Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Bianca Wright's research interests focus on immersive technologies, digital practice and digital identities and she has a particular niche in the use of gamification principles in the context of education and immersive technologies. Her projects bring together immersive forms such as 360-video and virtual reality with gamification to explore ways of teaching and storytelling in fields such as education and journalism. She is currently Associate Professor and Curriculum Lead: Immersive in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry University. She is also an Associate of the Centre for PostDigital Cultures.
Bianca holds an MPhil in Science and Technology Journalism from the University of Stellenbosch and a DPhil in Media Studies from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. From 2007 to the end of 2013, Bianca was Head of the Department of Journalism, Media and Philosophy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa.
As a freelance journalist since 1996, Bianca Wright has been published in a variety of magazines and online publications in the UK, the US and South Africa, including Global Telecoms Business, Office.com, SA Computer Magazine, M-Business, Discovery.com, Business Start-ups, Cosmopolitan and ComputorEdge. She has also ghostwritten two books on the health community in South Africa for ISDS, a European Union initiative and has contributed to the 2001 Black ICT Achievers’ Awards Handbook, published by BMI-TechKnowledge. Bianca was first runner-up in the print business magazine category at the 2002 Telkom ICT Journalist of the Year Awards. She also won second place in the 2002 AISI Media Awards’ special category IDRC Award For Reporting on Research and Innovation. In 2012, she was named one of the Top 40 under 40 business achievers in Port Elizabeth by the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber.
Research Interests
immersive technologies; virtual reality; augmented reality; immersive media; Game studies ; Digital media ; Digital identities ; Journalism practice ; Gamification of news ; Digital storytelling ; Gamification of education
Education/Academic qualification
Media Studies, Doctorate, Games as communication: an analysis of advergaming in South Africa, Nelson Mandela University
Award Date: 18 Apr 2012
Keywords
- TR Photography
- immersive technologies
- virtual reality
- augmented reality
- immersive media
- immersive film
- Digital Media
- digital culture
- LB2300 Higher Education
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 3 Finished
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AR Prison Break
Dawkins, S., Wright, B., Bleetman, J., Gazeley, Z., Mikelli, D. & Steward, K.
1/10/18 → 31/01/19
Project: Internally funded project
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Playing the News VR: Coventry Blitz
Wright, B., Jones, S., Graham, S., Tsankov, T., Berkland, D. & Perry, K.
1/02/17 → 16/01/18
Project: Research
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Using immersive spaces to teach journalism students live reporting skills
Jones, S. & Wright, B.
1/06/16 → 30/11/16
Project: Research
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Immediacy as news experience: exploring its multiple dimensions in print and online contexts
Omar, B., Al-Samarraie, H. & Wright, B., 15 Mar 2021, In: Online Information Review. 45, 2, p. 461-480 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (Scopus)622 Downloads (Pure) -
Now and Then: The Sound of Coventry's Story
Williams, T., Wright, B., Branch, B. & Buzatu, S., 13 Nov 2021Research output: Practice-Based and Non-textual Research › Composition
File2 Downloads (Pure) -
A real-time biosurveillance mechanism for early-stage disease detection from microblogs: a case study of interconnection between emotional and climatic factors related to migraine disease
Sarsam, S. M., Al-Samarraie, H., Ismail, N., Zaqout, F. & Wright, B., Dec 2020, In: Network Modeling Analysis in Health Informatics and Bioinformatics. 9, 1, 32.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile11 Citations (Scopus)56 Downloads (Pure) -
Sarcasm detection using machine learning algorithms in Twitter: A systematic review
Sarsam, S. M., Al-Samarraie, H., Ibrahim Alzahrani, A. & Wright, B., 1 Sept 2020, In: International Journal of Market Research. 62, 5, p. 578-598 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile83 Citations (Scopus)1391 Downloads (Pure) -
A conceptualization of factors affecting collaborative knowledge building in online environments
Ghazal, S., Al-Samarraie, H. & Wright, B., 22 Nov 2019, In: Online Information Review. 44, 1, p. 62-89 28 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open AccessFile28 Citations (Scopus)406 Downloads (Pure)
Activities
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Spark Festival Hong Kong
Bianca Wright (Group Exhibitor)
18 Jan 2019 → 20 Jan 2019Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Public Engagement Event
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Rebooting the news through immersive technologies
Bianca Wright (Speaker)
23 Jun 2018Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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Panel: Beyond the memorial – creative responses to conflict heritage
Bianca Wright (Speaker)
20 Jun 2018Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
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“Why do you have to do something?”: Embedding interaction into immersive media
Bianca Wright (Speaker)
27 Jun 2018Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Playing the News VR: Coventry Blitz exhibition at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
Bianca Wright (Organiser) & Darren Gary Berkland (Group Exhibitor)
12 Apr 2018 → 13 Apr 2018Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Public Engagement Event
Prizes
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Digital Fluency and Innovation award in the Coventry University Excellence Awards 2019
Dawkins, Steve (Recipient), Wright, Bianca (Recipient), Speculand, Jacqui (Recipient), Mikelli, Danai (Recipient), Gazeley, Zoe (Recipient), Steward, Kieran (Recipient) & Collis, Adam (Recipient), 26 Jun 2019
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Telkom ICT Journalist of the Year Awards
Wright, Bianca (Recipient), 2003
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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The African Information Society Initiative (AISI) Media Awards
Wright, Bianca (Recipient), 2003
Prize: National/international honour
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Press/Media
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From VR Prison Break to saving HK's biodiversity: Take your Spark of interest in science to the next level - and into the future
15/01/19
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Virtual reality experience allows users to step back in time to the Coventry Blitz
16/04/18
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Hundreds experience virtual reality of Coventry Blitz
30/12/17
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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A virtual reality news game teaches the public about the Coventry Blitz
21/12/17
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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Coventry Blitz: virtual reality will tell the story of the devastating attack
13/11/17
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities