The lab approach to research
My abiding research interest is in developing new and interesting methods, mixing old and new techniques to create novel ways of unscrewing the universe. My Playful Methods lab featured in the REF 2021 Environment Statement for Geography at Birmingham, showcasing the innovative work being undertaken in this area.
The focus of my work is in playing with different techniques, seeing what's possible and how we can generate new insights. Over the years I've leveraged internal and external funding to build up a cache of equipment for use by both students and researchers at all levels. The lab thus has the capability to generate and analyse a variety of types of data. This includes high powered workstations for rapid processing of 3D datasets, photogrammetry software, drones, touchtables, a variety of different VR headsets (including eye tracking) as well as conventional and 360 degree video. There's also a 3D printer knocking around somewhere...
Lab approaches are common in science, where researchers acknowledge the team of people that they work with who develop projects on aligned topics. Over the years I've been fortunate to work with a great group of people who have helped develop these different methods, in collaboration with myself and through developing their own projects. My book on VR was a direct product of this approach, with some of the case studies coming out of MSc projects from students working in the Playful Methods Lab. I also work closely with other colleagues who are not directly involved in my lab, providing support and technical expertise; a recent example of this was in the mapping of crowdsourced air quality datasets.
The focus of my work is in playing with different techniques, seeing what's possible and how we can generate new insights. Over the years I've leveraged internal and external funding to build up a cache of equipment for use by both students and researchers at all levels. The lab thus has the capability to generate and analyse a variety of types of data. This includes high powered workstations for rapid processing of 3D datasets, photogrammetry software, drones, touchtables, a variety of different VR headsets (including eye tracking) as well as conventional and 360 degree video. There's also a 3D printer knocking around somewhere...
Lab approaches are common in science, where researchers acknowledge the team of people that they work with who develop projects on aligned topics. Over the years I've been fortunate to work with a great group of people who have helped develop these different methods, in collaboration with myself and through developing their own projects. My book on VR was a direct product of this approach, with some of the case studies coming out of MSc projects from students working in the Playful Methods Lab. I also work closely with other colleagues who are not directly involved in my lab, providing support and technical expertise; a recent example of this was in the mapping of crowdsourced air quality datasets.
Current team
Ray Alcock - Examining the value of ritualised local community events to wider performance theory
Shivani Singh - Exploring the spatial politics of Islamophobia in the UK.
Shivani Singh - Exploring the spatial politics of Islamophobia in the UK.
Alumni
Former research fellows and research assistants
Arshad Isakjee - Worked on an AHRC project using community budgeting to explore the role of culture in neighbourhood redevelopment. Now a Lecturer at the University of Liverpool.
Saskia Warren - Worked on an AHRC project undertaking ethnographic research in the local cultural sector and establishing a community-led research project. Now a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester.
Colin Lorne - Worked on an AHRC project using a smartphone app to augment a neighbourhood planning process. Now a Lecturer at the Open University.
Lisa Fuller - Worked on a teaching project, developing materials for bringing GIS into different aspects of the geography curriculum. Now a research support officer at the University of Birmingham.
Jane Ricketts-Hein - Worked on an ESRC project examining the advantages and shortfalls of walking interviews
Former PhD students
Polly Jarman - Examined children's interactions with nature and technology
Rob Smith - Redevelops abandoned buildings as part of his research examining creativity-led urban regeneration
Nurulhusna Qamaruz Zaman - Using embedded ethnographies with practitioners to explore participatory placemaking in Malaysia
Tess Osborne - Secured an Assistant Professor position in the School of Demography at the University of Groningen a couple of months before she completed her PhD.
Deyala Altarawneh - participatory workshops with urban design practitioners to explore the potential for brownfield regeneration in Jordan
Bin Li - examining the governance of urban regeneration in Guangzhou
Nuruljannah Zainal Abidin - practitioner interviews and participant observation examining sustainable development in Malaysia
Colin Lorne - embedded ethnographies within workplaces examining the geographies of co-working.
