Hello. I am Ben & I run Octopus Immersive. I have set this blog up as a way to document things I make, tech I learn, and general behind the scenes of trying to have an impact through creative technology.
Over the years I have built people tracking articulated eyes balls, sound reactive illuminated animals, spray painting art robots & interactive & immersive rooms for theme parks. I even ended up being featured on BBC’s Country File for my work with Tyntsefield Estate (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000crs9). I found that music festivals felt like home & a playground for creative tech, & whilst I was working full time at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, I was spending my spare time using robotics tech & skills to build interactive & immersive experiences for festivals.
The Oracle @ Secret Garden Party
On the academic research side, I have designed & built a bio inspired tactile sensing finger which replicated how human mechanoreceptors behave when sensing touch. I then took this technology into my PhD & combined it with worm inspired peristaltic locomotion to deliver a capsule endoscopy with the ability to palpate the GI tract as it actively moves through the patient. I have also worked with care robotics supporting the elderly to sit to st&, with the aim of improving their independence & also a number of machine vision projects in the agritech & manufacturing space.
I have eventually moved away from academia to pursue creative technology, & formed at the time ‘The Gentleman Octopus’, now called ‘Octopus Immersive Laboratory’. In recent years I have been successful with arts council DYCP, Innovate UK’s Creative Catalyst & most recently working on MyWorld’s Challenge Call 2, developing a mixed reality music experience with live performer & AI informed visuals. I have worked with an array of UK festivals, Wake The Tiger, National Trust, appeared on an episode of Country File, contributed to robot spray painted art in the Saatchi Gallery & last year contributed to Tin Drum’s KAGAMI mixed reality concert featuring the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.
All this time I have been really bad at documenting what I make, and figured this might be a good way to note things down without it feeling like PR & marketing for the business or a social media post for likes. Expect posts on anything from Linux system experiments, home DIY cabinetry to 3D printing, mixed reality and efforts to grow a business.
5qu1d Ink..