy Director of the Institute for the Augmented Human, to explore what it means to be human in a world increasingly shaped by AI, robotics, and digital transformation.

SETsquared Bath Innovation Centre events

The SETsquared Bath Innovation Centre supports entrepreneurs leading high-growth innovative or disruptive technology ventures. They will be hosting several networking and fringe events throughout the Bath Digital Festival, including:

There will also be a free Video Storytelling Masterclass as part of the fringe event schedule from University of Bath alumnus, Ross Exton, Founder of Watch & Learn Productions. See our case study on how Ross was supported through our SETsquared Bath Innovation Centre.