Arts and Culture : Innovation + Job News

Discussions on waterfront revitalization have been a hot topic as of late, and last week news broke that OCAD University and other innovators would be part of the revival.

City of the Arts, a waterfront condo development, is intended to become a mixed-use “live, work and play” neighbourhood. OCAD University will occupy space in the neighbourhood, and reap the benefits of Artscape Launchpad, an incubator for creative professionals.

Artscape Launchpad is described as being “part incubator, part coworking space”, and will provide design professionals with resources and mentorship to build sustainable businesses. As George Brown College is also setting up their School of Design at the waterfront — and the OCAD University and George Brown schools will be working as partners — the presence of the two postsecondary institutions alongside Launchpad will foster a creative community. “When artists and designers converge on a place, they tend to build or infiltrate networks and find ways to leave their mark on it. Part of this stems from a need to find an audience/outlet/market from their creative expression,” said Tim Jones, Artscape president and CEO. “There are positive cultural, social and economic outcomes that flow from their interactions. The cluster becomes a magnet for other innovators, and in the real estate market one finds that galleries, cafes and specialty retailers often follow their lead. All of this leads not only to the physical transformation of a neighbourhood but to a new narrative or identity for it.”

OCAD students will be able to leverage the presence of Artscape to strengthen its own burgeoning art community. “OCAD University’s Campus for a Connected World will amplify the institution’s digitally-focused learning, research and creation, as well as its connection to industry and community partners,” said Dr. Sara Diamond, OCAD University’s president. “OCAD University sees this as an ideal environment to address the challenges and opportunities of the connected world of machine to machine communication - ensuring  that human imagination is in the equation of this future and that values such as social and cultural inclusion, creativity, beauty and great design are core.”

Diamond added that the location will expand on OCAD University’s emphasis on experiential learning. “What is exciting about this project is our plan to create a virtual circle with our industrial and not-for-profit partners,” said Diamond. “Focused on combining excellence in creative education with experiential learning and entrepreneurship, OCAD University is uniquely prepared to train the workforce that will power the 21st century’s digitally connected innovation economy.”










 

Dimitri Nakassis, a University of Toronto professor in the department of classics, is the first U of T professor to win the MacArthur Fellowship, colloquially known as a “genius grant”.

The award comes from the John D. and Catherine T.  MacArthur Foundation, an independent foundation dedicated to supporting creative people and institutions. The grant recognizes the potential of people that “show extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits,” according to the Foundation. MacArthur Fellows receive $650,000 through the grant, and they can use the award to advance their expertise, take on new work, or event follow an entirely new career path. However, Nakassis isn’t sure how he’ll use the money just yet. “The grant is both an affirmation that people see value in my work and an invitation to do something new and innovative, so I don't want to rush into anything,” he said. “I will only have one crack at this, so I need to think carefully about the best use of the money, one that will have maximum impact on the study of the ancient Greek world.”

According to the Foundation’s website, Nakassis was recognized for changing long-held views on prehistoric Greek societies. Most notably, Nakassis challenged the long-held view that Late Bronze Age Mycenaean palatial society (1400–1200 BC) was a highly centralized oligarchy, distinct from the democratic city-states of classical Greece. Instead, he proposes that power and resources were more broadly shared, and is currently testing his hypothesis in an archaeological survey. His ideas came from a reinterpretation of Pylos’s administrative and accounting records found on clay tablets written in the early Greek script, Linear B.
 
Nakassis says that his passion for both classics and archaeology is what made it possible for him to study Linear B in the way he did.  “Classics is a discipline that encourages you to find solutions to the study of the ancient past that aren't necessarily specific to any one discipline. If you wanted to work on the economy of ancient Greece, for example, you couldn't limit yourself only to archaeology, nor could you ignore archaeology altogether,” he said. “So it's a discipline that really encourages interdisciplinarity, even if that's not how every Classicist ends up operating.”
 
And while the Fellowship celebrates individuals who display creativity in their work, Nakassis just credits his “super-critical eye”. In his work, he always tries to ask others how they know something is 100 percent true to try to probe weak arguments, while also taking into account the criticism of his colleagues. “Anytime someone says that something is ‘clearly’ or ‘obviously’ true, alarm bells go off in my head: these are, to me, props for a weak argument,” he said. “The other thing that helps is talking to other critical people about what you're thinking. Sometimes I can allow myself to settle into an argument that's conventional, and friends and colleagues will usually point out to me that I can push it forward. You need people who are willing to challenge you, too.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A new Toronto startup wants to help the city's local artists create their art. 

