CoSTAR Live Lab is based at Production Park in Wakefield (itself a UNESCO City of Lifelong Learning), where world class stage production facilities are now augmented by dedicated spaces for advancing live performance systems and user experience across screen, stage, and the metaverse. The Lab will enable artists to push the boundaries of what’s possible in live, hybrid, and virtual performance.
Two other centres opening in 2025 are also led by universities based in UK UNESCO Creative Cities, CoSTAR Realtime Lab in Dundee City of Design, and CoSTAR Screen Lab in Belfast City of Music. CoSTAR Centres are currently launching a number of joint calls as well as inviting participating in their own projects. Being a UNESCO Creative City may not be a requirement for sector-wide investment on this scale, but there is no doubt that the habits of collaboration and partnership that are second nature to creative cities provide a secure foundation on which innovation can build.
The recent opening of CoSTAR Live Lab at Production Park in Wakefield represents a dramatic step forward for the city of York and Yorkshire as a focus for UK creative industries into the future. It also presents a great opportunity to broaden the impact of our UNESCO status by uniting two regions with a strategic commitment to the creative industries. Led by the University of York, the partners in Live Lab are Production Park, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Vodafone, Opera North, TAIT, Megaverse, Tileyard North, Screen Yorkshire, York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority and Wakefield Council.
The Co-Directors of Live Lab, Helena Daffern and Gavin Kearney, set out its purpose:
"Our mission is to redefine the future of the creative industries by providing world-class facilities and fostering collaboration between academics, industry professionals, and performers. Together, we are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in live, hybrid, and virtual performance experiences, and we are excited to see the transformative impact this work will have on the UK’s creative landscape."
Live Lab achieves this by:
- Enabling the development of cutting edge research and novel technologies shaped by the needs of the industry.
- Supporting start-ups and high growth enterprises from technology ideation through to product acceleration.
- Delivering an Access Programme to enable public and industry participation in research and development activities, workshops, networking events, technology showcases, lectures and symposia.
Find out more about CoSTAR Live Lab
