Brief biography

I am currently employed as Senior Lecturer in Digital Media at the University of the West of England (UWE).

My teaching specialisms and research interests span across: play and interaction, physical (sensor-based) computing, sonification of complex processes, generative art and music, installation art, web design as well as multimedia authoring.

This academic year, I am leading a number of modules on BSc courses in web design, audio & music technology, creative music technology as well as the MSc in Information Technology; and also the Graduate Development Programme for web design students.

Recently I successfully completed my PhD in 'Listening to the Mind at Play - Sonified Biofeedback as Generative Art Practice and Theory' (London Metropolitan University). With 'The Breath of the Moon' I have now continued to create sonic art with a focus on generative processes.

Connected to the PhD is a recently published article entitled 'Listening to the Body's Excitations', written for Performance Research, Volume 15, No. 3 (Routledge/ Taylor & Francis (London & New York) Sept 2010). This issue focuses on listening, and features images, sounds and a short text of my biofeedback work 'Excitations'.

I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and - together with the Human-Centred Design Team - have been awarded one of UWE's Teaching Excellence Awards 2010. This year is also my first year as external examiner for the MA Digital Media at London Metropolitan University.

My full CV can be downloaded here.

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Contact details:

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Press photos

Excitations, work in progress 2005, © Michaela Palmer

Excitations, final performance 2009, © Michaela Palmer

Excitations, final performance 2009, © Michaela Palmer

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Physical computing

My current practice very often involves physical computing and human computer interfacing. Human computer interfacing (not synonymous with human computer interaction) means developing communication devices that make the interaction between two or more participants possible. Like good communication devices, they work best when they interfere as little as possible with the actual conversation taking place.

There are many different kinds of human computer interfaces. Today, nearly every web site, software application or ticket machine makes use of graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Yet despite their popularity, sometimes GUIs are not the best possible interfaces for a given situation, and may not allow for the most intuitive form of interacting. This makes it necessary to investigate into other, non-graphical kinds of interfaces that prioritise other senses than the visual, and require other design approaches.

Some of the equipment used in physical computing and the development of new interfaces.

Physical computing is an approach that bases interface design on how human beings express themselves physically. Sensors are used to trace human expression, and microcontrollers are used to convert human activities into electrical signals a computer can interpret. With this as a basis, new interfaces can be built.

Over the last 10 years or so, I have successfully guided a substantial number of students in developing sensor-based interfaces.

Many innovative applications have been prototyped during this time, including an action painting program that utilises the motion tracking of Nintendo Wii controllers (see image on the right), new musical interfaces that colour-track the activities or the location of their players, interactive sound environments, responsive video installations, VJ applications, as well as applets that allow for musical collaboration over the internet.

Alongside the teaching, I have developed a number of physical computing artefacts used in art installations and dance performances.

'Shado tracker', for example, was an application developed in Max/MSP that can track the location of dance performers on stage. By moving through designated zones, they can trigger video playback and improvise a live soundtrack. The audience only sees the shadows of the dancers, overlaid by video clips of movement recorded earlier. This overlay of present and past, with which the performers can play, makes for intriguing viewing.

'Livespace' was a large-scale audio-visual installation developed for Waterman's Art Gallery, London, which focused on natural as well as human activity cycles. The aim was to make the gallery space come 'alive’ by capturing, interpreting and representing data from sources in the natural and man-made environment.

Microphones and cameras collected live data from both in and outside the gallery, which were then processed and played back as a series of images and real-time surround sound. The images were collated by a server and played back in a montage style, which allowed visitors to see the present and the recent past as a time lapse.

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Creative practice blog

The research I undertook for my PhD ('Listening to the Mind at Play – Sonified Biofeedback as Generative Art Practice and Theory') lead me to explore many kinds of generative practices, amongst them Eastern philosophies and practices such as Zen and Yoga. It took about nine years to complete the PhD, which means I have been practising these techniques for a little while.

This is hardly any time at all, if one wants to explore these practices in any depth. But as Western academics we are often lead to neglect the qualities revealed to us by embodied practices. So these days I find myself delivering what is required whilst training to become a yoga teacher. My thoughts and observations are the content of my creative practice blog.

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