2 October 2026 | Alumni blog

^{Unfurl, photo © Mark Gray}

Emma Powell makes robots for poking, squishing, and hugging. She’s Co-Director of Air Giants, a local creative robotics studio, making pioneering and monumental work for an international audience.

We interviewed Emma ahead of the unveiling of Squeeze Me, a group of new interactive inflatable creatures who’ll be wrapped around lampposts on Brandon Hill, Bristol, 4-9 July 2023.

^{Emma Powell, Co-Director at Air Giants}

What was your journey from illustration to inflatable robotics?

It was long and unexpected!

I picked up many design and fabrication skills on my Illustration degree in the wonderfully equipped workshops at UWE. After graduation I did freelance model-making work for film and TV. Working at Puppet Place in Bristol was hugely transformative. It’s a great working hub for puppetry of all sorts.

I spent many years designing and making puppets for theatre all over the world

Mechanisms and animatronics have always been a passion of mine, and it was the combination of these disciplines with design that made me interested in robotics.

I met my colleague Richard at an event on Stokes Croft. We shared an interest in beautiful mechanical things. He had made some experiments with moving inflatable structures.

I fell in love with the scale and the organic motion of them.

I realised that I’d spent many years working on other people’s ideas and that it could be time to work on my own. We started Air Giants, pitching for the first time for funding. Three years later, Air Giants is touring artworks which take that feeling of excitement and emotional impact to others.

Which of your creatures is your personal favourite and why?

There are elements of each piece that I think are exceptional and it’s hard to pick a favourite.

I love the relationships people build with Luma. They can get really attached to her and we get many repeat visitors.

^{Luma, Ashton Court in Bristol, 2021}

Unfurl, is wonderful because it’s a whole garden which is large enough to create a complete interactive environment.

^{Unfurl, Freedom Festival 2023, © Tarran Photography}

I’m excited about what is coming up in our new project, Squeeze Me. It’s the first time we’ve used touch sensing in a piece of work.

To get it to interact with you, you have to poke, squish or hug it!

Why do you think Bristol is a thriving hub for creative technology?

It has strong traditions of puppetry, animation and robotics as well as a thriving film and TV scene. Its size means that there is a real creative technology community, with lots of companies supporting and championing each other.

Places like the Watershed and the Pervasive Media Studio actively support innovative practitioners and help to develop the city’s strong networks between universities, industries and creative businesses.

UWE Bristol is often involved in the multi-partner teams that support the creative industries.

We’re a new member of Pervasive Media Studio – a creative technologies collaboration between Watershed, UWE Bristol and University of Bristol. UWE was a partner of the South West Creative Technology Network team that funded Air Giants’ earliest experimental work, and is a main delivery partner of the MyWorld program which is supporting a huge range of creative innovation in the region, including our own.

How do Air Giants contribute to accessibility and inclusivity within the Arts?

Our work offers a really low barrier to engagement. It’s about what you can see, hear and touch and how that makes you feel. There’s no language element and you don’t need any previous experience of the arts to enjoy it.

Audiences across the world love our work, from the very young to the elderly.

It draws a lot of primal responses from people which are about playfulness and the feeling of communing with something huge.

^{Luma, Leeds Shopping Centre, 2021}

Do you have a dream project you can tell us about?

We’ve been thinking about how our robots could interact with the human body in a performance context. We’re natural collaborators…

We’d love to work on a large-production with other creatives, from dancers, opera singers, street performers to concert pianists.

I’m also excited to see where our new work, Squeeze Me, tours this year. The work is battery-powered, which means we can install it… anywhere!

More about Squeeze Me and Playable City

Squeeze Me will be installed on Brandon Hill as part of Bristol’s Playable City event. Huge, inflatable and illuminated creatures, will be wrapped around trees, lamp posts or other street furniture, inviting passers-by to hug, squeeze, lean on or poke them. Creatures will respond with shape-change, light and sound and will influence other creatures nearby.

