Intersect (formerly Kaleidoscope) is the end-of-year graduate show for students of Creative Digital Media at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), Blanchardstown. The Creative Digital Media degree produces graduates well versed in all aspects of contemporary media technology.
The students finish their degrees by producing final year projects which typically encompass areas such as web design, animation, mobile app development, user experience (UX) design, game development, film and documentary production, and emerging media technology.
The Digital Hub Award forms part of The Digital Hub’s partnership with the Technological University Dublin based in Blanchardstown, which aims to connect the talents and skills of TU Dublin students with The Digital Hub ecosystem of companies, researchers, creatives and technologists.
2024
The 2024 award at Intersect went to Craig McShane for his documentary An Gobha: The Blacksmith of the Boyne Valley, which gives an insight into the work and life of award-winning Blacksmith artist, Tom King, who brings to life the ways of ancient Ireland through his craftsmanship and experience. You can see the documentary in full here.
2023
The 2023 award at Intersect (formerly Kaleidoscope) went to Wiktoria Rogalska for her final year project — The Unseen World Of Dreams — a 3D animation that brings the viewer on a journey of dreams from visually impaired people. The idea was to create a space and starry night world where the camera would move through and bring the viewers from one dream to another along with some illusion transitions that will make the person feel like they are in a dreamlike world. The project involved conducting interviews and phone calls with visually impaired participants to understand the kind of dreams they had and how they perceived them. The final output was a 3D installation of a mini cinema to give an impression of night-time and improve the experience of watching the video in a quiet and private area. Watch on YouTube.
2022
The Digital Hub Award at Kaleidoscope 2022 was awarded to Isabel Hartnett for her project titled Fast Fashion Unadorned. For this project Isabel designed and illustrated a website, also adapted across social media, to engage the young consumers of fast fashion, change their habits and encourage a more sustainable approach to fashion. Fast Fashion Unadorned seeks to inspire change in the choices we make when buying fashion by raising awareness of the impact that our choices have on the world. You can view samples of some of her work on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabel-hartnett-0902a4194/
2021
The winner of The Digital Hub Award at Kaleidoscope 2021 was Glasbot by Nhu Thai. Glasbot is an interactive animation project that is designed to teach children about recycling and its impact on saving the environment. The medium of Glasbot is an e-learning interactive non-linear animation, bringing you on a journey from creating glass to recycling glass.
2020
This year’s award was given to Lisa Fallon for The Game — a philosophical 3D hologram arcade installation that uses a homemade acrylic trapezoid hologram projector. It features a collection of different old school mini games inspired by the 80’s / 90’s as well as some interactive visuals. Each mini game and visual symbolises and represents a specific philosophy or concept for the player to interpret. While the installation itself represents escapism some other philosophies and concepts within it include determinism, entropy, existentialism, interactionism, nihilism, stoicism and capitalism. The overall aim of The Game is to allow the player an opportunity to reflect upon their own personal philosophy through an engaging and interactive way.
2019
TiNK AR, an augmented reality treasure hunt game, developed by Stephen Coyle, was the recipient of The Digital Hub Award at the 2019 end-of-year showcase. The TiNK AR game blends the virtual world with the physical environment around players, taking the fun of an old treasure hunt and bringing it to the 21st century. Using the game’s App, players must help an engineer who is trapped inside his machine by collecting the missing parts that are hidden around the building, getting virtual hints to where they might be along the way. TiNK AR was exhibited to visitors of Immersive Tech Week at The Digital Hub in November 2019.
2018
In November 2018, The Digital Hub hosted RESONATE, a three-screen video installation that delved into the experiences and influences of a group of electronic music producers and DJs. The exhibit, which was open to the public was developed by emerging video artist and motion graphics designer, Riona Long, who had recently graduated from the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (now TU Dublin). By combining interviews, live footage and generated digital graphics, this installation vividly illustrates the raw emotion and sense of community that electronic music has the power to induce in both listener and creator. In doing so it suggests that electronic music culture provides a marker for how we resolve our contemporary anxieties around technology.
