We are delighted to share that the King Æthelstan Project has been awarded a KERI Collaboration Grant from Kingston University — supporting bold interdisciplinary work across its Knowledge Exchange and Research Institutes. This new funding marks the beginning of an exciting new phase for the project as we prepare for Kingston 2025, the town’s celebration of the 1100th anniversary of Æthelstan’s coronation.
The grant supports collaboration between the Institute of Cyber, Engineering and Digital Technologies (CEDT) and the Institute of Design, Arts and Creative Practice (DACP) — two of Kingston University’s leading research institutes. This partnership reflects the project’s mission to combine fine art, historical storytelling, and emerging technologies such as augmented and mixed reality to create engaging, public-facing cultural experiences.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Professor Jean-Christophe Nebel (CEDT) and Professor Marcus O’Dair (DACP), whose support as KERI Directors has been instrumental in bringing this collaboration to life. Without their backing, this exciting new phase of the King Æthelstan Project would not have been possible.
As part of this new phase, we are thrilled to welcome Dr Leah Kardos and her team from Kingston School of Art. Dr Kardos will lead the audio and sound design strand of the project, developing a historically grounded spatial audio soundscape and adaptive music composition. Her contribution will play a vital role in deepening the emotional resonance and storytelling potential of the King Æthelstan mixed reality experience.
This stage of development will also see the introduction of subtle animations, a voice-based AI conversational agent, and further enhancement of the shared, multi-user experience on the Meta Quest 3 headset. Together, these advances will bring King Æthelstan’s story vividly to life in mixed reality, laying the groundwork for public engagement across schools, heritage sites, and cultural events.
We’re proud to be part of Kingston University’s growing reputation in digital heritage innovation, and grateful to KERI for enabling this unique collaboration to thrive in the lead-up to Kingston 2025
Stay tuned as we continue building towards Kingston 2025!