If the past year has shown us anything good, it’s that when faced with events unprecedented in our lifetimes, the overwhelming desire from most people has been to support one another in whatever ways they can.  Here in Sheffield we’ve witnessed many examples of local communities and citizens going out of their way to help their families, friends and neighbours through this tumultuous and difficult time.  The selflessness and strength displayed by countless others has been a real inspiration to keep on keeping on.

How we adapted as an agency

Like thousands of companies, Joi Polloi had to move quickly to 100% remote working. Despite being a digital agency this wasn’t without its challenges and obstacles.  On the fortunate side, all of our systems are cloud-based and enabled everyone to access the files and services they needed so long as they had a secure internet connection. There were logistical challenges in ensuring we all had the correct hardware and working environments set up at home.  All of this happened incredibly quickly and looking back to those tentative days in late March feels like looking back on a different time entirely.  How long would we be working in this way?  What do people need to do their jobs? How do they feel about working like this?

What quickly became clear, and what has proved to be one of the most difficult things to deal with, is that face-to-face contact and human interaction is vital to how we function – as people and colleagues.  We did our best to replicate these very human needs virtually, with daily video calls for the whole agency, regular team catch ups, and maintaining open and transparent communication across the company.  When removed from the mode of social interaction we took for granted it was surprisingly easy to feel disconnected in a way which seemed to place too much pressure and responsibility on individual shoulders.

Human beings have an astonishing ability to adapt to circumstances and we all now behave in ways that no longer seem novel or unusual and yet would have been hard to envisage less than a year ago.  It is in the spirit of mutual respect and support that we’ve been able to keep our team going and continue to deliver work for our clients.  A healthy dose of perspective has also been useful when the vagaries of the new world have felt too much at times.

We’ve continued to be available for our clients and colleagues as much as possible and during the last few months we’ve had a frenetic time of planning, pitching and delivering work.  We have deepened relationships with existing clients and created connections with new ones. 

Moving offline things online

One of the biggest challenges that has faced venues, live events and festivals this year is how to continue, in some form, when physical spaces are no longer an option? 

Early in the pandemic we were commissioned by the University of Sheffield to create an online space for their biennial Festival of the Mind – with the aim of not just delivering generic online event functionality, but to bring alive the unique atmosphere, experience and excitement that the festival normally creates.

We responded by developing a ‘virtual events’ platform which was able to host all of their live events, Q&A sessions and a variety of interactive content, in a visually rich and engaging way. By creating a platform that was designed with configurability in mind, it meant we could easily adapt it for two of their other festivals in a short space of time.  

We’ve gone on to take what we learnt from these projects to build the Joi VX platform – a virtual events system with a focus on making the experience of attending an event an experience in itself. Expect to hear a lot more about this in 2021…

Museums and culture

Despite the challenges faced by the sector after multiple lockdowns and ongoing restrictions to physical visits, we’ve managed to work on several really interesting projects for museums and galleries to help them during Covid and prepare for a return to welcoming visitors.

For OnFife we developed a series of walking tours, which use mobile web-apps and geolocation to guide visitors around a set of themed outdoor routes. Ranging from history to pop music, these have proven popular while tourism has been forced to remain a strictly outdoor affair.

We’ve also worked with Glasgow Science Centre to deliver multiple interactive digital exhibits across three exhibitions, collaborating with physical fabricators to create new exhibits which will educate and delight visitors once they begin to return to the physical spaces.

Spanning material science, space and health these installations seamlessly combine physical and screen-based interactivity.

For example, Team Snake which integrates physical controls and gameplay to challenge players to either work as a team, or work physically hard!

We’ve also continued our ongoing relationships with museums including the Science Museum in London, Museums Sheffield, and Eyam Museum (who know a thing or two about surviving infectious diseases) to help keep development of their kiosks and websites going during 2020.

Digital interactive content for television

As well as our ongoing work to keep websites such as Channel 4 News, The Great British Bake Off and 4Sales up and running, we produced new digital work for three true icons of British TV.

I May Destroy You was one of the year’s biggest new shows, tackling difficult issues in a distinctive and stylised way. BBC Creative produced a series of digital works in response to fan reactions and comments. We collaborated with them to produce an interactive 360° experience Dear Bob… which presented some of these reactions in a fantasy gallery environment, using 3D-rendered visuals and spatial video clips.

The Rap Game UK returned to BBC3, and wanted to encourage up and coming rappers from across the UK to submit videos of their performances to a highly stylised map of the UK, showcasing the diverse breadth of talent across the country. Over a hundred performances were submitted to the map, and the show was one of the pillars of the autumn schedule on iPlayer.