Describing itself as "an Airbnb for the creative industry," Spacefy gives creatives from musicians to photographers an online platform to find spaces for their creative endeavours. 

If the concept behind Spacefy sounds familiar, it's because a similar service called SpaceFinder Toronto launched earlier in the year. The crucial difference here is that Spacefy was started by a group of three Canadians: Judeh Siwady, Alyas Ali and Moya Semaan.  

As of its recent launch, the company's website already includes hundreds of creative spaces across the city, including some well-known ones like the Phase One recording studio and Cube Nightclub near Queen and Spadina. That said, like the service that inspired it, Spacefy was designed to help creators from across disciplines. So, while it's possible to rent a $10,000 per-day venue through the site, many of the spaces found on Spacefy start at a far more reasonable $25 per hour. 

Spacefy plans to expand to Vancouver in the near future. 

Despite the occasional horror story, there’s a lot to like about services like Airbnb. People that own a house or apartment can make a bit of money by renting out their home when they’re not using it, and those renting can save a bit of money by forgoing an expensive hotel. So it’s no surprise that a variety of other Airbnb-like services have started to pop up.

Case in point: last week, SpaceFinder Toronto, a service that styles itself as the Airbnb for Toronto artists, officially launched in Toronto after a several month long trial period.   

The concept is simple: like homeowners on Airbnb, individuals and groups that own space that can be used for the creative arts can use SpaceFinder’s website to rent their space out to people in need of that space.

At launch, the platform has 375 spaces artists can rent.

According to Kate Nankervis, the co-artistic director of Hub14, an artist-run dance studio near Bathurst and Queen, "SpaceFinder has increased our rentals by 25 per cent in only a couple months and connected us with new renters from various artistic disciplines.” She says the platform also has an intuitive administrative backend that has helped her team cut down on the amount of time they need to spend managing the space.

The platform was developed and designed by Fractured Atlas, a New York City-based arts organization that says it aims to empower artists and art organizations by eliminating the practical barriers to artistic expression. Several local organizations, including ArtsBuild Ontario, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts and WorkInCulture with Fractured Atlas to bring the program to Toronto. Additionally, the Metcalf Foundation provided some initial capital to get the program off the ground in Toronto.  

According to a spokesperson from Fractured Atlas, SpaceFinder is set to launch in Hamilton later this year. They also mentioned that the organization is in talks with various arts organizations in Calgary to bring the platform there as well.

After more than a decade at the Hyatt Regency hotel, the North by Northeast music and arts festival (NXNE) is moving its festival headquarters to MaRS.

NXNE announced the partnership last week, as well as the fact that Pitchfork Media would be taking part in the festival in 2015. The partnership will see the MaRS complex, located at 101 College St, host several of NXNE's most important functions, including its delegate registration, keynote address and all of its interactive panels.

The decision to leave the Hyatt Regency comes after NXNE saw its 2014 interactive panels draw greater crowds and a more varied and accomplished list of speakers.

"Last year we realized that we needed a space that better reflected the level of talent we were bringing in," says Christopher Roberts, NXNE's festival director. "We wanted something that made more of a statement, and something that reflected the mandate of what our conference wanted to do and achieve. Looking through that lens at Toronto's landscape, there really were no other options: MaRS was the perfect marriage of our mandate and what we wanted the conference to be."

As for how the change of locale will affect the festival, Roberts says he hopes attendees feel a new energy when they visit the complex in June.

"I think because its venue where there’s already a culture of people trying to create, rethink and retool ideas, that that energy will permeate to the rest of the conference. You will see a band playing in one corner and someone will be discussing their startup in another. That’s the energy and buzz I want to create, and I think that MaRS already has a great ecosystem to help foster that kind of environment."

NXNE 2015 takes place June 17 through 21. 

Source: Christopher Roberts

Some of the more interesting employment opportunities we've spotted this week include:

Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, a non-profit devoted to preserving Ontario's Greenbelt, an area surrounding the Golden Horseshoe, is hiring a research and policy analyst. As the title suggests, the role involves significant amounts of research, though there's a major outreach component as well. Specific requirements include engaging with a variety of government and non-government organizations.

The SickKids Foundation has two new openings this week.

