Dr Joseph Baldwin PhD PGCE MSc BSc (Hons) PGCR

Joseph BaldwinResearch Fellow 
Cardiff School of Art & Design (CSAD)
e: Jbaldwin@cardiffmet.ac.uk
t: 029 2020 5898



Specialist Subject Area

Product Design / Industrial Design, Human Centred Design, Design Process / Design Thinking, Experimental Design / Product Testing, Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies, Statistical Analysis, Biometrics and Psychological Measures, Eye Tracking and Behavioural Software.

Qualifications

Degree of Ph.D. by Research - Cardiff Metropolitan University

MSc Industrial Design - Swansea Metropolitan University

BSc Product Design (First-Class Honours) - Swansea Metropolitan University

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) - University of Wales Swansea

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) - Cardiff Metropolitan University

Biography

Joseph is an Educator, Designer and Researcher. Prior to his research activities at Cardiff Metropolitan University and completing his Doctorate in 2015, Joseph worked in both dependent and independent schools, teaching a variety of Design and Technology programmes.

Joseph's Doctoral Research focused on the Fovography imaging method conceptualised by artist-researcher Professor Robert Pepperell.  The overarching research discards conventional lens-based models of representing vision in favour of intuitive insights taken from visual artists and vision scientists engaged in exploring the experience of visual awareness.  Whilst undertaking this research, Joseph collaborated with a cross-disciplinary team interested in visual perception and consciousness. This comprised artist-researchers, product design-researchers, cognitive psychologists, game designers and vision scientists.

Joseph's Doctoral studies evaluated the user response to Fovography pictures in comparison to their corresponding geometrical perspective pictures in the early development phase of a digital imaging process. This was achieved through the design of qualitative and quantitative experimental methodologies to empirically explore the experience of picture space. Joseph also successfully integrated eye-tracking technologies which allowed gaze analysis and a greater understanding of the visual advantages of Fovography pictures in comparison to optical pictures of the same scene. His experimental designs and methodologies used in his Doctoral research where unique to Cardiff Metropolitan University at this time.  

The publication of Joseph's Doctoral Thesis and further research undertaken whilst working as a Research Assistant helped support and promote the Fovography imaging method being developed at Cardiff School of Art and Design. Additionally, the research project saw Cardiff Metropolitan University being shortlisted for a Times Higher Educational Award in 2015 for an outstanding contribution to Innovation and Technology.  This research project remains active along with the development of commercial media technology, aimed at reproducing the actual phenomenal experience of seeing and spatial awareness.

Whilst undertaking Post-Doctoral research at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Joseph aided in the development of a unique multi-sensory user testing environment - The Perceptual Experience Laboratory (PEL). Unlike augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies, the PEL research facility uses a video theatre design to present simulations of environmental and social settings, providing the opportunity to stage in-context product testing for Human Centred Design (HCD) praxis and examine how people interact with the world around them. Joseph successfully designed and conducted the opening research in the PEL facility which was staged to simulate a coastal tourism destination. The research project's aim was to investigate the use of a simulated natural environment to measure tourism's potential to alleviate physiological and psychological stress and enhance mood. Preliminary findings successfully demonstrated that a simulated tourism environment and immersive technology can be used for measuring stress and mood as signifiers of hedonic wellbeing.

Joseph's research interests focus on the use of simulated task environments for applied user testing research and the application of stimulus-response methods on subject's experience and behaviour. He is responsible for the operational management, development, and technical explanation of the PEL research facility to academic and commercial visitors. Joseph also works closely with and advises undergraduates, doctoral-level researchers, and academics on their applied HCD praxis and consumer research projects.

Current research

Joseph works primarily within the Food Industry Centre Research Unit at Cardiff School of Health Sciences (CSHS) and conducts research in applied user testing, consumer behaviour and simulated task environments. His main role involves supporting the ZERO2FIVE HELIX project; a Welsh Government-funded knowledge transfer programme developed to support the Welsh food industry. Joseph’s principal component of the HELIX Project seeks to uncover new insights into consumer habits and behaviours and use that knowledge to directly benefit Welsh food industry companies.

Principal Publications, Exhibitions and Awards

Publications

BALDWIN, J. & EVANS, E. (2020). Exploring Novel Technologies to Enhance Food Safety Training and Research Opportunities. Food Protection Trends. International Association for Food Protection. Link: https://repository.cardiffmet.ac.uk/handle/10369/11061

BALDWIN, J., HAVEN-TANG, C., GILL, S. MORGAN, N. & PRITCHARD, A. (2020). Using the Perceptual Experience Laboratory (PEL) to simulate tourism environments for hedonic wellbeing. Information Technology Tourism. Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40558-020-00179-x

LAWRENCE, A., LOUDON, G., GILL, S. & BALDWIN, J. (2019). 'Simulated Environments for Food Packaging Design Assessment', ICCAS 2019: Food and Society, 27-28 June, Cardiff, Wales.Link: https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/management/research/wctr/ICCAS2019/Pages/Conference-proceedings.aspx

GORDON, B., LOUDON, G., GILL, S. & BALDWIN, J. (2019). Product user testing: the void between Laboratory testing and Field testing, International Associations of Societies in Design Research Conference, Manchester, 2-5 September. Link: https://iasdr2019.org/uploads/files/Proceedings/pe-f-1384-Gor-B.pdf

LAWRENCE, A., LOUDON, G., GILL, S., PEPPERELL, R. & BALDWIN, J. (2019). 'Geometry vs Realism: an exploration of visual immersion in a synthetic reality space', International Associations of Societies in Design Research Conference, Manchester, 2-5 September. Link: https://iasdr2019.org/uploads/files/Proceedings/te-f-1248-Law-A.pdf

BALDWIN, J., BURLEIGH, A., PEPPERELL, R. & RUTA, N. (2016). The perceived size and shape of objects in peripheral vision. i-Perception vol 7; pp.1-23; doi: 10.1177/2041669516661900 Link: http://ipe.sagepub.com/content/7/4/2041669516661900.full

BALDWIN, J., BURLEIGH, A. & PEPPERELL, R. (2014). Comparing artistic and geometrical perspective depictions of space in the visual field. i-Perception vol 5; pp.536–547; doi: 10.1068/i0668. Link: http://ipe.sagepub.com/content/5/6/536.full.pdf+html