Countryfile is a fixture of Sunday night TV and is one of the longest running and highest rated shows on BBC1. This autumn they launched the Plant Britain campaign to encourage the great British public to get planting – trees, flowers or seeds. We developed an interactive 3D map which allows viewers to submit their plantings – and display the nationwide totals. This not only creates a sense of progression towards an overall target, but allows different regions to compare themselves against others. We developed and built the microsite in record time, working closely with the production team to coordinate with filming schedules so footage of the site in use could be incorporated into the programme. The microsite was designed to be resilient against large amounts of traffic when calls to action went out on BBC1, and received submissions for over 60,000 plants within the first hour – a great start to the two year campaign.

R&D and innovation

Keeping ahead of trends and technical innovation has continued to be important to us this year. We were awarded funding from XR Stories to develop proofs of concept for two innovative strands of work: ChangeMaker, a platform for teaching young people about how they can improve the world; and AI FanAlong – an exploration of how AI-powered voice-bots can extend storyworlds for kids programmes. We’ve brought together some brilliant partners to deliver this research, including universities of York, Huddersfield, and BBC Children’s. Expect to hear more about the outcomes of this in 2021!

We also worked on a pilot for a new TV format, integrating touch-screens into the studio set with a game engine running behind the scenes. We can’t say too much about this one right now, but it allowed us to draw on our past experience both of working in a TV production environment and designing touchscreens and game engines.

Another innovative project was a collaboration with Warner Music and ViacomCBS developing a prototype Virtual Talent Contest as part of the IBC accelerator programme. We collaborated with Never.no and Grabyo to test out workflows which use AI to moderate submissions, and developing an algorithmic model for a more fair talent content. The results were demoed at IBC, the world’s most influential media, entertainment and technology show, which was held online this year.

2021 and beyond

We’ve proven in 2020 that we can adapt, survive and thrive as a team, delivering exciting and innovative digital projects for our clients despite the uncertainty that enveloped the world. We owe a massive THANK YOU to all our clients, staff and suppliers who have helped us get through the year.

If you want to keep up with what we’re doing in 2021, you can follow us on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, or sign up to our occasional email newsletter below.

If you have an idea we can help you with in 2021, we are always happy to chat (heck, maybe we’ll even get to meet face to face). Please drop us a line on info@joipolloi.com

Merry Christmas, and a happy new year.

My university journey

Hello, I’m Chloe and I’m the Production Coordinator here at Joi Polloi. I joined the team in 2019 after graduating with a first class degree in Digital Media Production from Sheffield Hallam University. 

Digital Media Production was a three year course that taught me a range of skills from Photography, Animation, Film Production, Media Analysis, Web development, Events Management, Marketing, and more. Whilst at University, I took part in voluntary work with DocFest and other small companies as I felt this was a vital part for building my network, portfolio and overall confidence, as this becomes such a huge benefit within the industry.

For my final year, my mindset was eager to secure a job after graduating and I wanted to take the final year as a chance to take as much opportunity as I could manage, to build on my portfolio. One of the ways I achieved this was using the facilities I had around me at the University and getting advice from tutors, as they have connections around the city. For the final year project, we had to produce a Creative Media project that we focus on throughout the year and this is something that you create by yourself. My tutor Richard Mather helped me secure two clients, both of which are charities – Barnardo’s and Age UK Sheffield. For Barnardo’s, I created an animation educating young people on the reality of pornography and for Age UK Sheffield, I created a short video about the facility they provide for their members who suffer from Dementia. 

As I wanted to build on my portfolio as much as possible, me and another student decided to take on managing the Summer Ball for the Media Department, as the Media Department didn’t hold a graduation event. This was an opportunity to gain experience in different areas within the media such as administration, liaising with local companies, managing a small team of students and marketing the event. This was a big achievement throughout my University experience and this helped with my networking skills, tutors would notice my hard work and recommend clients to work with me.

The Circle – On-site Producer

After university, I was working as a sales adviser at H&M and, like all graduates, I had the fear of not getting into the industry. However, during July my tutor Anne Doncaster sent me an email about an opportunity to work as an On-site Producer for Joi Polloi during the filming of The Circle for Netflix and Channel 4. Joi Polloi created the social media platform seen in the show for  TV production company Studio Lambert. Anne had recommended me to Joi Polloi’s Creative Director, Nick Crossland after the hard work and determination I had previously put into my final year project. After sending my CV to the company, I received a phone call from Senior Producer Alexis Baker saying that I had secured a place.
The role consisted of being on hand to help with any issues on The Circle’s platform, helping producers in the gallery with problem-solving and helping teach the international producers how to use the software. This experience helped me gain my confidence, communication skills, and independence. Whilst working at The Circle, the Joi Polloi team recommended me to the founder of Joi Polloi, Andy Barratt, and I was then offered a job to work as a Production Coordinator for Joi Polloi full-time.

