Arts-Focused Freelance
Creative Technologist
Ben Neal
A creative tech collaborator who turns artistic ideas into interactive software, immersive experiences, responsive environments, and cutting edge media.
Spanning XR, games, web, mobile, sound, video, physical computing and bespoke software - from early prototyping to exhibition ready work.
It usually starts with a question...
and then...
Bring artworks to life
with unique software & prototypes
Keeping your ideas central, let's explore what's possible, and find out what works.
Research and develop, play and test, and build towards public sharing.
You might have...
- an idea
- a narrative
- a performance
- an unformed thought
- an artwork
- a research question
- images // sounds
- an object
You could make...
- Interactive software and games.
- Apps for the web and mobile.
- Physical computing - with sensors, buttons and lights.
- XR projects - for VR headsets and AR tablets.
- Motion tracking, pose detection, facial recognition.
Selected work
In a collaboration between The REP and the British Council with UK collaborators Tyrone Huggins, Judy Owen and Edie Jo Murray - I worked with Kenyan dance group Dance Into Space to create a theatre production that allowed onstage actors to interact with digital characters, and provided dancers with digital imagery to enhance the storytelling. A series of 3D scenes and animations were made, together with effected video clips and live camera feeds for Augmented Reality sections. Custom software was developed to control all the elements live on stage to help tell the story of the 'Lunatic Line' built across Kenya.
Seen at the Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi
A virtual version of the Birmingham art gallery was recreated in VR for Meta Quest headsets. Stryx VR allows users to virtually visit the gallery to see paintings, 3D objects and immersive videos. The gallery can be managed by staff through an online admin system allowing regular updates and new exhibitions to be easily created. Stryx have run a VR Residency programme for artists to introduce them to VR, and creative practitioners have since produced work to be shown in the virtual space.
Created with
Artists, organisations, universities and festivals across arts and culture.
Creative together
- “one of the most gifted polymath creatives I've had the pleasure of working with...
if you get the opportunity to work with him, take it.”
- Ceri Hand, Artist Mentor - “Ben combines creativity and technical proficiency... to get the best out of any idea.”
- Baff Akoto, Artist - “Extremely professional to work with, he made the complexities of technology clearly understandable.”
- Chris Poolman, Artist
- “I'm consistently amazed by Ben's breadth of knowledge and knack for finding creative solutions.”
- Edie Jo Murray, Artist - “His combination of artistic and technical skills are unique.”
- John Sear, Real-World Game Designer (Museum Games) - “A fantastic collaborator. I recommend him highly.”
- Kerryn Wise, Digital Dance Artist
- “no matter how far it pushes the imagination - Ben can make it happen”
- Harmeet Chagger-Khan, Arts Producer - “responsive and generous with his skills and ideas. He's always keen to innovate and push the limits”
- Sarah Martindale (University of Nottingham) - “always at the cutting edge of technology, education and arts practice”
- Andrew Pearsall (Birmingham City University)
Consultancy, Talks, Workshops & Mentoring
Ben often shares his practice through talks, presentations, workshops, consultancy and mentoring.
Studio Practice
Ben co-runs Displace Studio with digital dance artist Kerryn Wise. Their best known work is a VR experience called Facades, which has toured internationally.
He's currently Associate Artist at the Virtual and Immersive Production Studio at the University of Nottingham.
GET IN TOUCH
If you have a project idea, and want to see what it could become, send a quick message.
If you are in the early stages of writing a funding bid - let's chat.
A few lines is enough - just say what you're working on.