His work as co-manager (with Kaj Grønbæk) of the Interactive Spaces research centre involves; The design and implementation of IT systems that are designed with a specific focus on ensuring the seamless integration of information architectures and the physical environment (Info Gallery, Echoes of the City, Wisdom Wells), The potential presented by pervasive computing for new forms of sporting interaction and extension (iSport) and The potential for context aware computing presented by pervasive computers ubiquitous networking and mobile sensor, capture and positioning technologies (Urban Web).

Peter’s research publications are concerned with the both theoretical and pragmatic exploration of new approaches to interaction design and have, for example explored the innovative concepts of ‘Collective Interaction’ (with M.G. Petersen Designing for Collective Interaction in Randall, D. (ed) From CSCW to Web 2.0 European Developments in Collaborative Design, Springer Verlag -in Press.) and ‘Frame Shifting’ (with Thomas Markussen, Mapping Cultural Frame Shifting in INteraction Design with Blending Theory 2008 -www.ijdesgn.org). Peter is the Conference Chair (with Olav W. Bertelsen) of the DIS2010 conference. He sits on the board of the Nordic Design Research Network Nordes.org.

The projects supported by the Pervasive Media Studio are diverse in both their mode of practice and their projected outcomes. A long terms partnership between HPlabs and the University of Western England was concerned with the development of software allowing for the production, distribution and consumption of ‘mScapes’ or mediascapes – They were also central in the development of an ongoing conference series exploring and demonstrating the potential of mScapes. An m(edia)Scape is essentially a mixedmedia production that uses GPS to both record and playback audio, video, or augmented reality style graphics (mapped images on a smart phones camera/video input – dependent on position) as the basis for a particular ‘text’. Most of these mScape were audio centric allowing for recorded audio to trigger as a user moved through a space. In more recent times the ubiquity of phones with gyroscopes, GPS and compass, has allowed for the real time overlay of graphics on a video image- allowing a user to view an augmented reality through the phones camera. The latter development has seen AntiVJ – one of the Pervasive Media Studio’s residents – working with the HPlabs and the University of Western England on the potential for/feasibility of identifying and tracking a plane in 3 dimensions. The facility for mapping and tracking a plane in 3D space supports the mScape project by allowing the augmented/imposed image to move beyond ‘simple’ two dimensional infomatic style augmentation and toward the potential for ‘architectural’ augmentation in 3 dimensions.

The mScpae project has largely fed into the launch of Calvium – a ‘startup’ aiming at the commercialisation and continuing development of the mScape production and playback tools.

The facility for automatically mapping and tracking a plane in 3 Dimensions also serves the project being developed by Anti-VJ as part of their PM Studio Residency. That project involves the development of a ‘Mapping’ Suite of Applications based on the demonstrated potential for projecting a ‘keyed’ image onto a 3-Dimensional object providing for seamless projected live augmentations of architectural space. At present  AntiVJ projects depend on laborious keying of an image or video to a necessarily static surface or plane. Automated identification and tracking of planes would allow for the mapping of projections to dynamic/mobile surfaces effectively allowing a new form of augmented reality (augmented virtuality??). This potential is further extended by another of AntiVJ’s projects stereoscopic projection – the idea here is that keyed projections on a tracked plane in 3 dimensional space would allow for 3D ‘holographic’ projections.

The PM Studio has also supported research into the use of POV cameras in theatre productions. The ‘Extended Theatre Experience’ has explored the potential for attaching cameras to actors and to objects/props provides for a better or extended experience of recorded theatre although increasingly this has led to the development of new modes of mediated performance.

The SubtleMobs project developed by Duncan Speakman as a residence of the PM Studio is a variation and development of the rather tired/dated concept of Flash Mobs – The SubtleMob projects move away from the simple realisation of a social spectacle that became the standard for flashmobs to explore the more interesting performative affordances of that practice. In the simplest terms this has meant ensuring that the ‘mob’ maintains the form of subtlety that ensures the experience of the ‘mob’ – both between members and for the unsuspecting public – retains its submersion-in and subversion-of the everyday. SubtleMobs participants are told not to bring cameras or other recording devices that might subvert the grounded subtlety of the ‘performance’. The participants of one SubtleMob were instructed to download two sets of recorded instructions to an mp3 player. The recorded instructions were to be played only at the site of the SubtleMob performance and carried out with a partner listening to the alternative/paired recording. The ensuing performance emerges between partners, between couples, between the mob and the public – a kind of purely emergent performative practice.

Their are a number of other  interesting projects and collaborations supported by the PM Studio. The Street Art Dealer project is a collaboration between C6.org and Steal From Work – both groups concerned with public and street art and its marginalisation by market driven art practices and cultures. The project use QR codes (the form of barcoding that allows for embedding and collection of metadata via mobile phone cameras) to allow street artists to sign their work and for ‘consumers’ to then locate work identified by artist (or any other applied taxonomy) – it is suggested that this could lead to a form of commercialisation supporting the work of street artists (perhaps via commissions).

The PM Studio also supports; a CyberTherapy project (collaboration between HMC Interactive, Drake Music, and bibic) looking at the development of simple software that provides synaesthetic feedback (voice to visual feedback) as a form of Therapy for autistic children, a project enabling simple browser based recording and sharing of audio between schools students (Audio Enable), a number of augmented reality and cross media narrative projects, development of the IndieMobile social media campaign engine (Complaint Generator) in collaboration with Indie Mobile (an UX agency).

The PM Studio is supported by The University of Western England and their Digital Cultures Research Centre, Hewlett Packard Labs, and the Southwest Regional Development Agency and is part of Watershed @ Bristol.

The project is multilayered game employing the ‘This is not a game ‘ gambit to evoke a rich immersive game space that allowed the national broadcaster to develop a new intimate relationship with its viewers -’reaching audiences that have left the Sofa for the Keyboard’. The Truth About Marika was based on a traditional TV Drama. Before the premier of the television show a women made the public claim that SVT has stolen the story of her missing friend for the Drama Series and was part of a cover up. Her blog became the online section of the game space as viewers/participants looked for collected and shared clues to the missing girls story which were planted in the Drama Series and in Virtual and Actual worlds – the third plane of the game space. Talk Shows were staged including the shows producers, their accuser, and other protagonists.  Printed QR codes were posted in locations for discovery via mobiles. Geospatial information was gleaned via google mappings of clues.

The project might be seen as model for creating television media, broadcast media, and perhaps narrative media more  generally that is event driven and therefore makes good use of the relative difference that broadcast media displays in relation to network based content delivery platforms.

This might be related to the more simple and serendipitous rise of twitter as a backchannel for television. The real-time qualities of twitter and broadcast media appear particularly well aligned -each adding another dimension to the other.

He is currently working with the Game Studio @ SICS and is the principal developer of the commercialised pervasive gaming platform ‘The Creator’. He was also involved with the Integrated Project on Pervasive Gaming.The ‘game creator’ project developed as part of that project is the original  implementation of ‘the Creator’.

The most notable outcome of the project is perhaps ‘The Game Creator’ development and control platform for pervasive gaming which then became ‘the Creator’. That package was used by SVT and mixed media production company The Company P to produce the Truth About Marika – a participative narrative based on a multiplatform multilayered game space including a television drama, web based media, physical and virtual worlds. The game provided for large scale collaboration and interaction by the public. The Project also developed pervasive game models for mobile phones in conjunction with Nokia and a wide range of other models for pervasive, ambient, locative, ubiquitous gaming and interaction.