Lates—the National Media Museum’s evening opening for adults—returns on Thursday 29 September 2016 to investigate faces and facial expressions.
Lates: Faces takes an entertaining, scientific and surprising look at the most photographed, examined and expressive part of the body—all with the unique Lates twist. Co-headlining the evening of interactive workshops, talks and demonstrations is one of Britain’s best-loved animation studios, Aardman, who will be using favourite characters such as Wallace, Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Morph to explain how they communicate through their famous expressions.
Lates: Faces also welcomes poet, writer, comedian and the 2013 “Funniest Joke of the Edinburgh Fringe” winner Rob Auton ("I heard a rumour that Cadbury is bringing out an oriental chocolate bar. Could be a Chinese Wispa."). Rob will be performing a spoken-word show dedicated to the weird and wonderful world of faces.
Other activities include an introduction to recently announced technology designed to read a patient’s vital signs through facial recognition software, presented by Dr David Harris-Birtill—the project’s lead researcher and lecturer in computer sciences at St. Andrews University, Fife; while Dr Charlie Frowd from Leeds University demonstrates EvoFIT—the technology police forces across the country are using to create facial profiles of criminals.
Dr Natalie Butcher, senior lecturer in psychology at Teeside University, will be challenging visitors with face illusions and memory tests, as well as revealing the factors that influence the ability to recognise people; and Jet Sanders from the University of York brings her spookily accurate human masks to discuss the psychological effects on the wearer.
Attendees can also have their caricatures created digitally (great for online profile pictures), see the University of Bradford demo technology that reads people’s expressions and tests ‘face blindness’, discover how 3D printed facial prosthetics are used in modern medicine, and create a unique expression to be captured on camera by The Portrait Sideshow.
Georgina Cooke, Programme Developer at the National Media Museum, said:
“We welcome hundreds of adults to our nights out with a twist, and this one should be no different. We’re thrilled to be working with the Oscar, BAFTA and Emmy-winning Aardman Animations who are geniuses at making entertainment from facial expressions. We’ve also searched high and low for some of the most innovative technologies relating to faces to showcase. It’s a jam-packed night that gets bigger and better each time.”
As always visitors will get the chance to test their handiwork skills—on this occasion with African mask-making and ‘funny-face’ disguise workshops—as well as enjoy specially-themed food and drink in the museum’s Media Café and bar.
Lates: Faces is free to attend. The next event is Lates: Wearable Tech on Thursday 8 December 2016.
ENDS
