Artificial Intelligence, Education
Hales Wilson
Byte-Sized Culture: Between the Algorithm and ...

Artificial Intelligence (AI)  is already reshaping how children learn — in private schools, public classrooms, homeschool environments, and museum galleries. The question is no longer whether it will arrive, but who controls it and who benefits.

Byte-Sized Culture: Between the Algorithm and the Classroom: AI, K–12 Education, and the Cultural Institutions Caught in Between
creative industries, entertainment, Emerging Technology, Extended Reality, Digital Futures
Amy Glazer
How Can Animated Storytelling be Enhanced by ...

Immersive technology is not new in the slightest, with immersive tricks like ‘Pepper’s Ghost’ and projectors being used for decades. Nor is animation new, with animated shorts dating back to the early 1900s. Animation is a constantly evolving medium that lends well to immersive and Extended Reality (XR), and has been combined with XR to create well-known products, such as Pokémon Go. By combining two growing fields with a strong IP as the baseline, there are exponential growth opportunities for both fields. However, the combination of immersive technology and narrative-led animation continues to fall short of its potential in the entertainment market. Most combinations of animation and immersive technology often end up as avatar creators, video games, or VR experiences. The goal of this research project is to find an approach to combining animation and immersive technology that is marketable, accessible, and creates immersive storytelling.

How Can Animated Storytelling be Enhanced by Immersive Technology
Arts & Technology, Audience Engagement, museums, creative industries
Staff Researcher
Toward a Polyphonic Ecosystem: Mapping Audience ...

This article examines the shifting domain of audience engagement within the arts, tracing a trajectory from ephemeral street painting performances to the high-stakes spectacle of the Super Bowl halftime show and the emergent "postdigital" museum. By synthesizing the institutional critiques of Stephen E. Weil, the "Third Space" theories of Ray Oldenburg, and the "Experience Economy" framework by Pine and Gilmore, the future of cultural meaning lies in the transition from institutional authority to communal "polyphony." Through a series of case studies—including street painting festivals and the "Benito Bowl"—this paper explores how the quality of "presence" and the "Arc of Engagement" serve as the definitive mechanisms for meaning-making in an increasingly mediated, technosocial world.

Toward a Polyphonic Ecosystem: Mapping Audience Engagement from the “Benito Bowl” to the Postdigital Museum
entertainment, creative industries, Arts & Culture
Lehan Xu
From Cultural Diplomacy to Creative Cities: A ...

International theatre festivals have long served as sites of cultural exchange, political expression, and artistic innovation. This article traces their evolution from post–World War II cultural diplomacy to their role in today’s “creative city” economy, examining how festivals reflect shifting geopolitical forces, neoliberal policies, and ongoing tensions between global prestige and local representation.

From Cultural Diplomacy to Creative Cities: A History of International Theatre Festival
Arts & Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technology
Hales Wilson
Byte-Sized Culture: Women in Tech/Arts

This Women's History Month, AMT Lab highlights five groundbreaking women redefining the intersection of arts and technology across disciplines spanning new media, algorithmic theater, performance art, music activism, and artificial intelligence. Each trailblazer has used the tools of her time to challenge who gets to be seen, heard, and represented. Their collective body of work makes clear that the future of art and technology will be shaped, in no small part, by women who refused to wait for a seat at the table.

Byte-Sized Culture: Women in Tech/Arts

Use Sentiment Analytics to Predict Motion Picture Box-Office

Use Sentiment Analytics to Predict Motion Picture Box-Office

The motion picture industry has long searched the magical formula of predicting future box office performances. A glimpse of future box office performances can help a studio save millions in post-production marketing and distribution expenses.  The same logic applies to all nonprofit presenting and performing arts organizations - if NPOs can predict their future events’ financial outcomes NPOs can save their precious resources and reallocate them to other uses. Social media may just provide this magical prediction formula.

Opening Doors: The People Behind Sensory-Friendly Programs

Opening Doors: The People Behind Sensory-Friendly Programs

One of the most important aspects of successful sensory-friendly programming is the proper training and involvement of staff, volunteers, and artists. Despite any initial concerns or nerves about the uncertainties with this programming, staff members at every organization I spoke with were eager to get involved. This is the third post in our series on sensory-friendly programming.

Tell us how you really feel - AMT Lab 2015 Reader Poll

Tell us how you really feel - AMT Lab 2015 Reader Poll

Hello AMT Lab Readers! 

With another year of research, reviews, interviews, and more almost completed, we wanted to take a moment to ask about your needs and about what content you'd like to see more of in the future. Please consider taking a moment to complete our 2015 Reader Poll, either below or on the home page so we can better serve your needs.

Can Cloud-Based Event Management Software Help Arts Managers Be “Propared?”

Can Cloud-Based Event Management Software Help Arts Managers Be “Propared?”

With a wealth of project management, task management, and personnel management software now at our fingertips, it can be difficult to know which software is the best for an organization’s needs, especially arts organizations with their unique project structures and demands. Enter Propared. A software application designed for use by project managers working on live events. I met the Propared team at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Conference in March and had a demo of the software. 

Click here to learn more.