First, they're seeking an associate graphic designer. The position requires three to five years of experience in digital marketing or communications, and will see that the person that takes on this position help the non-profit with its fund raising initiatives on behalf of Sick Kids Hospital.

The foundation is also seeking to hire an associate events director. The role has a significant emphasis on building and mentoring a team, as well as building new and existing events. This position requires five to seven years in a related leadership role.

On the culture side, Canada's National Ballet School is hiring a digital media co-ordinator. The role involves creating audiovisual material that will help with the school's promotional, marketing and educational needs. Three-plus years of related media experience is a requirement of this position, as well as expertise with programs such as Sony Vegas and DVD Architect.

Finally, the National Reading Campaign is looking for someone to join its board of directors as an executive director. Much of the role involves working with a volunteer board, and managing the campaign's initiatives. Candidates living in Toronto are preferred, though those living outside of the city with an exceptional skill sets will also be considered.


Do you know of a job opportunity with an innovative company or organization? Let us know!  

For many of us, the Science Centre is a nostalgic place, evoking memories of grade school field trips and old-fashioned dioramas. Now the Science Centre is partnering with Cisco to create an entirely new kind of experience—one that is digital,interactive, and much more modern. Billed as a "connected museum," the two organizations announced the partnership last week.

Citing the need for Canada to improve its economic competitiveness, in a joint statement Cisco and the Science Centre spoke of the importance of fostering a culture of scientific literacy and engagement. If you can spark interest in science and technology in young people early on, the theory goes, you're more likely to eventually cultivate a workforce that has the skill sets certain economic sectors require.

"Cisco’s vision to enable innovation, particularly in education, is closely aligned with our own, and is one of the reasons this is an excellent relationship,” Dr. Maurice Bitran, CEO of the Science Centre, explained. "We hope to offer our visitors unparalleled learning experiences that will inspire the next generation of innovators.”

As part of the collaboration, Cisco is also sponsoring its first museum-based fellowship. The goal of the Cisco Science Fellow for Innovative Learning Technologies is "to improve science engagement and literacy through the use of integrated technologies."

The Science Centre's Sabrina Greupner, manager of their Weston Family Innovation Centre, is the first person to receive the fellowship. "My goal is to bring together external collaborators with our researchers, programmers, teachers and science experts to create innovative learning experiences and encourage the sharing of best practices,” she explained.

Hopefully visitors to the Science Centre—both in person and using new digital platforms—will be able to make the most of those experiences soon: one key goal of the partnership is to have the Science Centre linked up with Cisco's new new Internet of Everything Innovation Centre, set to open in downtown Toronto in 2015.

Source: Ontario Science Centre
Writer: Hamutal Dotan

As Toronto's municipal election enters its final weeks, we're looking at each of the major mayoral candidates, and, specifically, at their economic development and job-creation platforms.

Last week we looked at John Tory’s approach to these issues. This week: Olivia Chow.
 

• On the vexed subject of youth unemployment (which is at roughly 20 per cent) and in keeping with her overall positioning as someone who wants to maintain government's role in decision-making, Chow wants to leverage the City's power as a major purchaser of goods and services by requiring "that companies with big city contracts hire and train young people," and also hiring youth for municipal after-school recreation and tree-planting programs. Her platform estimates that these initiatives will create "5,000 new apprenticeships and jobs for young people over four years."
• When it comes to small business, Chow wants to extend small business tax cuts that are currently slated to expire in 2015, and extend them to 2020. She also pointed out, at a Board of Trade speech earlier this year, that many small businesses are run by immigrants. Taking cues from Vancouver, she wants to implement a "program that matches existing businesses with immigrant entrepreneurs. The new business gets help setting up and getting going. The existing business gets help and knowledge to help them export." Like Tory, Chow also plans to put many business licensing services online, to improve efficiency.
• Also in keeping with her progressive focus on services, Chow wants the municipal government to increase its funding to the arts sector, from $22.50 per capita to $25 per capita. She also wants to use $500,000 a year out of the money generated by Toronto's tax on billboards to create a music office, similar to the recently created film office. Though her platform does not specific what the economic spin-off effects would be, a City-commissioned report issued in 2011 estimated that for each dollar spent on the arts "cultural organizations were able to leverage a total of $17.75" in funding from other sources and earned revenue.
• Finally, when it comes to branding Toronto as a home for business, Chow, like Tory, wants to raise the city's profile by a new central organization—Global Toronto—to replace Invest Toronto, and integrate related services provided by other departments in the city. As its name suggests, the program would have an international focus and "will operate in global business languages including Chinese, French, Portuguese and Urdu with an outreach strategy to compete with cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles London and Sydney."

