“Shpeel” – a play on the word “spiel” meaning to play or to speak, has been designed by Biome Collective as a shared, interactive experience giving participants a sense of ownership of their actions empowering them to describe the nuances of how they are feeling without words.

In the 360° immersive environment, visitors use interactive controls to create and activate an abstract object (an ’emotional avatar’) immediately transforming the space they are in and using it to start a conversation with others.

Shpeel was designed as a tool to support young people, following a series of workshops across Dundee asking: “What can video games do to help young people start talking about their mental health?”

Produced by Tilde Arts and Creative Dundee in partnership with Hot Chocolate Trust, NHS Tayside and The Corner. Shpeel was first shown at the London Design Biennale. Its development was supported by Abertay University, Creative Scotland, Epson, NEoN Digital Arts Festival and the University of Dundee. 

Dundee's participation in the Bilbao Bizkaia Design Week is the result of the collaboration established between the cities of Bilbao and Dundee within the framework of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, to which both cities belong.

In November 2014, Bilbao was designated a UNESCO City of Design. Design has always been in the heart, mind and soul of Dundee. 

It is a city with a rich and varied design heritage in the fields of print and comics; textiles and fashion; electronics and digital gaming; medicine and medical research; and urban planning. Yet it is a city, like many around the world, which has suffered from post-industrial decline and the social and economic challenges associated with it. 

Through an ambitious £1bn waterfront regeneration, strong leadership and a fundamental understanding of the value of culture to successful places, Dundee is now known as the UK’s 'coolest little city'.

Today, Dundee is recognised as a city which is bold, ambitious and committed to using design to address both the inequalities and opportunities that exist in the city. Dundee is engaging citizens in design, embedding design in services and championing Dundee’s designers locally and globally to ensure that the city is one of the best places in the world to live. 

As the UK’s first and only UNESCO City of Design, city partners uphold the values of UNESCO and publicly champion our commitment to placing design at the heart of our local development plans and to global cooperation working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Dundee’s UNESCO City of Design designation is delivered through Dundee Partnership and supported by Abertay University, Creative Dundee, Dundee City Council, Northwood Charitable Trust, Leisure & Culture Dundee, University of Dundee and V&A Dundee.

In addition, the same space also contains another intervention, created through the collaboration of stakeholders and the public of the city. It is called Print City.