An Internet of Things media project involving Trinity Mirror Regionals has been backed with a €50,000 grant from Google Digital News.
The local newspaper arm of the group which owns the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People will work with UCLan’s Media Innovation Studio and consultancy Thomas Buchanan to create physical prototypes capable of conveying news and information.
The project will run for six months and begin in February .
With the goal of innovating in news delivery across Europe, 124 projects across 24 European countries won funding from Google. A total of €24m was given out.
“It’s really exciting to be involved in something that ties so closely to our values of breaking news, and local information and audience engagement,” Alison Gow, digital innovation editor at Trinity Mirror Regionals, said.
“It’s a unique opportunity to really understand how content delivery and interaction between the worlds of media and tech and the audience can and will quickly evolve.”
Another recipient of funding was Johnston Press, which will use the cash to develop LaPOP, an app which flags up the most popular local area stories based on a reader’s location.
Trinity Mirror itself will also run a Google-backed project, Project Vario, which is looking to develop an alternative to promoted content links.