The Western Australia New Music Archive: 1970 - today: finding, accessing, remembering, performing. This project sees the creation of the Western Australian New Music Archive, a digital repository of and interface to Western Australian music composed from 1970 to the present day. A partnership between peak state and national bodies, the project will also involve the performance and recording of works from the archive.
Comedy Country: Australian Performance Comedy as an Agent of Change. Comedy Country aims to investigate the development of comic performance and its transformational relation with, and impact on, Australian society, culture and the creative industries from the aftermath of World War 2 until the present. The project’s key hypothesis is that since the 1950s comic performance has not merely reflected a changing Australia but helped drive social and cultural transformation. The project partners with ....Comedy Country: Australian Performance Comedy as an Agent of Change. Comedy Country aims to investigate the development of comic performance and its transformational relation with, and impact on, Australian society, culture and the creative industries from the aftermath of World War 2 until the present. The project’s key hypothesis is that since the 1950s comic performance has not merely reflected a changing Australia but helped drive social and cultural transformation. The project partners with two festivals, five cultural collecting organisations and a media production company to build interdisciplinary Humanities and Social Sciences/industry collaborations in digital methods for archive research and transmedia communication, and deliver digital exhibitions, documentaries, podcasts and scholarly histories.Read moreRead less
Creating perceptual experts in Australia's policing and security agencies. This project aims to create the next generation of experts in Australia’s policing and national security agencies, by improving crime scene evidence interpretation. Agencies are under pressure to develop more rigorous training practices that go beyond mere intuition and tradition. This project will use a novel approach that directs learning toward the most diagnostic perceptual cues. Expected outcomes include a solid empi ....Creating perceptual experts in Australia's policing and security agencies. This project aims to create the next generation of experts in Australia’s policing and national security agencies, by improving crime scene evidence interpretation. Agencies are under pressure to develop more rigorous training practices that go beyond mere intuition and tradition. This project will use a novel approach that directs learning toward the most diagnostic perceptual cues. Expected outcomes include a solid empirical basis for national training programs designed to create experts that are accurate, reliable, and continuously improving. Improving the training of experts will ensure the integrity of forensics as evidentiary tools available to police, lead to more reliable courtroom convictions and help safeguard Australia from terrorism and crime.Read moreRead less
'Wizards in Oz': The impact and legacy of Colonel de Basil's Ballets Russes on Australian cultural life and artistic practice. The project heralds a nationally significant co-operation between Australian cultural and tertiary institutions to research the content, impact and legacy of Australian tours 1936-40 by the acclaimed Ballets Russes. Australians were overwhelmed by the company's high-modernist aesthetic, and inspired by the collaborative ideals celebrated in its balletic, theatrical and m ....'Wizards in Oz': The impact and legacy of Colonel de Basil's Ballets Russes on Australian cultural life and artistic practice. The project heralds a nationally significant co-operation between Australian cultural and tertiary institutions to research the content, impact and legacy of Australian tours 1936-40 by the acclaimed Ballets Russes. Australians were overwhelmed by the company's high-modernist aesthetic, and inspired by the collaborative ideals celebrated in its balletic, theatrical and musical masterpieces. Research will generate a range of scholarly publications, physical and virtual exhibitions, and select performances by the Australian Ballet. The project utilises an innovative interactive research methodology to establish a vital nexus between scholarly research, digital archival management and dissemination strategies, and artistic practice.Read moreRead less
Waking up to a fire - optimising the smoke alarm signal. On any one night a significant proportion of the population is at risk of sleeping through the current smoke alarm in a fire emergency. Significant risk factors for not awakening include being a child, sleep deprivation, being a heavy sleeper, use of sleeping tablets, alcohol intoxication, and being aged over 60. Yet research suggests that a different alarm signal will awaken these groups more effectively at a lower volume. This innovati ....Waking up to a fire - optimising the smoke alarm signal. On any one night a significant proportion of the population is at risk of sleeping through the current smoke alarm in a fire emergency. Significant risk factors for not awakening include being a child, sleep deprivation, being a heavy sleeper, use of sleeping tablets, alcohol intoxication, and being aged over 60. Yet research suggests that a different alarm signal will awaken these groups more effectively at a lower volume. This innovative project will determine the best signal, with important implications for community public safety, fire safety engineers, the smoke alarm industry and our theoretical understanding of cognitive processing during sleep.Read moreRead less
Protecting the Australian passport by developing face recognition training programs that effectively integrate human operators and machine systems. The security of the Australian passport is vital to the fight against crime and terrorism. This project will help detect identity fraud in passport applications by developing training programs drawing on the psychology of face processing to optimally combine human decision making with machine face recognition systems to maximise fraud detection.
