BDAS-Between Digital and Physical Worlds: artists reimaging reality

Step into the world of immersive arts – where creativity meets cutting-edge technology and audiences are part of the action. This inspiring evening will explore how art is being reimaged in bold, interactive ways, whilst making art more inclusive and accessible .

Join a lively panel discussion with artists. You’ll get to hear how projects are made, what they mean, and why they matter .

The evening will finish with an open audience Q&A and post-event networking over refreshments. Perfect for anyone curious about the future of the arts, whether you’re an artist, tech enthusiast, or simply looking for something different to do in Bristol.

This event is part of the Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 6 - 15 November 2025. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org.

Verity McIntosh is Director and Principal Investigator of Immersive Arts, a £6m UK-wide programme of research, training, funding and events, supporting over 200 artists to engage with immersive technologies. Funding for Immersive Arts is provided through a collaboration between the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England (ACE), the Arts Council of Wales (ACW), Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI).

Verity is Associate Professor of Virtual and Extended Realities at the University of the West of England where she founded one of Europe's first dedicated XR masters programmes. Through her research she works collaboratively with creative practitioners, companies, communities, policymakers and governments around the world. Her work has been discussed in the UK’s House of Commons and House of Lords, EU Parliament, Council of Europe and in multiple print and media contexts. Current research interests include inclusive and accessible experience design in XR, the ethics of virtual presence, and the role of human rights in multi-person, spatial computing paradigms.

18:00 Arrival & registration in Foyer.

18:30 Event starts in Cinema 1 / livestream begins.

19:30 Q&A.

19:45 Event ends / livestream ends.

19:45-21:00 Networking and drinks

The Bristol Distinguished Address Series (BDAS) is brought to you by UWE Bristol, and provides an opportunity to hear unique perspectives and insights from change makers, activists, entrepreneurs, and people who have achieved amazing things in Bristol and beyond.

You can attend this event in person, or watch online via live-stream.

Attending in-person: Watershed, Bristol. Further information on how to find us will be emailed to you a few days before the event.

Attending online: The livestream link will be emailed to you a few days before the event.

UWE Bristol welcomes all abilities/disabilities, ages, ethnicities, and genders to our events. If you have any questions, concerns or additional requirements then please let us know, by contacting [email protected], so that we can make your time at this event as comfortable as possible.

Disabled parking: No

Step-free access: Yes

Accessible toilets: Yes

Assisted Listening: Yes

Guide/assistance dog-friendly: Yes

Quiet spaces available: Yes

We are committed to protecting your data and privacy. The information you provide will be used to plan, deliver, monitor attendance, and promote our corporate events. Your records are stored on a secure database and access is restricted to those who need the information in order to carry out their duties at UWE Bristol. We may occasionally share your information with other university departments in order to tell you about activities we think will interest you (e.g., College events).

When you register for an event online via Eventbrite, the information you provide when booking will be processed and stored by Eventbrite in accordance with their privacy policy and terms.

Official photography, filming and live streaming is taking place at this event. Please be aware that we will be taking photographs at this event for publicity and promotional purposes. Images may be included in University publications, University promotional materials and published on the University website and social media channels. If you would prefer not to be photographed, please let a member of the events team know when you arrive at the event.

We will also be filming and live streaming the event for our online audience via UWE Bristol’s YouTube channel. If you do not want to be filmed, please let a member of the Events team know on arrival at the event, and they will ensure you are sat in an area of the venue that is not within view of the camera. We will record any contributions from the audience as part of the Q&A session, please be aware of this if you wish to ask a question at the event.

Please see the Corporate Events privacy notice for further information relating to how we process your data, which can be found here.

Host or Publisher UWE Bristol