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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/K001388/1
Title: Telling Tales of Engagement: The Wray Broadband Project
Principal Investigator: Race, Professor N
Other Investigators:
Rouncefield, Dr MF
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Computing & Communications
Organisation: Lancaster University
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 June 2012 Ends: 30 November 2013 Value (£): 10,027
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
This proposal seeks to tell the story of the Wray Broadband project in a fairly unusual fashion: through the construction of a digitally enhanced 'scarecrow' to take part in the annual village scarecrow festival that takes place in May. Both the design and construction of the scarecrow and the actual festival itself, including the village parade, would then become part of a documentary film. Lancaster University students will be involved in the detailed design of the scarecrow - but we expect it to incorporate a moveable camera (so that the scarecrow can provide images to its own blog, twitter feed, and so on).

In parallel to the development of a physical scarecrow, we propose to build a 'virtual festival' application that showcases scarecrows designed by local schoolchildren. The application, available to iPhone and Android devices, will require users to interact with the digitally enhanced scarecrow in Wray, in order to 'open up' a new set of scarecrows across the village that can only be viewed through the mobile device when stood in key locations. We plan to incorporate a competition element into the application, awarding users points for visiting the locations around the village and tagging (or 'catching') the virtual scarecrows. All the scarecrow designs and the application development will form part of the eventual documentary.

After the festival we anticipate the scarecrow going on tour at museums and galleries and, in this fashion, together with other artefacts and applications, telling the tale of the Wray Broadband project.

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Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.lancs.ac.uk