Towards optimal face identification systems. This project aims to improve face identification accuracy at a system level. Reliable face identification is critical in security, police and judicial processes. The project will inform policy in the recruitment, training and workflow design underpinning the secure issuance of Australian passports. Expected outcomes of the project will include social and economic gains such as improved efficiency and reliability of key government services. The knowled ....Towards optimal face identification systems. This project aims to improve face identification accuracy at a system level. Reliable face identification is critical in security, police and judicial processes. The project will inform policy in the recruitment, training and workflow design underpinning the secure issuance of Australian passports. Expected outcomes of the project will include social and economic gains such as improved efficiency and reliability of key government services. The knowledge gained as a result of the project in perceptual and cognitive processes will strengthen legal systems and national security by minimising the risk of identification errors in critical roles.Read moreRead less
Haptic-Rendered Bell Synthesis for a Practice Carillon Clavier. This project will explore new methods of audio synthesis that respond to haptic sensing. It seeks practical ways to control the synthesis of bell sounds using the mechanical playing action of a carillon keyboard as the human interface in a virtual instrument. Sensing technology developed will also benefit other areas of new performance media where multiple forms of sensory control are required to navigate interactive virtual environ ....Haptic-Rendered Bell Synthesis for a Practice Carillon Clavier. This project will explore new methods of audio synthesis that respond to haptic sensing. It seeks practical ways to control the synthesis of bell sounds using the mechanical playing action of a carillon keyboard as the human interface in a virtual instrument. Sensing technology developed will also benefit other areas of new performance media where multiple forms of sensory control are required to navigate interactive virtual environments. The project also creates new postgraduate research training opportunities in an area that crosses disciplinary boundaries between frontier technology and the creative arts.Read moreRead less
Novel test and design methods for base course reinforced flexible pavements. This project aims to develop the mechanics of geosynthetic-reinforced flexible pavements as an urgent need for the Australian pavement industry to build more sustainable and economical roads. Novel laboratory test apparatus and in-situ test programs, and mathematical models will be developed, for the first time, to capture the responses of reinforced base courses in a complete and optimised way to determine the paramete ....Novel test and design methods for base course reinforced flexible pavements. This project aims to develop the mechanics of geosynthetic-reinforced flexible pavements as an urgent need for the Australian pavement industry to build more sustainable and economical roads. Novel laboratory test apparatus and in-situ test programs, and mathematical models will be developed, for the first time, to capture the responses of reinforced base courses in a complete and optimised way to determine the parameters for pavement design and performance evaluation. The outcomes will enable reliable prediction of reinforced pavement behaviour, leading to better-performing geosynthetic products and more resilient pavements, reduced material usage and damage in pavements, and less environmental impact and maintenance cost.Read moreRead less
Residential Air Conditioning, Comfort and Demand Response in Australia. Rapid growth in residential air conditioning (AC) ownership will potentially undermine national energy efficiency and greenhouse reduction targets. Furthermore, residential AC is placing a strain on the national electricity system, especially during heat waves when electricity demand peaks. These AC-driven peak loads occur occasionally each summer, but increasing grid capacity to meet them represents a grossly inefficient in ....Residential Air Conditioning, Comfort and Demand Response in Australia. Rapid growth in residential air conditioning (AC) ownership will potentially undermine national energy efficiency and greenhouse reduction targets. Furthermore, residential AC is placing a strain on the national electricity system, especially during heat waves when electricity demand peaks. These AC-driven peak loads occur occasionally each summer, but increasing grid capacity to meet them represents a grossly inefficient infrastructure investment. This project will generate Australia's most comprehensive data set on exactly how, when, where, and why residential AC systems are being used. The outcomes will provide a solid platform on which national electricity demand management and AC greenhouse-gas mitigation strategies can be designed.Read moreRead less