Engine Shed is game for tech fest

World experts set for city

Stirling is to host a digital heritage festival at The Engine Shed, Scotland’s £11 million dedicated building conservation centre.

DigiFest, from October 8-20, is aimed at schools, professionals, families and young people and will feature a range of free events and activities allowing visitors to explore the latest technologies in areas including 3D modelling and printing, augmented reality, virtual reality, gaming, animation, robotics and coding.

It will incorporate DigiDoc, a two-day international conference (Oct 11-12) and the DigiDoc Research and Innovation Day (Oct 10).

Showcasing groundbreaking technology, DigiDoc features a speaker line-up of academics and high-profile industry experts from organisations such as Google, the Smithsonian Institution and gaming giant Ubisoft, and is expected to attract professionals in the technology and heritage sectors from across the globe. A selection of speakers will also participate in the DigiFest programme, along with the Engine Shed’s own experts.

Engine Shed technical outreach and education manager Dorothy Hoskins said: “New online platforms and developments in digital technologies are enabling people to inspect historic sites and artefacts from anywhere in the world, while a combination of digital documentation and animation allows for accurate recreation of historic environments which can be explored through gaming.

“Virtual reality can further bring such environments to life. DigiFest aims to encourage the people of Scotland and beyond to embrace this opportunity to explore the historic environment in new and innovative ways.”

DigiFest will offer a range of activities for visitors, including demos of action-adventure video game Assassin’s Creed and the chance to hear more about the technologies behind it from the game’s historical researcher, and robot races with Sphero SPRK, a robot toy which teaches children how to code.

There will also be a masterclass on the history of animation with leading animation and visual effects company Tippett Studio, whose credentials include sequences in the Star Wars, Harry Potter and Twilight franchises. A ‘digital village’ will also be created including an immersive reality walk-in dome. More at www.engineshed.scot/ digifest-2018