DDS' three taught Masters programmes enabling graduates from a wide range of backgrounds to gain knowledge of advanced digital techniques. Employment success is high; previous graduates have gone to work with companies such as Sony International, Nokia, Ragdoll Productions, Rockstar Games, DMA Design, Peugeot Citroen, and the DDS.

MDes Sound for the Moving Image
The Masters of Design (M.Des) in Sound for the Moving Image offers the opportunity for postgraduate students to engage with the craft and creative practice of sound production applied to film, animation, television, new media, electronic games and visual art, as well as equipping students with the tools required to develop a research project within this field. The programme promotes production of original work, through individual or group-based research, that is conceptually-driven, aesthetically challenging and wide-ranging in its use of sound design and music production/compostion. 

MSc Medical Visualisation & Human Anatomy
The Master of Science (MSc) in Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy is a new one-year taught postgraduate programme offered by the Digital Design Studio at The Glasgow School of Art in collaboration with the Laboratory of Human Anatomy, University of Glasgow. The purpose of this programme is to create a unique opportunity to combine actual cadaveric dissection with digital reconstruction, interaction and visualisation using state of the art virtual reality facilities. It allows a unique opportunity to examine human anatomy, and to reconstruct it in a real-time 3D environment for use in education and training. With the demand from clinicians of anatomical knowledge of students increasing (as a result in changes to medical and dental curricula) this Masters programme provides an ideal opportunity for enhancement of research into human anatomy within the digital age.

MSc International Heritage Visualisation

The International Heritage Visualisation programme aims to develop the knowledge and skill sets required to deliver and conduct digital preservation of world heritage sites and to create a unique opportunity to combine architecture and heritage with state of the art digital technologies, including 3D laser scanning, digital reconstruction of historic sties and artefacts, interaction and visualisation using virtual reality facilities.  It allows an ideal opportunity for documentation, maintenance and preservation of significant cultural sites and physical heritage assets, and the ability to reconstruct them in a real-time 3D environment for use in tourism, art, education, entertainment and science. 

This pathway will enable students to understand the process of creating original 3D datasets of cultural objects and sites, to reconstruct and present immersive visualisation with interactive narratives and provide a novel approach to foster multi-disciplinary study in computer science, history, geography, culture study, archaeology, architecture, the build environment, art and design and tourist management.

MSc Serious Games Development

The Serious Games pathway will offer students transferable skills to design, develop and analyse serious games and to create digital content for serious games in order to work in the creative industries, and conduct interdisciplinary research in serious applications of games technology, particularly, in healthcare, education, and cultural heritage.

RESEARCH

The DDS supports a community of academic staff, PhD and MPhil researchers. The academic staff at DDS play a very active role in the wider, rapidly expanding Glasgow School of Art post-graduate research scene and learning and teaching process development. Core research focusses on developing new techniques for interaction, user oriented interfaces, haptics, 3D sound, real-time photorealistic 3D visualisation, and camera-based motion tracking to explore the potential of multi-sensory participation in the fields of architecture, automotive industry, defence, education, environment, games and entertainment, heritage, medicine and healthcare.

The DDS has been successful in securing research funding from SFC, EPSRC, AHRC, NESTA, and the EU. In addition it has completed a Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept (PoC) and a Knowledge Transfer Partnership. It was successful in winning an RCUK Academic Fellowship in 2006.

PhD - Doctor of Philosophy

The DDS has a growing number of PhD students investigating various aspects of advanced 3D visualisation and interaction. Doctoral students work alongside staff and contribute to the growth of the Studio at all levels. They are encouraged to publish their work; attend and present at seminars and conferences; and contribute to ongoing and future DDS research projects.

PhD topics cover a variety of subjects in 3D visualisation and interaction. Current subjects of PhD study include: an anthropological study of cultural influences in Second Life, the development of animations aimed at resolving cultural conflicts (in Cyprus), the generation of 3D aural simulations of concert halls and other performance spaces, the use of animation to explore the representation of the face in Thai culture, the role of computer science in an arts school, the automation of traditional arts techniques and the processes involved in archaeological reconstruction using 3D computer models. 

Contact

For taught Masters programmes, contact Avril McAllister, a.mcallister@gsa.ac.uk

For the PhD programme, contact Dr. Minhua Eunice Ma, Head of Academic Programmes, +44 (0)141 566 1462
| m.ma@gsa.ac.uk