Introduction to DAHL

By Dr Robert O'Toole, director of the Digital Arts and Humanities Lab - the DAHL supports Arts Faculty members in exploring these tools and techniques, and building capabilities.

You can also listen to this page, read by Lily (our favourite AI voice actor).

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What does DAHL do?

DAHL is a small operation in the Arts Faculty, with the goal of developing the use of digital tools by staff and students. It combines technical, academic, creative, and (importantly) critical aspects. We want to make the most of what is possible. Discover new possibilities. And develop a critical stance on the role of tech in our disciplines and our society. We focus on developing people, staff and students, to be "digitally capable".

We run three initiatives:

1. DAHL Certificate for students and staff, with regularly updated videos and workshops.
2. DAHL Showcase, in which we recognise and celebrate student digital work.
3. An Earful of DAHL podcasts, exploring technology through reflection and dialogue.

We are undertake projects, including:

• Exploring the use of Virtual and Augmented Reality.
• Developing the Museum Studies Network and its videos and podcasts.
• Producing the We Are FAB People podcasts, discussions with some of the great people in the Arts Faculty about what they do and how they do it.

This is done within the context of a framework that we have developed to describe how digital fits into Arts and Humanities.

How does digital tech fit into the Arts and Humanities?

The Arts and Humanities are leading the way in exploiting new technologies, developing world-changing techniques relevant to a broad range of academic, professional, and industrial fields. Four ways in which our academics and students are using technology to enhance our activities:

Working with Data and AI

Collecting, organising, and analysing data to discover meaningful patterns and interesting anomalies.

Mapping events, people, cultures, artefacts, and interactions, in space and over time.

Databases, coding, machine learning, transcription, scanning, 3D scanning.

Digital Storytelling and Storydoing

Discovering and telling in close-up stories of people, places, and artefacts.

Using creative techniques to immerse us in different worlds from which we can learn - past and present, locally and globally.

Podcasting, film making, podcasting, virtual and mixed reality, animation, web design.

Creative and Critical Digital Experimentation

Using technologies to learn about being human, being different, future possibilities, challenges and solutions.

Experimenting with how tech has changed, could change, and will change the world and its people.

App design, sensing systems, physical computing (Raspberry Pi), virtual and mixed reality, theatre technologies, experimental film making.

Organising and Acting for Impact

Design, create, communicate, organise, people, and events, online and offline, managing resources designing and completing projects.

We use many of the same tools and techniques that are used in other industries, but with an Arts and Humanities flavour that brings fresh insights and possibilities.

Miro, Teams, Discord, Wordpress, Substack and more.

Something not mentioned?

Contact Robert O'Toole to discuss it.