We are a provider and a connector. Our support enables people and organisations to develop their own success.
We assist businesses regardless of sector or development stage, mobilising over £15m of funding for the benefit of London’s entrepreneurs.
We run 5 specialist sector programmes as well as 6 generic support programmes.
Our programme is match-funded by European Regional Development Fund and London South Bank University.
Projects
- Helping TSE to improve their VR training simulationThe Tom Sawyer Effect endeavours to always bring something new to their digital communications programmes via emerging tech and unexpected real world experiences. TSE while working with ACE IT, wanted to improve their VR performance institute, which is crisis management and leadership training simulation. They wanted to further explore what can be done to improve their technology to use it in real world or within traditional media. TSE worked with UAL academic experts, using creative labs to t
- Creating AR interactive Pop-Up book for POPLA MediaPopla Media’s project Pop-Up Nation is a series of books which focus on children from marginalised areas, children with disabilities or religious minorities. ACE IT worked POPLA Media to add immersive AR elements to their products. With our partners from London College of Communications, UAL, POPLA media was able to create AR interactive pop-up book - making their content more engaging for children. Watch Rob Vincent, Co-founder of POPLA media, sharing his journey with ACE IT and see how the p
- Supporting Bodyswaps on their job interview simulationsBodyswaps are using VR & AI to empower learners to practise and develop their soft skills- the skills that define how you work, such as time management, networking and creative thinking - through empathy and self-reflection. Bodyswaps joined out ACE IT programme to advance their job interview simulator, using AI.They collaborated with experts and academics from our ACE IT partner, London College of Communications, UAL. Watch Christophe Mallet, Co-founder and CEO of Bodyswaps, sharing how our p
- Consulting Gong on Fringe Technology for their Virtual Gong BathsGong Baths are a type of sound meditation, usually requiring class attendees to lay on yoga mats with eyes shut as a trainer slowly strikes the large cymbal - the sound then 'washes' over the meditators, lulling them into a meditative state. Gong are a Gong Bath Meditation company that offer the experience all over London - and are now making the experience virtual with support from our ACE IT programme. Watch the video below to find out how LSBU academic & ACE IT consultant, Adam Parkinson, i
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Projects credited in
- Helping MyFinder develop an AR app to assist people with visual impairmentsMyFinder is an AI system that uses machine vision and Augmented Reality to help blind and visually impaired people lead more independent lives. Find out how the ACE IT, London College of Communication and London South Bank University, programme helped them develop the app in this video.3
- Consulting Gong on Fringe Technology for their Virtual Gong BathsGong Baths are a type of sound meditation, usually requiring class attendees to lay on yoga mats with eyes shut as a trainer slowly strikes the large cymbal - the sound then 'washes' over the meditators, lulling them into a meditative state. Gong are a Gong Bath Meditation company that offer the experience all over London - and are now making the experience virtual with support from our ACE IT programme. ACE IT is delivered by London College of Communication and London South Bank University.
Work history
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Supporting the Development of The Rose Theatre Sonic WalkThe Rose Theatre Trust
- 56 Park St, London SE1 9HS, UKFreelance
Fine-tuning a concept to recreate sounds of Elizabethan London (Written by Sara Ver-Bruggen)
A team from ACE IT collaborated with the Rose Theatre Trust to define a prototype of a sonic app that can be demonstrated to potential investors and supporters.
Bringing the Rose Theatre’s history to life
The Rose Theatre Trust (the Trust) was formed in 1989 during the archaeological excavation of the site of the Elizabethan Rose Playhouse on Bankside to ensure the new theatre proposed for the site would preserve as much of the fabric of Philip Henslowe’s playhouse, which was built in the late 1500s.
