Dr Robert Sherman

I am a writer, artist, researcher, designer and consultant working in the fields of digital narrative design, games design, interactive experiences and their application in arts, culture and heritage.

I entered the field with The Black Crown Project, a transmedia web narrative published by Random House UK and shortlisted for the New Media Writing Prize and Futurebook Prize.

Since then, as well as a PhD in Creative (Digital) Writing and Human-Computer Interaction, I have founded the narrative experience design consultancy Bonfire Dog. working with clients on a variety of projects including virtual reality experiences, in-gallery videogames, web narratives, data-driven poetry, mixed reality installations and generative bots. Clients have included The British Library, National Trust For Scotland, IKEA, English Heritage, The Royal Mint, The National Museum Of Wales.

At the university, I am a Lecturer in Digital Liberal Arts and Digital Literary Cultures. I convene undergraduate and postgraduate modules that introduce students to digital cultures and creative practices, including game design, interactive storytelling and generative writing. I teach and lecture on the core Liberal Arts module, Being Human In The Modern World. I also advise on digital strategy and programme development in the department, as well as serving as the Director of Student Experience for the Liberal Arts programme.

I am a member of Exeter's Digital Advisory Network, the South West Fed, the Museums Immersive Network, the Museums Computer Group and the South West Creative Technology Network. I am also a Digital Research Fellow at the British Library, and a Fellow Emeritus of the Eccles Centre For North American Studies.

CURRENT PROJECTS

• A collaboration with National Trust for Scotland, funded by the AHRC's IAA fund, investigating the use of videogame technologies and interactive narrative design for interpretating complex or contested histories, and their ramifications for conservation today. 
• Completing an enhanced web version of an interactive installation produced in 2022, in collaboration with the artist Hugh McCann and the East Looe Old Gaol Museum in Cornwall, and funded by a Project Grant from Arts Council England.