Welcome to the SODA Research Hub
At the School of Digital Arts (SODA), we are committed to research excellence that drives positive change across cultural, technological, and innovation landscapes. Our research is collaborative, interdisciplinary, and publicly engaged and where creative methodologies meet future-facing digital practices.
Pioneering the Future of Storytelling
We champion diverse voices and push the boundaries of narrative creation. Through our research, we amplify marginalised perspectives, challenge the status quo, and forge new alliances, policies, and cultural understandings. With a focus on immersive and interactive storytelling, we explore XR, AI, game engines, and emerging technologies to reshape audience engagement and narrative design.
Research Groups
Speculative Technologies
Exploring emergent, audience-facing technologies and their uses in the arts and education often using speculative research methodologies to define, examine and imagine the affordances and ethical considerations of emerging technologies such as XR, AI, game engines and OBM in future storytelling.This group experiments with speculative research methodologies to shape the future of digital storytelling and audience interaction.
Media and Digital Culture
Focusing on the intersection of technology, society, and creative cultures, this group develops innovative methodologies that address the pressing needs and rights of global communities. Media and Digital Culture explores how digital culture influences societal change and advocate for new models of engagement and representation.
DVRK (DARK Arts Research Kollective)
The DARK Arts Research Kollective (DVRK) is a new dynamic research community driven by meaningful research connections and a passion for creative excellence which explores occulture, the paranormal, magic, esoterism, and counterculture. Through interdisciplinary, practice-based, and public-facing research, DVRK reimagines physical and metaphysical technologies to challenge dominant epistemologies. By exploring subcultural and countercultural movements, the group reshapes cultural and social understandings through speculative, historical, and experimental methodologies.
Embodied Experiences
Exploring issues of bias, trust, misinformation, and engagement in both physical and digital realms, this group examines how audiences—human and AI—interact with media.
Research Degrees in Digital Arts and Media
Advance your career and deepen your expertise with a research degree at SODA. Our academic supervisors specialise in interdisciplinary research areas, offering the skills and knowledge to push the boundaries of digital and creative practice.
Industry Partnerships and Knowledge Exchange
We collaborate with industry partners through contract research, consultancy, and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). Our partnerships drive technological innovation and foster new creative opportunities, ensuring our research makes a tangible impact in the digital and creative industries.
Join us in Shaping the Future
The SODA Research Hub is a space for experimentation, collaboration, and critical inquiry. Whether you’re an academic, industry professional, or creative practitioner, we invite you to be part of our journey in redefining storytelling and digital culture.
For more information or for postgraduate research opportunities, contact:
Professor Kirsty Fairclough
K.Fairclough@mmu.ac.uk