Toronto's election will be held on October 27, 2014.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Olivia Chow's election platform;  speech to the Toronto Region Board of Trade (April 29, 2014)

This past weekend, Cisco Canada and the City of Toronto unveiled the Pan Am Games Countdown Clock, an innovative way to try and build momentum for the games as we head into the final round of preparations.

Located at Nathan Phillips Square, the clock—5.5 metres tall, 7.3 tonnes, and using five kilometres' worth of fibre optic cable—includes a range of internet-enabled functions that will be enhanced in the coming months.

In addition to counting down to the Games, the clock contains an interactive kiosk (it's wheelchair accessible—the screen adjusts height with the touch of a button) that will let you learn about the 51 sports included in the Pan Am Games, and about participating countries. If you're interested in volunteering you can learn more about options for that, too.

Over time new features will be added in, such as two-way video that will allow visitors to the clock to communicate with Pan Am athletes in their home towns, enabling communication between those of us hosting here and those who will be coming into Toronto for the Games.

Jeff Seifert, Cisco's chief technology officer, explains in a video about the clock that what makes it different are these added features, which are meant to create as engaging an experience as possible for users. The clock took six months to develop, and a team of 40 people was involved in its creation.

The 2015 Pan Am Games will take place from July 10–26, and the Parapan American Games will run from August 7–15.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Cisco Canada

We're used to thinking of Artscape as a (re)maker of spaces: from the Wychwood Barns to Gibraltar Point, they take old sites in Toronto and help shape them to suit new uses.

Now Artscape is taking a more active role in programming some of those spaces, launching a series of pilot programs to help creative entrepreneurs tackle the business aspects of their ventures. The Creative Business Design Workshop, Creative Entrepreneurship Program, and Business Skills for Growth Workshop Series are part of the ramp-up to the opening of Launchpad, a full-fledged centre slated to open in 2017.

Launchpad has been in the works for five years, says Pru Robey, Artscape's Creative Placemaking Lab Director. It will be a new creative and cultural entrepreneurship centre, one that gives "skills, tools, and resources" to creative workers, to help them start and sustain effective businesses.

It's needed, she says, because underlying all of the banner headlines about Toronto's vaunted arts scene, "are some real challenges that are faced by people in the creative sector." Stats about growth and employment "are actually made up of independent, solo traders working part-time, and working in other sectors to support their creative work, and people who are earning very little on average."  This means, Robey argues, that there is a great deal of unrealized economic potential: earnings for workers in the cultural sector are below average compared to those in other sectors with comparable education levels.

This is often compounded, she says, by a lack of early-stage support. "Graduating students suddenly lose access to a whole network of support"—basics such as space, equipment, resources, and mentorship—and aren't taught the specific, practical skills of how to build an effective freelance career or business.

Toronto already has a number of entrepreneur-support programs, incubators, and other similar support systems. Why the need to start a new one for the creative sector in particular?

"Our research shows, and our experience tells us," says Robey, "that oftentimes creatives have lots of passion [for their work] but they don't really want to talk about growing a business, so the traditional kinds of entrepreneurship support aren't necessarily appealing."

The pilot programs will be unveiled throughout this summer and fall. When Launchpad opens in 2017, says Robey, it will "combine a learning environment with a creative environment" and include a "range of highly specified and equipped production studios." The goal is to provide both creative and business support for everything from sound production to photography to fashion and jewelry to industrial design.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Pru Robey, Creative Placemaking Lab Director, Artsca

Between Craigslist and the variety of social networks now available, you might think that finding a new bandmate might be as easy as posting an ad or a status update. Many musicians, however, find it isn't so easy.

This is what led Shaan Singha and Troy Fullerton to co-found DownToJam, a start-up social network created specifically for musicians.

The idea came up during a casual conversation: Fullerton was helping Singha move a motorcycle and was complaining about his trouble finding someone to jam with. Singha asked, "Isn't there anything like [a dating website] where you can see someone's profile, what they're doing?"

It turned out that there wasn't, and so the two decided to create one. It was, says Singha, "born out of desperation, trying to find compatible friends to play with."

