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Innovation | FEATURE


Arts & Humanities Projects

Innovation in Arts & Humanities involving technology companies may seem unusual or “unexpected” as the Provost Dr John Hegarty refers to in a talk given to the MacGill Sumner School (see 1641 Deposition project below). However, the digital ages are changing the methods of research and naturally, industry is interested in ways in which this could develop. The recent opening of the Arts Technology Research Laboratory (page 12) developed by the School of Drama, Film and Music is an example of the need for interface with technology in terms of theatre, fi lm, music and the visual arts.

Some aditional examples of these types of initiative are showcased on the pages that follow.

www.tcd/ie/longroomhub/projects


1641 Depositions

“In Trinity, we are embarked on a very special ground-breaking project to unleash the power of the 18th century Long Room Library with all its hidden treasures, by the use of technology and digitisation. The Book of Kells is but the tip of the iceberg. Our plan is to defi ne Trinity and its partner universities, and Ireland, as an international hub of scholarship in advancing the understanding of the human condition, drawing on these unique capabilities. One specifi c project is extremely interesting. In 1641, the outbreak of a rebellion by the Catholic Irish is alleged to have begun with a general massacre of Protestant settlers. This allegation has been the cause of much bitter historical controversy ever since. The 1641 Depositions are the witness testimonies of the Protestant settlers (men and women of all classes) gathered by Government appointed commissioners after the Rising. All 19,000 pages have been in the Trinity Library since 1741. Our goal, with funding from the IRCHSS, is to digitise these unique testimonies and make them available to scholars all over the world for analysis. IBM is intensely involved with the project.

You might ask why IBM would be interested in such an event in the distant past? The reason is that the documents are diffi cult – being handwritten, with little grammatical structure, and in which the same word is often spelt differently on the same page. The most advanced digitising technology is not able to interpret such complex information – only the human brain can. IBM would like to understand the mental process involved and simulate it with entirely new innovative technology. Here is a situation that you might not predict – the Humanities and human curiosity having the ability to transform technology. My point is that breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely quarters. The Humanities meeting the technologies can spark the most extraordinary developments and the University is an ideal meeting place for both.”

(Photo of Dr John Hegarty)


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