Since then, the Trust has devoted itself to preparing to excavate the complete site. The Trust’s “The Rose Revealed” project will re-excavate archaeological remains, preserve them, and place them on display in a bespoke visitor centre as part of an immersive experience, to be completed in three years’ time. This immersive experiences has many elements, including a virtual reconstruction of the Rose Theatre and its Bankside surroundings. Next, the Trust wanted to design an immersive aural experience.
Rose Theatre Sonic Walk
The concept behind the “Rose Theatre Sonic Walk”, according to Dr Roger Clegg, who worked on the virtual reconstruction, is to enable people to retrace the journeys of playgoers who travelled across the Thames by boat or over old London Bridge and through Southwark on foot to see a performance at the Rose.
The recreated sounds will pull visitors from the surrounding area towards the site of the archaeological remains by inviting them to consider themselves playgoers travelling to the theatre in the late sixteenth century.
Together, the sonic walk and the archaeological remains exhibition will enable the Trust to capitalise on the history of the area and to be leaders in providing visitors to Bankside with a uniquely holistic, immersive and accessible experience.
The Rose Theatre Trust started working with the SBI ACE IT team in May 2021 to help it refine its sound app concept.
Initial consultations with the SBI team led to a half-day collaborative meeting, where academics and those experienced in bringing history to life for the public spent a productive morning with the team from ACE IT (Accelerating the Creative Economy Through ImmersiveTechnologies) discussing how to design the sound walk app.
The event was split into segments. According to Clegg, these allowed for “fruitful, productive and illuminating discussion on a range of issued including mapping user personas and needs”.
The morning also addressed the user journey, including app discovery and touchpoints, onboarding, usability and accessibility, the opportunity for the addition of augmented reality (AR) technology and next steps for the development of a minimal viable product (MVP), essentially a software app fleshed out with enough features to be able to gather feedback for development.
Coming up with a clear roadmap
Martin Monov, a member of the SBI team involved in the project with the Trust, says the organisation of a sprint session allowed multiple stakeholders to participate and discuss the future of the app. “The result was being able to establish a clear roadmap, where different avenues of funding and longevity of the product were identified,” he says.
LSBU academic and ACE IT expert, Nadia Aziz designed and led the half-day “design thinking” workshop, to focus on personas and their journeys and what possible experiences might they expect from the sonic app.
“We were able to point out key questions towards a product strategy for augmented reality and sound experience. Initial concepts have been proposed that will help the trust to develop prototypes and also dive into some of the strategic challenges to be better prepared for fundraising,” says Aziz.
Deliverables
ACE IT took the discussions and produced a report, as a PowerPoint presentation, summarising the key themes and ideas that emerged for each segment, along with additional information on the next steps for the Trust to develop the app. These included additional sound mapping concepts and available platforms; MVP ideas and objectives; MVP evaluation and sprint sessions to consolidate MVP outcomes; engagement with stakeholders and sources of fundraising.
The computer model of the Rose playhouse as it may have looked 1587-1591
As a result, the Trust has been able to focus its ideas and achieved better clarity in the design of the MVP and to put in place the next steps towards developing it ready for consumer testing.
This, in part, relied on introducing Clegg and the team at the Rose Theatre Trust to similar projects in the field of augmented reality (AR), as well as outlining some low-cost digital toolkits they could use to prototype their ideas, which Adam Parkinson, from ACE IT was able to do. He says: “I had a great experience working with the Rose TheatreTrust. Their planned project is close to some of my research interests and working on this also pushed me to do further research into the world of mobile AR experiences.”
Challenges the collaboration helped to address
One of the challenges was the lack of funding, which meant relying on the generosity of interested parties to offer help and advice to support the app’s early concept design to get it to a stage, where funding sources can be sought. “In this respect, that ACE IT is fully funded has been invaluable,” said Clegg.
The sessions and subsequent reports were also crucial in helping the Trust to clarify who users or target audience, of the app might be.
Clegg says: “The collaboration with ACE IT has been invaluable in offering the Trust an understanding of the journey it needs to take to develop the app from experts who understood the aim and were able to offer key insights and frank advice.”