Joi Polloi – Junior Production Coordinator 

I am now a Junior Production Coordinator at Joi Polloi, with various responsibilities such as social media management, design, video production, admin, project management, testing, and many more. Joi Polloi has allowed me to further develop my knowledge in these areas and figure out the path I’d like to take. 

Taking the step into the real world is a huge transition from University, as you are surrounded by many talented people who have been working within the industry for many years. For the first few months of working for Joi Polloi, I personally struggled with my confidence, speaking out during meetings and voicing my opinions, however, as time went on the team made me feel extremely welcomed and taught me in areas that I struggled with. 

Working at Joi Polloi has made me more confident in myself, my skill set, my capabilities, and the potential to succeed within the company. I believe that the experience from University massively impacted my chances of securing this position and using my final year as an opportunity to build on my portfolio as much as possible.

My advice

My biggest advice for graduates, university students, and everyone else – hard work never goes unnoticed. You have to stay positive, goal-orientated and stay focused on how you want to build your career.  My advice is:  

-Build on your portfolio, website and CV.

-Networking is SO important

-Keep aware of the opportunities around you

-Email agencies around you

– Apply for internships 

-Take the opportunities that come to you, you never know where they’ll take you. (I certainly didn’t expect to be in this position a year ago).

Here at Joi Polloi, we’re excited to announce we’ve been lucky enough to win funding for three projects as part of XR Stories – Young Audience Funds.

The fund aims to explore concepts that will enrich and inspire young audiences using cutting edge technologies in the creation of immersive content. This is fantastic for Joi Polloi as it gives us a good opportunity to experiment with new digital content ideas for young audiences, as well as new and exciting technology.

A toolset for making your voice heard

Joi Polloi’s first successful submission was for the project Change Maker!

Change Maker! aims to inspire young people between the age of 11-16 to promote social and political change through education, advocacy, inspiration and support from their peers and decision-makers around the country. Inspired by the story of Greta Thunberg,  our goal is to empower young people to understand how and why the world around them works, engage with it and shape it.

Working with internationally-recognised expert in youth citizenship Dr Andrew Mycock of the University of Huddersfield, we are researching how to bridge the gap between engagement and activism. The Change Maker! platform will provide a safe space where young people can learn about and discuss issues that interest and affect them. Promoting youth voices, users will engage with the platform to express their views and debate with other young people in a way that is natural and nurturing. Change Maker! aims to be a unique resource which acts as an engagement facilitator, ensuring that activities undertaken are presented to policymakers and elected representatives.

Immersive storytelling through smart speakers

Our second project AI Fan Along, explores how AI smart speakers can be used to create immersive storytelling content  for TV shows.  This project focuses on developing concepts for a meta-story chat tool to allow users to engage with their favourite TV show characters through types of voice-assisted smart technology, such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home. 

The project poses the question “Imagine if you get to the end of your favourite TV show, and you could have a conversation with your favourite character?” Encouraging children to be curious while building their social development is a core focus to the development of the project.

Informed by research from academics specialising in AI at the University of York, we will explore the subject of voice synthesis, automatic speech recognition (ASR) – the ethics around responsible innovation,  safeguarding, accessibility and privacy.

Our work has become all the more timely with the recent launch of the BBC’s digital assistant this year, highlighting the growing appetite for content across smart speakers. The project is particularly pertinent given the focus on the representation of regional accents to create a more personal and authentic experience for users. 

Learning through virtual puppeteering

Our third project is in partnership with award winning animation studio Fettle Animation; Awesome Animals Safari is an augmented reality safari, where the audience can meet and interact with their favourite animals.

Using leading AR technology, the project will focus on how to bring 2D animation to life  to create a multi sensory on-screen safari. Our technical research will focus on motion capture and limb recognition to create gesture based online animal puppeteering to progress through the story. Giving children the opportunity to learn interesting animal facts through play.

The project will be underpinned by child-centred research from Digital Literacies specialists Dr Becky Parry and Early Childhood specialist Dr Liz Chesworth at the University of Sheffield School of Education and an exploration of the market potential of this work from Dr Carlton Reeve Head of Games, Animation and Visual Effects at the University of Bradford’s School of Media, Design and Technology.

The projects are due to be completed by the end of the year, watch this space for updates on our progress! 

We’re all being told to brace ourselves for the ‘new normal’, but what does that really mean for the heritage sector? In these unprecedented times, how do galleries, libraries, archives, and museums, the GLAM sector, prepare to welcome back visitors safely without having to compromise on visitor experience?

How to increase digitisation and accessibility

The way we interact with the world has changed dramatically.  Technology has become an essential part of our daily lives.  What were once tactile customer experiences have become more digitised; from cashless transactions to motion-detection devices to avoid touching unnecessary surfaces. But what does that mean for the GLAM sector; one that focuses on hands-on ‘real life’ experiences?

