Show Notes
There's a common misconception that assistive technologies only benefit a few – namely those with special access needs. However, innovations like voice assistants, text-to-speech and captions are things most of us use everyday, and at some point in our lives we or someone we know will rely on assistive technologies. The conversation looks at emerging guidelines, the pros and cons of AI-driven accessible tech and the vital role libraries play in protecting information integrity while opening access to more people.
More from SLV LAB Conversations
For much of her career, Angela Stengel has worked where technology meets creativity. During her 17 years at the ABC, including as Head of Digital Content and Innovation, she helped teams experiment with new platforms, formats and ways of connecting with audiences. Today, she advises organisations across media, arts, culture and government on AI, strategy and innovation. In this wide-ranging conversation, Stengel reflects on the promises and pitfalls of emerging technology, from the early optimism of the web to the current wave of AI development. She discusses why innovation teams matter, how organisations can navigate uncertainty, and why storytelling remains one of the most important human skills regardless of how technology changes. The episode offers a practical and optimistic perspective on how cultural organisations can engage with AI while remaining grounded in their mission, values, and communities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We spoke with 'the internet's sexual historian' about the surprisingly horny origins of our digital tools, as well as her upcoming communal performance lecture at State Library Victoria. Our digital tools are steeped in pleasure. From mobile phones flooding our senses with stimuli to the yonic nature of the computer mouse (with its clitoral scrolling wheel), to the rise of 'Big Porn', the industry of arousal has played a key part in the development of tools and interfaces through which we access the internet. Who better than "the internet's sexual historian" Mindy Seu to explain how this all came about and explore where it's going? The LA-based artist, technologist and professor joined us ahead of her August performance lecture of The Sexual History of the Internet at State Library Victoria for Now or Never. In conversation with Ana Tiquia, Mindy discussed how internet history can be retold through human sexuality and the collective act of gathering histories and stories without resorting to extraction. Here, phones become performance tools, libraries are cathedrals of polyvocality, and the future of a liberated internet may depend on many small acts of change. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What happens when we slow down, make things ourselves and ask who our tools are really built to serve? Nyungar artist and technologist Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker joined SLV LAB in June 2026 to discuss why the future of technology should not be treated as inevitable, particularly amid pressure to embed AI into every system and workflow. In conversation with Ana Tiquia, Kathryn reflects on leaving parts of the tech sector behind to focus on creative practice, speculative fiction, game making, First Peoples knowledges, repair culture and community-owned tools. The episode considers how cultural institutions might approach digital futures with greater care, agency and responsibility. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this Creative Technologist Talk, Elliott Bledsoe explored Australia’s new orphan works copyright scheme and what it might mean for cultural organisations and their publics. Alongside its timely discussion of the new legislation, Elliott's talk provides a helpful introduction to copyright and orphan works more broadly, opening up a wider conversation about access, reuse and public benefit in GLAM. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How can mixed reality technologies create emergent social experiences? Scientist-artist Yoyo Munk (US) joined SLV's Paula Bray and CEO Paul Duldig to discuss blending virtual geometries with shared physical space in their recent KAGAMI and Medusa projects. Yoyo asks how technological imperfections can evoke meaning, and explains their journey from scientist to artist by finding the signal in the noise. Together, they wonder how mixed reality might interact with library collections, and the potential for digital visualisations to not only reveal the dynamic evolution of knowledge archives, but to shape future collecting practices. This conversation was recorded in March 2025, a few months before Yoyo joined SLV LAB as its first Creative Technologist‑in‑Residence. His resulting project, In Memory | Of Being, was a mixed reality installation built from the Library’s digitised holdings: thousands of unidentified portraits, fragile glass‑plate negatives, vintage stereographs and oral history recordings. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.