Tom Disney - ethnographic work embedded in Russian orphanages
Arshad Isakjee - walking interviews in combination with ethnography exploring identity and belonging in young British Muslim men
Rosemary Thornes - GIS and urban morphology in Shrewsbury
Becky Morris - deep ethnographies examining blood donation
Hiske Bienstman - GIS and urban morphology in the Netherlands
Former visiting fellows
Giangavino Pazzola - Visited from University of Turin for two months in 2017 to explore actors in the creative economy using social network analysis
Dixiang Xie - From the School of Architecture and Urban Planning , Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, Dixiang spent a year in Birmingham in 2016 examining the role of the creative sector in urban regeneration.
Razia Zandieh - From TU Delft, spent three months in Birmingham using walking interviews to explore accessibility issues for older residents.
Arshad Isakjee - Worked on an AHRC project using community budgeting to explore the role of culture in neighbourhood redevelopment. Now a Lecturer at the University of Liverpool.
Saskia Warren - Worked on an AHRC project undertaking ethnographic research in the local cultural sector and establishing a community-led research project. Now a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester.
Colin Lorne - Worked on an AHRC project using a smartphone app to augment a neighbourhood planning process. Now a Lecturer at the Open University.
Lisa Fuller - Worked on a teaching project, developing materials for bringing GIS into different aspects of the geography curriculum. Now a research support officer at the University of Birmingham.
Jane Ricketts-Hein - Worked on an ESRC project examining the advantages and shortfalls of walking interviews
Former PhD students
Polly Jarman - Examined children's interactions with nature and technology
Rob Smith - Redevelops abandoned buildings as part of his research examining creativity-led urban regeneration
Nurulhusna Qamaruz Zaman - Using embedded ethnographies with practitioners to explore participatory placemaking in Malaysia
Tess Osborne - Secured an Assistant Professor position in the School of Demography at the University of Groningen a couple of months before she completed her PhD.
Deyala Altarawneh - participatory workshops with urban design practitioners to explore the potential for brownfield regeneration in Jordan
Bin Li - examining the governance of urban regeneration in Guangzhou
Nuruljannah Zainal Abidin - practitioner interviews and participant observation examining sustainable development in Malaysia
Colin Lorne - embedded ethnographies within workplaces examining the geographies of co-working.
Tom Disney - ethnographic work embedded in Russian orphanages
Arshad Isakjee - walking interviews in combination with ethnography exploring identity and belonging in young British Muslim men
Rosemary Thornes - GIS and urban morphology in Shrewsbury
Becky Morris - deep ethnographies examining blood donation
Hiske Bienstman - GIS and urban morphology in the Netherlands
Former visiting fellows
Giangavino Pazzola - Visited from University of Turin for two months in 2017 to explore actors in the creative economy using social network analysis
Dixiang Xie - From the School of Architecture and Urban Planning , Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, Dixiang spent a year in Birmingham in 2016 examining the role of the creative sector in urban regeneration.
Razia Zandieh - From TU Delft, spent three months in Birmingham using walking interviews to explore accessibility issues for older residents.
Artist collaborators
I have enjoyed some fruitful collaborations with artists over the years, most notably:
Emily Warner - As part of a University of Birmingham Radical Sabbatical, Emily worked with Tess Osborne and myself on a project responding to geotagged tweets from Birmingham. We published a collaborative paper in the journal Geohumanities.
Dan Burwood - Dan and I have collaborated on a number of photography projects, most recently co-funding the initial phases of his Some Cities project alongside Birmingham City Council as part of an AHRC grant. We also published an article in the journal Liminalities.
Chris Jam - Chris and I have collaborated on a couple of short films using poetry as a means of exploring urban space. This resulted in a publication in the journal Area.
Brigitte Winsor & John Sear - Designed and built a touchtable app as part of my AHRC project on the cultural sector.
Emily Warner - As part of a University of Birmingham Radical Sabbatical, Emily worked with Tess Osborne and myself on a project responding to geotagged tweets from Birmingham. We published a collaborative paper in the journal Geohumanities.
Dan Burwood - Dan and I have collaborated on a number of photography projects, most recently co-funding the initial phases of his Some Cities project alongside Birmingham City Council as part of an AHRC grant. We also published an article in the journal Liminalities.
Chris Jam - Chris and I have collaborated on a couple of short films using poetry as a means of exploring urban space. This resulted in a publication in the journal Area.
Brigitte Winsor & John Sear - Designed and built a touchtable app as part of my AHRC project on the cultural sector.