Guest speaker workshop case study: Intelligence – connecting art, technology and innovation

Guest speaker workshop case study
A still from Rock Badger’s product ‘VisuAIse Sustainability’ – here data and AI from organisations’ green initiatives creates the landscape.

Who was the partner?

Calypso Newman, founder of the London creative consultancy Rock Badger Agency and a graduate of the university. She came in and worked with our students taking Visual Intelligence, a first-year art history course investigating the relationship between art, vision and technology. Calypso is passionate about new and emerging media and her agency, founded in 2022, helps businesses engage with digital creativity, enabling them to empower their communication strategies and generate new business models.

What happened across the two workshops?

Calypso demonstrated how her business extracts ideas from art and builds visually exciting products for clients using AI, AR and blockchain. She gave students a business challenge that simulated the work she completes for clients.

Key benefits for students:

  • engaged in real-world learning that could be showcased to prospective employers
  • received industry insight and expert knowledge
  • networked and discovered potential employment opportunities
  • enhanced personal and professional development
  • gained meaningful experience with real-world impact
  • engaged in a deeper level of learning; constructivist, student-centred learning
  • applied academic knowledge to a complex global challenge in an interdisciplinary context

Student perspective

This hands-on, business experience expanded the concept of ‘Visual Intelligence’ for participants.

“We were asked as learners to appreciate how art should not just exist in a creative realm but how it could be used to communicate an abundance of different ideas. This new and innovative skill-set has opened up so many different future pathways and possibilities for me….Without studying this course, I would never have discovered just how relevant art is in our digital world.”

Daisy Turner, BA (Hons) English

External partner perspective

“Students responded to my challenge to create a piece of immersive art for a client of their choice to increase audience engagement. It was fantastic to see such exciting responses to the brief – ranging from game design, data visualisation to augmented reality experiences.”

Calypso Newman, Founder of Rock Badger Agency, London