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STEAM Learning at the Carnegie Science Center

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STEAM Learning at the Carnegie Science Center

Moving the conversation around public education from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) has long beleaguered arts managers and arts educators alike.  Defending the argument for arts programming and arts education can be difficult in the face of shrinking school budgets and a highly competitive grant environment.  Particularly in a country that increasingly favors the hard sciences above the humanities, cultural pursuits, and artistic studies.  Despite gains at the federal level with the new core arts standards, the STEAM caucus, and the first budget increase for the National Endowment for the Arts in years, it is still easy to feel defeated.  The question remains, what can arts leaders and community organizers do at the local level to push the conversation in a positive direction?

Affordable And Convenient Access To Word, Excel With Cloud-Based Office 365

Affordable And Convenient Access To Word, Excel With Cloud-Based Office 365

Office 365, Microsoft’s cloud-based software service, provides affordable monthly access to the ubiquitous software suite: Microsoft Word, Excel, Publisher, Access, OneNote, and PowerPoint. AMT Lab contributor Kristen Sorek West speaks with the Pittsburgh Choral Arts about their experience using the tool and the features it offers. Click here to read more. 

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Silicon Struggle: The Battle for The Bay Area Arts' Scene

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If you told the average San Francisco resident 40 years ago that the art scene in the Bay Area would be gasping for life in 2015, they probably would have laughed in your face.  But it is 2015, and that is the reality we are facing.  The tech giants have moved in, and  tension is building between the Silicon Valley community and its non-profit entities.  In particular, arts organizations seem to be at an extreme disadvantage for a few reasons:

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CREATE Lab: Creating Social Impact Through Empowering Communities

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CREATE Lab: Creating Social Impact Through Empowering Communities

CREATE Lab creates multi-disciplinary learning experiences that allow communities to become technologically fluent. CREATE Lab’s novel combinations of visual arts and technologies provide a wealth of new potential tools to arts administrators and their organization. This article will introduce a few of the exciting projects that CREATE Lab is already testing in the Pittsburgh community, as well as access points for administrators and educators who are interested in implementing them.

The Art of Data Management

The Art of Data Management

This post, originally published on Analysis from TRG Arts, is the second in a series of blog posts sharing success stories and best practices to highlight the benefits of effective data management. Find the first post here.

Data isn’t about numbers. It’s about people. When analyzed, data tells stories about people and their actions. Right now, in your database, a story exists about the decisions that people in your organization make. And, a story exists for every patron, which chronicles their relationship with your organization. 

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Research Update 1: How Technology Supports Collaborative Artistic Projects

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Research Update 1: How Technology Supports Collaborative Artistic Projects

Picture a producer preparing for the upcoming world premiere Contemporary Color, “a pep rally pop music mashup.” Conceived by David Byrne and commissioned by Luminato Festival and Brooklyn Academy of Music, Contemporary Color will bring together artists such as Nelly Furtado, St. Vincent, and Ira Glass, 350 performers, and a 15 piece band for its world-premiere performance in Toronto this summer. Not only are the artists, performers, and musicians all located in different cities across North America, great distances also separate the designers, technicians, and other producers. To coordinate the project across these distances, the producer relies on online collaborative tools to orchestrate the project from pre-production to post-production.

Tableau: The High Cost / High Reward of Data Visualization

Tableau: The High Cost / High Reward of Data Visualization

With more than 23,000 customer accounts, Tableau has established itself as a powerhouse of data visualization experts.   Clients include aerospace companies such as SpaceX, healthcare institutes like John Hopkins Hospital, and even financial sector customers such as Goldman Sachs.  But what does Tableau- a rather expensive budget line item- do for its non-profit customers like the Red Cross?  What does data visualization even mean for non-profit groups, let alone arts organizations?

Read the full article by clicking here.

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Hollywood Stock Exchange: A League of Its Own

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Hollywood Stock Exchange: A League of Its Own

First launched in 1996, HSX is a free web-based multiplayer gaming simulator of American film industry. The rules are simple: players use virtual currency to buy, sell, short and cover “shares” of films, directors, actors and other related virtual securities. Although the exchange is entirely fictional, it reacts to actual industry-related news, making itself a community and information hub for both professionals and enthusiasts in the film industry. 

Opening Doors: Best Practices for Developing Sensory-Friendly Programs

Opening Doors: Best Practices for Developing Sensory-Friendly Programs

In part 1 of Opening Doors, I reflected on sensory-friendly programming through my personal experience at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. These performances create an incredible opportunity for arts organizations to include individuals and families from around their communities. Yet effective implementation requires time and in-depth planning with staff and community partners. This second post continues the discussion looking at best practices related to sensory-friendly program design.

The Future of Microcredentials: Why Arts Organizations Should Prioritize Digital Badges Over College Degrees

The Future of Microcredentials: Why Arts Organizations Should Prioritize Digital Badges Over College Degrees

Digital badges are an alternative method of credentialing that can identify specific skills that a learner has mastered through the course of their own self-directed learning. Over the course of this research, I will be sharing more about the digital badge acquisition process, taxonomies of digital badges, initiatives being undertaken to standardize and create accreditation, and what employers should know for using digital badges in both hiring and continuing education of employees.