Their goal is to help people build actual friendships over music, and to have the range of people participating be as diverse as possible. Fullerton is an experienced musician and Singha is a beginner: they hope to be able to match people at all parts of the spectrum of expertise.

The site is still technically in beta, with an official launch coming later this summer. So far Texas and Toronto are the two biggest user groups; DownToJam has a total of about 3,000 members so far.

"Services for our members free," Singha says—something they are committed to maintaining. The business plan includes beginning with ad revenue, and then moving on to including a classified-style section of enhanced profiles.

DownToJam also includes a third co-owner, Neil McWilliam—their developer—and they plan on hiring in coming months for a forthcoming blogging division.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Shaan Singha, co-founder, DownToJam

We all know that the shift to digital technology in general, and more recently the shift to mobile technology in particular, is remaking many businesses and economic sectors.

In an attempt to better understand some of these changes, the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) has just released a new report looking at the role of mobile app development in Ontario's creative industries: books and magazines, film and TV, and music. Collectively, these industries generate $14.5 billion in annual revenue.

Among their findings, which are based on surveys completed by industry representatives in the summer and fall of 2013:

• Half of all respondents already use mobile apps in their businesses; another 31 per cent plan to incorporate them "in the near future." 


• Mobile app use isn't evenly distributed within the sector: as expected, a very high percentage of those in the digital media industry have incorporated apps into their businesses (64 per cent), compared to magazines (55 per cent); books (47 per cent); film and tv (39 per cent); and music (32 per cent).


• A large majority (68 per cent) of respondents use their apps as content distribution channels. Of all respondents, 43 per cent have so far seen an increase in sales and revenues in response to incorporating apps into their businesses. This is counterbalanced, however, by the reality that total benefits are right now very hard to measure: only 7 per cent of the respondents who have adopted mobile apps in their businesses reported "any measurable benefits," though the report's authors caution that this "may well be the result of difficulty in measuring the return on investment of mobile apps adoption…as opposed to not getting any discernible benefits from adoption."


• About half (48 per cent) of respondents who have adopted mobile apps report that their operating costs stayed the same; 35 per cent said their operating costs went down, and the average operating cost reduction was 9 per cent.


• As far as building the apps goes, 17 per cent of creative industry businesses do their development in-house, 44 per cent contract development out, and 39 per cent do a combination of both.


• The report estimates that 3,300 new jobs have been created in Ontario's creative businesses as a result of mobile app development and adoption: 55 per cent are full-time, 21 per cent part time, and 24 per cent contract. Toronto, predictably, is the centre for this activity: 40 per cent of the province's mobile app jobs overall are located here.

ICTC's report also looked at the barriers to mobile. "Currently, the biggest hindrance to adoption of mobile apps," the report, says, "appears to be lack of monetization of adoption benefits, with a third (37 per cent) of the enterprises stating that they are aware of the functionalities of mobile apps, but not yet convinced of their value. Other hesitations stemmed from respondents being unfamiliar with the industry, the technology options available to them, previous bad experiences with app development, and concerns about their clients' readiness to use mobile."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Mobile Apps: Generating Economic Gains for Creative Media Industries in Ontario

Happy new year! Here are the most interesting of the opportunities we spotted coming back from winter break—a cultural sector special bonanza:

Some great cultural organizations are looking for technology help right now. Postmedia is hiring a tablet producer to work on titles across the company; they need someone with a particular aptitude for editorial design. And Jane's Walk, the organization that runs hundreds of public walking tours in cities across the globe, needs a PHP web developer to administer their site, refine their designs, and handle analytics.

More in the culture sector! Manifesto—organizer of the annual Manifesto Festival, and creator of youth-focused arts programming throughout the year—is seeking a new managing director. Responsibilities include overseeing all day-to-day operations, including both finance and programming. Artscape, which revitalizes historic buildings and transforms them into new community-oriented spaces, is looking to fill the newly created position of capital project manager. Reporting to the executive vice president, this role is for someone to handle initial project negotiations, manage ongoing design, and tackle project-specific stakeholder relations.

Local governments are also looking for help in this area. The City of Mississauga is hiring a supervisor of events services for Celebration Square, a post for someone with three to five years of experience. And the City of Toronto needs a new director of arts and culture services—a key senior management role.