Dates and times as follows:

Tuesday 4 July – Thursday 6 July, 16:00 – 22:00

Friday 7 July – Saturday 8 July, 14:00 – 22:00

Sunday 9 July, 14:00 – 18:00

www.airgiants.co.uk

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Support UWE Bristol Fund

Poetry slams and open mics, a refugee business hackathon and a young person’s stroke support group are just some of the activities the UWE Bristol Fund is proud to be supporting this year.

Supporting social purpose

The five projects funded this year are all are set to have a big impact on local society, and provide great learning and networking opportunities for our students.

Each project is designed to help local communities prosper and is a collaborative effort between students, staff, the local community and a partner organisation.

The long-term sustainability of projects is also important. We hope this is just the start of these five new partnerships, which will continue to build and deliver value to all involved going forward.

Find out a bit more about the projects we’re supporting (in no particular order):

1. Words on Board

Designed to widen participation in poetry, spoken and written word, this collaboration spans both workshops and performance. Working with local spoken word organisation Satellite of Love, students will partner with schools, local community members and poets. The week of events is from 26 June to 1 July, based at John Sebastian Lightship boat in Bristol city centre.

2. Independent Prescribing

The Independent Prescribing course team started working with the Brandon Trust last year to improve inclusivity within their curriculum. This project aims to encourage our students to identify, address and engage more widely in the needs of those with learning disabilities and/or autism.

The funding will enable UWE Bristol students on the course to work with the experts – Brandon’s Adventurers, a group of young people and adults with a learning disability, autism or both, who are supported and employed by the charity – to make recommendations to improve the curriculum. Research outcomes will be published and materials co-created, aimed at communicating best inclusive practice in prescribing for people with a learning disability. The materials will be shared with all prescribers trained at UWE Bristol, currently about 550 health care clinicians every year.

3. Cultivate Community Arts

This project team will partner with CentreSpace Gallery, to create a programme of community arts workshops offered by a team of emerging artists including students, graduates and local young people.

The workshops leaders will design and deliver the sessions, gaining skills in community art project delivery, supported by a team of experienced visual arts students and staff from UWE Bristol as well as Centre Space Gallery staff. The project also aims to provide young artists with professional networks and skills for a collaborative practice.

Workshops will take place in key local community arts spaces including the Chocolate Factory in Easton.

4. Stroke Survivors

This project aims to address the gap in service provision for younger people affected by stroke. A monthly social peer support group will be initiated by a collaborative team made up of local young people whose lives have been affected by a stroke, UWE Bristol students and staff, and staff from partner organisation Bristol After Stroke.

A multi-profession approach will be fostered by engaging students from diverse courses who have an interest in healthcare stroke service. It is hoped this project will create a partnership and provision that will have longstanding benefits not just for young people who have suffered a stroke but also for students and staff.

5. Migrant Entrepreneurs

This project will unite the expertise and knowledge of our business and law students with the ambition of local migrants and refugee businesses and start-ups.

UWE Bristol students and staff will collaborate with local partner organisation Ashley Community Housing (ACH), whose vision is to empower refugees and migrants who reside in the UK to lead self-sufficient and ambitious lives.

A hackathon event will be organised, with students providing free business support, advice and networking to boost enterprise in ACH’s client group, who face multiple barriers. Clients will be identified through ACH’s business support programme.

About the UWE Bristol Fund

Donations to the UWE Bristol Fund provide vital grants to our students and local communities.

The UWE Bristol Fund awards grants of up to £3,000 for community partnership projects which help to achieve the following aims:

build relationships between staff, students and local communities
develop opportunities for students to volunteer in the local community and enhance teamwork, communication and project management skills
develop opportunities to enhance student learning through practical, community-based projects
develop projects which will have significant impact for the Bristol region.

The UWE Bristol Community Grant is jointly funded with the Quartet Community Foundation.

For more information, contact communityfund@uwe.ac.uk

Month: June 2023

Giant inflatable robots descend on Bristol city centre