If you need support developing an immersive tech product, applications to our ACE IT programme open soon. Find out more at www.immersivetech.co.uk
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Providing a Survival Blueprint to London's Food SMEsThe Pure Food Co.
- London, United KingdomFreelance
Adri Bester, LSBU’s Senior Food Technologist and Lead Academic for the London Agri-Food Innovation Clinic (LAFIC), is working with local food businesses to help them adapt to the shifting landscape created by COVID-19.
From the outset of the pandemic, the primary concern for all food and hospitality organisations was a financial one, with a number of nationwide chains forced to close permanently, and many smaller businesses facing collapse.
The Government stepped in to provide some assurances and financial assistance but that was addressing just one area of a multi-faceted issue, with many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing disruption to their supply chains, arranging deferrals or renegotiating terms on leases, placing key members on furlough, and even extending loans and seeking other funding options – all while trying to maintain day-to-day operations.
Pure Foods of London provide fresh sandwiches to organisations across the city, including crucial NHS frontline services, and the importance of assisting Pure Foods was clear to Adri and the LAFIC team, "A number of small food manufacturers had already closed, it looked like Pure Foods would be next. As a supplier in to the NHS we prioritised our work with them to hopefully continue an important supply chain and feed key workers."
The Problem
Every ingredient in Pure Food's sandwiches is fresh – right down to their hand-made marinades and sauces. Their reliance on a streamlined supply chain, workforce and delivery infrastructure cannot be underestimated. In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, Pure Foods discovered that their Safe and Local Supplier Approval Accreditation (SALSA) certificates were about to expire. With all SALSA standards audits suspended, they needed to quickly provide evidence to gain an extension.
SALSA is required by many regional and national buyers, Pure Foods faced the prospect of their reduced production being halted altogether.
“We saw our production change from 15,000 units per day to under 200 in one week. We had no work for our staff” – Ilan Bregar, Director, Pure Foods of London
The Response
Adri quickly put together a comprehensive plan to ensure that Pure Foods could continue to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fundamental to Adri's response was a new risk management process that considered the myriad of dangers associated with preparing food during COVID-19. From this a new Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) process manual was created, with Adri ensuring that all Pure Foods’ staff were trained in the new procedures.
With the new processes in place, Adri then collated and presented the information required to ensure Pure Foods received the extension to their SALSA certificate, and therefore ensure the continuation of food production at Pure Foods for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis.
"Thanks to LAFIC and LSBU, we have had to furlough less of our staff. Our production has increased to over 500 units, and we are proud to be supporting the Government’s COVID-19 Management Plan by feeding the Imperial College researchers every day."
Next Step
As Adri states: "COVID-19 will continue to be extremely disruptive to the food and hospitality industry, sadly for some businesses this is the end, but for others opportunities are ripe for growth, providing they have the right systems and procedures in place."
With the learnings from the collaboration with Pure Foods, and the comprehensive response plan in place, Adri and the LAFIC Team can now quickly apply the methodology to similar food and hospitality SMEs, reducing the lag when responding to similar issues, saving time, money and countless jobs.
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Skills
- Consultancy
- Business
- Usability Testing
Education
InnovationLondon South Bank University
London, United Kingdom
We're part of the Research, Enterprise and Innovation (REI) department at London South Bank University. We work with SMEs from across London to create better products that solve regional and global challenges.
We provide a variety of support depending on your business stage - from upskilling, to collaboration, to knowledge transfer.
Awards
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Entrepreneurial University of the YearTimes Higher Education Awards
LSBU has been given the award for Entrepreneurial University of the Year at the Times Higher Education Awards. The accolade celebrates the entrepreneurial support offered to students, graduates, staff and the local community led by LSBU’s Research, Enterprise and Innovation team, based at the Clarence Centre for Enterprise and Innovation, with support from academics across LSBU’s seven Schools.