Practice
Over twenty years delivering immersive art, fine art, exhibition technology, and digital infrastructure across museums, galleries, festivals, and public institutions in Australia and internationally. From projection mapping the Royal Exhibition Building to building AI infrastructure for museum collections, the work has stayed grounded in real spaces, real audiences, and real technical constraints.
Currently undertaking a PhD (Design) at RMIT, developing ARCHAI — sovereign AI heritage infrastructure for museums. The research builds directly on two decades of making things work in buildings, for artists, for audiences, under real constraints.
FAMTEC operates as both a research studio and a freelance practice. I work with museums, galleries, artists, festivals, and commercial clients on immersive environments, fine art production, exhibition technology, AI systems, and technology consulting. If you need someone who can carry the work and wire the building, let's talk.
Current
- Founder — FAMTEC Studio
- PhD Researcher — RMIT University (Design)
- ISEA 2026 — Dubai (accepted)
Background
- Head of Technology — NCM / TarraWarra Museum of Art
- Lead Technician — Heide MoMA / MUMA, Monash University
- Exhibitions, Public Programs, AV, Cinema & VX — ACMI
- Collections & Digital Media Systems — Museums Victoria
- Senior Technical Lead — Grande Experiences
- 50+ exhibitions — ACMI, TWMA, Heide, MV, MIFF, Geelong Gallery
- International — New York, Illinois, São Paulo, Colorado
- MA Animation & Interactive Media — RMIT
Active Projects
ARCHAI
Open-source sovereign semantic infrastructure for cultural heritage. The current research demo connects 3,147 records across 19 museum, heritage, public-art, and cultural-data sources, with grounded collection interpretation and 1,522 rights-gated AUXIO visitor pages. Designed to sit above institutional CMS and DAMS systems while keeping source records, attribution, and governance intact.
Working prototype · open to partners Open Source · AI SafetySafeChat
Crisis detection and verified helpline resources for AI chat systems. One script tag. 34 countries. 67 verified helplines. 420 automated tests. Zero data collection. Runs entirely on-device.
Released · testing partners welcome Public Interest · Legal AccessCourtside Help
Free Australian family violence and family court information for applicants, respondents and families under pressure. Plain-language stages, crisis contacts, youth support, and printable QR poster/card/sticker downloads for courts, police stations, emergency services, support desks and community services.
Live demo · print pack ready Developer Tools · macOSKeytec
API key management for macOS. Store keys in Keychain. Group by project. Inject at runtime. No .env files. No cloud. No account. CLI + local web dashboard with GitHub Actions sync.
Early release · open to review Open Source · Agent ToolingHuggle
A shared nervous system for coding agents and the human running them. One tiny local server holds a shared message log — agents claim files, track tasks, exchange direct messages, and negotiate handoffs in real time. CLI, MCP, and live dashboard. No accounts. No cloud. No dependencies.
Working prototype · open to collaborators Autonomous AI Artwork · PhD ResearchDark Plates
An autonomous image system rendering copperplate engravings from live festival signal during Winter Solstice 2026 in Hobart. No human selects the subject matter — each plate assembles Tasmanian species, colonial expedition art, and public discourse into eighteenth-century engravings. A new plate every six hours, distributed as QR street prints.
Live · darkplates.artResearch, Funding & Testing
These projects are active research and development systems: working prototypes, public demos, and open-source tools being tested through FAMTEC and doctoral research at RMIT University.
I am open to funded research partnerships, institutional pilot testing, accessibility evaluation, software development support, grant collaborations, and feedback from museums, galleries, universities, public-interest technology groups, and aligned funders.
For research, funding, or testing enquiries, contact rob@fineartmedia.tech.
Selected Work
Contact