Dr Guy Schofield
Senior Lecturer
Visit Dr Guy Schofield's profile on the York Research Database to:
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Profile
Biography
Guy Schofield is a digital artist with a specialism in creating immersive works that connect with heritage and archaeological themes. He is particularly interested in the intersection between heritage and videogame technologies and in working with members of the public to place heritage and archaeology in new contexts.
Guy originally studied as a painter and sculptor, completing a Masters in Fine Art at Newcastle University and has worked outside academia as a games artist, videographer and editor. His first posts in academia were at the interdisciplinary research facility Culture Lab where he conducted research as part of an arts and technology research group He completed a PhD in Computer Science and has published articles in arts, human-computer interaction and heritage conferences and journals.
From 2015 Guy worked in the School of Arts and Creative Technologies and led the Masters programme in Film and Television Production with Visual Effects. Guy joined the Department of Archaeology in 2023 and teaches In 2025 Guy became a trustee of the Council of British Archaeology.
Career
After completing a Bachelor of Fine Art at Cumbria College of Art and Design, Guy went on to complete a Master of Fine Art at Newcastle University, specialising in digital works. He subsequently worked for the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and videogame developer 3rd Dimension Creations while developing a freelance art practice that mainly focusses on collaborative and participatory approaches to heritage and archaeology through the media of games, electronics, installation, robots, sound, printmaking and performance.
Guy worked as a Research Associate at Culture Lab, Newcastle firstly under Sally Jane Norman and later in the Open Lab research group led by Patrick Olivier. His research involved live performance, digital cinematography, games technologies and DIY digital filmmaking.
Guy took up a lecturer post at University of York in 2015, leading the Masters programme in Film and Television Production with Visual Effects before moving to Archaeology in 2023.
Departmental roles
- Department Computing Officer
Research
Overview
My research interests combine several disciplines and are connected to my practice as an artist.
While at Newcastle, I worked on the European Commission Framework 6 project IRIS, contributing to research on Interactive Storytelling. I also collaborated on a number of projects in the field of human-computer interaction on topics such as ‘liveness’ in interaction design, interactive performance and interactive film.
Since I moved to York in 2015, I have conducted research on Virtual Reality filmmaking and the design of interactive and immersive exhibitions for heritage spaces including working on the Viking VR project in 2017 and the OTHER EYES project led by Colleen Morgan. I have also collaborated with colleagues in Psychology on projects using Virtual Reality to test physiological responses to fear and have co-supervised research students at IGGI (the Doctoral Training Centre for Intelligence in Games and Gaming Intelligence).
Projects
My current research involves participatory, collaborative and DIY approaches to interpreting heritage and archaeology through games technology. This connects strongly to my freelance practice with museums, community groups and schools.
Grants
OTHER EYES: Understanding the past through bioarchaeology and digital media -2020 AHRC Early Career Grant Co-Investigator
Traitor- Expanding the Narrative -2019
Small Collaborative Research and Development Project – XR Stories. Principle Investigator:
Developing Production Methods and Visual Grammars for Combining Live-Action and Computer-Generated Imagery for Narrative Cinematic Virtual Reality Films - 2019
Pilot Collaborative Research and Development Project – XR Stories Co-Investigator
Smart Commissioning Toolkit for Immersive Experiences - 2019
AHRC Immersive Experiences Call – follow on funding with York Museums Trust, Glasgow University. Co-Investigator
Within the Walls of York Gaol: Place and Memory in the Immersive Museum – 2018 AHRC Immersive Experiences Call with York Museums Trust, Glasgow University
Co-Investigator
Enhancing competitiveness in Virtual Reality production through the development of new production tools and business strategies to exploit emerging markets - 2016
Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Wild Rover Productions. Co-investigator
Collaborators
Dr Colleen Morgan, Dr Gareth Beale, Dr Nicole Beale, Dr Cade McCall, Prof John Mateer
Available PhD research projects
I am available to supervise projects in the area of digital heritage, particularly on new approaches to heritage and archaeology through immersive technologies. I am particularly interested in supervising practice-based projects.
Supervision
Grace Moore, School of Arts and Creative Technologies.
Teaching
Undergraduate
- ARC00067I-A Archaeogaming
Postgraduate
- ARC00122M-A Virtual Reality and 3D Modelling
External activities
Memberships
- Member of the Association of Computing Machinery
- Trustee for Council of British Archaeology
Invited talks and conferences
Creative Cambridge: AI And Creative Culture. Invited Panel 2025
Star Carr, Life After The Ice. Merchant Adventurers Discovery Lecture, with Dr Jess Bates.2024
Preserving Digital Play:Strategies and Challenges in Game Preservation. IGGI Conference, 2024
Creating Immersive Stories for Heritage Organizations Immersive Stories Event, University of Leeds, 2019
Digital Creativity Meets Digital Heritage Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, 2016
Media coverage
Television
IDG Tech News (Canada) made a 5 minute spot about my interactive performance work Humanaquarium (2011)
Radio
BBC Free Thinking Festival interviewed my humanaquarium collaborators and me as part of the festival coverage (2010)
Magazine interviews
My interactive performance piece humanaquarium was featured on the landing page of WiRED UK’s website 2011
My Archaelogy section in British Archaeology Magazine, 2025
Newspapers
Viking VR in The Guardian May 2017
‘Virtual reality brings ninth century Viking invaders' camp to life’
Viking VR in The Daily Mail May 2017
‘Virtual reality mask brings Viking camp to life in Yorkshire Museum exhibition’
Performances
2012 Orientation: An Experiment in Live Cinema Culture Lab, Newcastle upon Tyne (with David Green and Harriet Cole)
2012 BBC Free Thinking Festival The Sage, Gateshead,UK
Nightingallery. Participatory Media Performance (with Robyn Taylor/John Shearer)
2010 BBC Free Thinking Festival The Sage, Gateshead,UK
Humanaquarium. Participatory Media Performance (With Robyn Taylor/John Shearer)
2010 JAM45, Culture Lab, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
The Turing Test. Interactive musical performance (with Rachel Casey)
OverWatch. Interactive musical performance (with Rachel Casey)
2010 WIF Festival, Limoges, France
Humanaquarium. Participatory media performance (with Robyn Taylor/John Shearer)
