Abstract
Drone technology is progressively more embedded in civil society, including heritage and cultural organisations. As these institutions engage with drones to complete functional tasks associated with the preservation and documentation of material culture, they are also working to decentre their systems and ways of working. New practices are focused on addressing inequalities in the access to and participation in heritage and culture, by underserved communities, in ways that foster capacity building and ownership in these groups.This thesis, Buzzing culture: drone technology to empower underserved audiences to connect with heritage and culture, investigates the ways in which UAVs can facilitate agency in underserved communities, in order for them to shape their heritage and cultural experiences, as part of answering the principal research question “How can drone technology empower underserved audiences to connect with heritage and culture”.
The methodological approach in this project was guided by theories including collaborative design and iterative research, which determined the qualitative methods used. The application of these theories was supported by the values of empowerment, agency, and inclusion. Semi-structured interviews are used to capture drone users’ and heritage experts’ perceptions of UAVs opportunities, barriers, and risks in engaging underserved communities with heritage and culture. The views of heritage experts are further explored through a UK-wide online survey which makes it possible to test the generalisability of the interview data.
As underserved communities are at the centre of this project, the study involves co-design research with people living with dementia, culminating in a drone livestreaming activity, in which participants instruct the drone pilot on the direction of the drone. The perspective of Global Majority women is investigated through an autoethnographic study. Both include the use of creative techniques and visual content analysis.
Key findings suggest concerns for loss of institutional power and control are at the centre of heritage organisations’ reluctance to adopt drone technology, as a new approach to empower underserved audiences to connect with heritage. Drones’ technical capabilities of drone mindedness, drone sensing, spatial mobility and verticality, control, and automation lead to opportunities for the technology to facilitate a deeper connection with landscape and place and engage with heritage.
Nevertheless, to empower communities, these capabilities must be used with agency by underserved communities. When communities are agents/producers instead of spectators /consumers, their drone video content creates a distinct visual language that emerges as a counternarrative to the spectacle created by the auratic views in institutional drone content. The latter project heritage as perfect, unique, and universally relevant.
Through the co-design research livestream, the production of a framework for the analysis of visual language and power in drone video content, and the identification of specific characteristics in drone video content generated by underserved audiences, this thesis contributes new empirical and conceptual knowledge. These empirical and conceptual theorisations address a gap in digital mobilities, visual studies and arts and media scholarship.
| Date of Award | Jul 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Lara Perry (Supervisor), Olu Jenzen (Supervisor), Frauke Behrendt (Supervisor) & Patricia Prieto-Blanco (Supervisor) |