The fourth REACT Sandbox will be Objects.

Two years ago the BBC and The British Museum launched A History of the World in 100 Objects, capturing audience imagination with the stories behind historical artefacts, items and things. Today, new technologies embedded in real things let us go one step further – with objects themselves telling us their stories and starting conversations outside of performance, page or screen.

This Sandbox seeks to bring the skills of artists, makers and researchers to the look, feel and potential of this new area of work, often referred to as the Internet of Things. To date public funding has largely concentrated on the enabling technology and infrastructure behind The Internet of Things, rather than the objects, experiences, services and opportunities they unlock. As such, the scope for this call is broad and the focus is not the technology itself but the application and the context.

Successful sandbox projects will involve physical objects that communicate using networked technologies but the output could range from buildings to clothing, craft to games.This call is aimed at researchers and creatives from a wide range of disciplines including craft and making, material culture, archaeology, art history, product design, media, architecture, education, social anthropology, human geography and much more.

Some example research areas might explore:

• How might a building converse with its environment?
• How might a piece of clothing convey the emotion of its wearer?
• Could a restaurant table relay details about the food’s provenance?
• How might a playground use childrens’ movements to tell stories?
• Can we use objects other than controllers to interact with computer games?
• Could a language teacher use connected objects to teach new phrases?
• In what new ways could a musical instrument connect with its audiences?
• How could ‘smart things’ be used in non verbal communication?
• How might networking an artefact bring its past to life?

Applications for this theme will open in September 2013. Production wil run March - June 2014.

Some example projects in this area:

The Question: A piece of immersive theatre that focussed on the senses of touch and hearing. Taking place entirely in the dark, audience members were given vibrating flowers which used robotics and infrared sensors to help them navigate.

Shelflife: Ever wondered about the stories behind items you find in charity shops? Oxfam’s Shelflife app allows you to attach stories to the objects you donate and find out more about what you might buy.

Glowcaps: Helping people who might forget to take their pills, Glowcaps medicine bottles are networked to the pharmacy, glowing gently to remind you to take your medicine and informing the right people if you don’t.

The Good Night Lamp: a family of lamps which allow people to communicate the act of coming back home to their loved ones, remotely.

Air Quality Egg: A community-led air quality sensing network that gives people a way to participate in the conversation about air quality.

For further reading and browsing we also suggest Russell Davis on BBC.co.uk on Internet of Things