Blockchain, Digital Futures, Emerging Technology
Staff Researcher
Blockchains or Pawprints? Furries as a ...

This article explores the intersection of digital art, NFTs, and community governance through the lens of the furry fandom, a decentralized community of artists and enthusiasts. With the rise of NFTs, the ability to authenticate digital art and protect creators' work has become a critical concern. The study examines the resistance within the furry community to adopt NFTs, highlighting their reliance on community-based trust and governance over "trustless" blockchain systems. While some see potential in NFTs to safeguard intellectual property, many furries are skeptical, valuing social trust and ethics over commercialization. By studying the furry subculture's approach to art ownership and the challenges they face, the article poses larger questions about the future of NFTs and blockchain technology in creative spaces.

Blockchains or Pawprints? Furries as a case-study for understanding digital art provenance through NFTs and community governance
Arts & Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Futures, Emerging Technology, Marketing, Research, Podcast
Brett Ashley Crawford, Ph.D.
The Future is Now: Our Most-Read Articles and ...

As technology continues to reshape the arts and entertainment landscape, our readers and listeners have shown a clear appetite for understanding these transformations. From AI's role in creative processes to the evolution of virtual reality and streaming, this year's most popular content reveals the questions on everyone's minds.

The Future is Now: Our Most-Read Articles and Most-Downloaded Podcasts of the Year
creative industries, Film, entertainment, Arts & Technology
Staff Researcher
Behind the LED Wall: Technology, Labor, and ...

This article explores the rise of virtual production (VP) and its impact on contemporary filmmaking through the use of large-scale LED volumes that merge physical sets with real-time digital environments. Using high-profile productions such as The Mandalorian and 1899 as case studies, it examines how VP reshapes creative workflows across departments, redistributes labor rather than eliminating it, and demands new hybrid skill sets from designers, location managers, and technicians. The piece also addresses the role of labor unions and training programs in adapting to emerging technologies, alongside the economic challenges of scalability, access, and high upfront costs. Ultimately, the article positions virtual production as a transformative - yet uneven - evolution in the entertainment industry, emphasizing the need for equitable training and infrastructure as VP becomes a lasting mode of production.

Behind the LED Wall: Technology, Labor, and Economics in Virtual Production
Extended Reality, Digital Futures, Arts & Technology
Staff Researcher
Extending Reality in Actor Training: Benefits, ...

This article explores how extended reality (XR) - including augmented, mixed, and virtual reality - is reshaping acting training by layering immersive technologies onto long-established methods like Stanislavski-based technique and the Method. Drawing on examples from Basrah to Juilliard and Odin Teatret, the piece shows how XR can deepen character work, expand dramaturgical research, and personalize feedback through data-driven simulations. At the same time, it raises urgent legal, ethical, and social questions around biometric data, FERPA and HIPAA protections, digital Blackface, and harassment in virtual spaces. Rather than treating XR as a magic solution, the article argues that thoughtful pedagogy, clear institutional policies, and equity-minded design are essential if these tools are to support - not replace - human-centered theatre education.

Extending Reality in Actor Training: Benefits, Repercussions, & Legal Implications
Public Policy, creative industries
Ian Hawthorne
Frameworks for Understanding Cultural Policy: ...

This article analyzes Ireland’s emerging position as a global cultural policy case study, focusing on the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) program and its place within the national framework Culture 2025. While Ireland’s consensus-driven political system, strong arts advocacy networks, and history of support for artist income have enabled an ambitious, research-oriented basic income pilot, the article highlights deeper tensions within cultural policymaking. Drawing on Stephen Hadley’s concept of “cultural policy realism,” it argues that Ireland’s policies—despite their novelty—remain rooted in traditional, instrumentalist views of culture as an economic engine and national branding tool. By contrasting democratization of culture with cultural democracy, the piece situates Ireland’s model between innovation and reversion, emphasizing the need for sustained experimentation, critical evaluation, and more genuinely democratic approaches to cultural support.

Frameworks for Understanding Cultural Policy: Lessons from the Irish Model

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Millennials? Try Professional Development

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Millennials? Try Professional Development

Non-profits face many challenges, one of which is intergenerational conflict in the workplace. While a solution will take multiple strategies, professional development is an often cited issue with a simple solution: online learning. 

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Why Net Neutrality Matters for Arts Institutions

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Why Net Neutrality Matters for Arts Institutions

Net neutrality died by the hand of the FCC in November 2017.  The policy, to be implemented summer 2018, will be detrimental to the work and impact of arts institutions and artists.  The following article provides an overview of what changed, why net neutrality is important to the arts, and what you can do to help reverse the policy, or, as AT&T's CEO has called for, ask for Congress to create a consumer Internet Bill of Rights. 

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Highlights of 2017 and a mini-preview of what is to come

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Highlights of 2017 and a mini-preview of what is to come

2017 took AMT Lab researchers into the worlds of robots, smart cities, augmented reality, bias reducing technologies, digital advocacy, and so much more.  The following offers a highlight and a small preview of what's to come in the 2018.

Big Brother's Sweeter Side

Big Brother's Sweeter Side

There is an emerging opportunity for collaboration in the cultural heritage sector, as archeologists around the globe call for new methodologies to process mass-information about cultural heritage sites. This article unpacks how satellite imagery and geographical information systems are shifting the structure of the cultural heritage sector. 

'Tis the Season: Giving Thanks

'Tis the Season: Giving Thanks

Dear Readers,

As we enter the beginning of the holiday season, AMT Lab would like to thank you. Thank you for reading, thinking, leading the way at the forefront of Arts Management and Technology.  We wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving and successful #GivingTuesday. 

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A Look Back: Museum Computer Network Conference 2017

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A Look Back: Museum Computer Network Conference 2017

AMT Lab recently served as a sponsor for the Museum Computer Network Conference hosted in Pittsburgh, PA. Our contributors attended the conference and reported their most interesting findings in the field.