Academic

Our multidisciplinary research in social computing and digital health to influence society is evidenced by a diverse range of projects.  

CuRAtOR: Challenging online feaR And OtheRing” on social computing

In collaboration with partners at the University of Bath, Newcastle and Nottingham, Northumbria led on the CuRAtOR project to investigate the cultures of fear that are propagated through online ‘othering’ – that is, viewing or treating other people as fundamentally different from and alien to oneself – and how this can lead to mistrust and stigmatisation of groups or communities.

Social Computing and Mental Health Research Network on Loneliness in the Digital Age

This project explored how digital technology can be used to help people experiencing loneliness. Researchers worked closely with different communities to examine online and offline loneliness and develop new digital technologies to support new methods of support.  

Playing out with IoT

This project explores how ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) technologies can be developed and used to allow children under nine years old create novel play in their neighbourhoods. IoT technologies relates to everyday objects that have a connection to the internet and are therefore capable of gathering data. The number of children who play outdoors has decreased in recent years and there are concerns about the impact of this on their health, wellbeing, and social development. Researchers are investigating how digital technologies can be used to promote new forms of play and engagement with the outdoors, for example, embedding technologies in playground environments or the use of augmented reality to explore local environments.

Temporal forensic analysis of digital camera sensor imperfections for picture dating

This research examined temporal variation of camera sensor imperfections to develop a model that can estimate the acquisition date of digital pictures. The extraction of information such as this from digital images is of high value to forensic scientists and police investigators. Find out more

Interaction-based Human Motion Analysis

Understanding human movement is important for motion-related technologies such as smart home applications that monitor behaviour and the evaluation of movement for physiotherapy. Traditional methods don’t incorporate the This project proposed a new method to analyse human motion based on the interaction with the surrounding environment. This method helps provide a better understanding about the nature of performed motion and enhances the performance of modern motion-related applications. Find out more

Privacy protected human identification in encrypted/transformed domains

Biometrics are being used widely in areas such as healthcare, banking, surveillance, and security control and is increasingly used for internet and mobile banking around the world. Focus has turned to the privacy and security of biometrics to ensure secure communication. This project helped provide the understanding needed to allow the development of robust biometric verification methods. Find out more