There has been an upsurge in digital storytelling since lockdown, with museums launching virtual tours (in various ways), pushing more content online and engaging with visitors through social media.  Closing buildings has put a real strain on internal digital teams; once a small part of the museum’s marketing team, they’ve now been pushed well and truly into the limelight. What role will they take now?

Head of Security Tim from Texas Cowboy museum became an internet sensation with his heartfelt posts as he was left as the custodian of the teams social media account.

Keeping visitors engaged during lockdown has been an issue to overcome, but now the more pressing challenge is how to safely engage with visitors once museums’ doors re-open. Embracing digital will not only be essential to keep visitors safe but will also help create more enriching experiences. To enable audiences to engage with content without touch, Joi Polloi are investing in R&D to explore ways of using motion and gesture tracking to create interactive experiences and games.

These changes will also be reflected in visual and audio guides by removing the need for institutions to provide devices and headsets, and instead really harnessing the growing potential of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) experiences via visitors devices. Digital guides present an opportunity to make content more immersive: removing the need for physical maps and guide books, digital content can be at a user’s fingertips on their own device. 

Recently here at Joi Polloi, we created a tour guide for a walking tour of Dunfermline in Scotland. Users were able to learn about the history of the town while following an interactive walking tour from their smartphone.

This approach also allows content to be produced in a more personalised and importantly accessible way. Allowing a user to find information on accessibility access, bespoke content for the visually impaired and even providing support to those with learning difficulties so they can choose exhibits that are suitable to their needs. This could all enrich a visitor’s experience even before they step foot into the museum. A few years back Joi Polloi helped run a workshop for the Arts Marketing Association, looking at just this opportunity – creating a mobile experience that let people with access issues plan and navigate through a space in a way uniquely suitable to them. Incidentally, a large focus of it was on identifying ‘quiet’ zones and times, when few people were around – something now critical for a different reason with social distancing.

Aside from visuals, audio and smell are other ways to engage with our senses. Tate Sensorium was a revolutionary project back in 2015 which aimed to explore how we experience art.  The immersive exhibit explored the role played by taste, touch, smell and sound in the way we ‘see’ art. The display featured four paintings from the Tate collection. Visitors were encouraged to experience the sounds, smells, tastes and physical forms inspired by the artworks, and record and review their feelings through sophisticated measurement devices. The Tate described the project as a ‘new approach to interpreting artworks, using technology to stimulate the senses, triggering both memory and imagination’ 

Extending the museum experience

With stringent social distancing measures required, museums will be limited in visitor capacity with more strictly timed entries and exhibit queuing. To monitor capacity within the museums, visitors will need to move through an exhibition at a slower pace. Keeping audiences entertained as they wait for the next section to be empty enough will be a key challenge to overcome.  Introducing natural segues between exhibits could become an interesting way to allow visitors to stay engaged while waiting to move on through the exhibition. These interactions could be in the form of informative large scale videos or interesting touchpoints where visitors could interact with artefacts or artworks through their mobile device tour guide. 

AI, AR and smart technology is a huge growth area, with a number of commercial applications. 

Beacon technology (such as iBeacons) have been with us for some time now, creating new ways to interact with objects by allowing organisations to position the small bluetooth sensor devices throughout an indoor space. These can then be picked up by a compatible app or operating system, allowing a visitor to walk past a piece of art and receive a notification with relevant information about that piece. So far they can be seen as ‘novelty’ or one off implementations ( Russ really enjoyed experiencing ‘Coming Out’ by Playlines, an iBeacon based drama), but now perhaps we can implement them in a different way to help ease congestion, whilst providing curated experiences?

AR on the other hand can take objects from a static form and create 3D experiences that immerse a user in a piece of art or object in a new and exciting way.

What’s next?

There is no denying that navigating a post-pandemic world will be challenging, but in these times of less travel and more self-reflection, the role of culture and the arts to enrich our lives has never been more pertinent. 

Studies have shown the arts have had a huge impact on people during lock down. The Network of European Museum Organisations recently released the findings of its survey into the impact of Covid-19. The report stated that digital was “far from being a distant promise or a source of untapped potential, digital is essential for museums’ success in the future – just as has been the case through lockdown” Going on to state that “We must learn from this crisis in order to effectively respond, mitigate, adapt and integrate, urging governments to invest in Europe’s cultural heritage in the future, to support what binds us together, while so many other things drive us apart. Museums might not change the world, but museums at their best can show what humanity can do at its best.”

If this gets you thinking and you want to get in touch with us (about anything!) please get in touch with:

Melodie Ash – melodie.ash@joipolloi.com

Or Russell Stearman – russell.stearman@joipolloi.com

Image credit: Tate Sensorium – The Telegraph 

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