Finally, two local public relations companies that focus on the arts scene have openings right now. Flip Publicity is hiring a publicist and publicity coordinator; they need someone with at least three to six years of experience specifically in the arts and entertainment industry. Knot PR, meanwhile, whose clients include Luminato and the Canadian Opera Company, is looking for an account coordinator with some publicity experience. And for those with an interest in storytelling, the Centre for Social Innovation is hiring a part time "reporter," to profile its member organizations.

Know of an innovative job opportunity? Let us know. 

The provincial government recently launched a new fund geared specifically to the music industry.

First promised in the spring budget, the Ontario Music Fund will allocate $45 million over three years, with money divided among four streams: music company development (to support recording, production, and marketing); music industry development (to support digital projects and other initiatives to bolster exports); music futures (for smaller companies and artistic entrepreneurs); and live music (to increase the number of events held in the province). Applications for all four streams will be available online by November 7.

Though no money has yet been distributed, those in the industry are excited by what they know so far. Ian Stanger of Black Box Records told us that his colleagues "are very impressed with the flexibility and new opportunities that the OMF seems to provide."

An independent music booker, Dan Wolovick, said that this isn't just a repackaging of existing initiatives: "There's a lot of new money here…and that is exciting." Wolovick isn't entirely convinced yet that the details have been nailed down—he cited income requirements as a "red flag" that might make it harder for emerging artists to benefit from the funding—but he is convinced this is a big step forward for the industry in Ontario. He added that because the money is divided into streams, areas of the industry that don't right now receive much support, like music promotion, will be able to gain a great deal from this new initiative.

Those interested in applying for funds can learn more at the fund's online application portal.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Sources: Ian Stanger, Black Box Records, and Dan Wolovick, Two Way Monologues

Nuit Blanche, the international sunset-to-sunrise arts festival that first came to Toronto a few years ago, celebrates art and the ways it can interact with a city's streets, buildings, and public spaces. At its best moments, it transforms the way we experience the world around us. This year, one installation in particular aimed to do something a bit different: change the way we experience the world within.

That exhibit was called My Virtual Dream, and its primary creators weren't traditional artists but rather scientists from Baycrest Health Science and the University of Toronto's faculty of medicine. Their aim: gather data for an ongoing research project, while simultaneously giving participants the chance to engage in a dialogue with their own brains, by monitoring and displaying own brain wave activity, and then helping them play around with the visualizations that resulted.

If you walked by Queen's Park Crescent and College during Nuit Blanche on October 5, you might have seen a large geodesic dome that had been put up on the street, emitting a changing array of pastel lights. Inside: a semicircle of 20 participants, each with a wireless brain-computer interface on their heads. That interface allowed participants to watch their own brain wave activity on monitors in front of them, and see how it changed over time.

Participants were asked to alternately relax or concentrate, and as they did they could see how that affected the visualizations on the screen. It also affected what was happening in the entire dome: an animated projection light up the interior of the dome, and changed based on whether the group of participants tended to relax more or concentrate more. At the same time, a band played improvised music based on how those visuals changed.

The entire thing was beautiful, but it also served a purpose: the team of researchers gathered 550 data sets that night to help them refine the computer software that drove this whole process, called The Virtual Brain. Still in development, the Virtual Brain is a system for modelling the human brain. It can be used to simulate either an individual person's brain, if a researcher has readings from a specific subject, or create a generalized model based on a population.

Dr. Randy McIntosh is VP of research at Baycrest Health Sciences and the project lead for the Virtual Brain. He explains one way the simulator will be able to help in clinical settings, by providing individualized health care: "If you have someone who, for instance, has a stroke and you're considering various therapies, you can test the therapies in the virtual brain first to see which is likely to be most effective."

The data his team gathered at Nuit Blanche was especially significant, McIntosh says, in part because it was collected in such an unusual setting: "The idea is to make [the Virtual Brain] adaptable to any environment. it was really trying to push the technology in directions it can't currently go…If it works in that environment, it can work anywhere."

But it wasn't all about the data, McIntosh added. "This intersection of art and science is really cool because it really does capture the heart of what it is to be a scientist and what it is to be an artist," he went on. "The artists really needed to understand the science and the scientists really needed to understand the art" in order to make the project work. It was a deep collaboration that those who passed through the dome this past weekend certainly appreciated.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Dr. Randy McIntosh, VP of research, Baycrest Health Sciences