Symposium “The art and design of XR”

Technologies of eXtended Reality (XR), artistic practices and cultural perspectives, eXtended reality participatory experiences, and business aspects of eXtended reality. These are the main subjects that will be discussed during the Symposium “The art and design of XR” | ERASMUS XR Multiplier Event, which is part of the educational activities in the context of the "ERASMUS XR: Experience and immersive technologies - from creative practice to educational theory" project. The symposium’s objective is to assist in the dissemination of knowledge around eXtended Reality (XR), as well as the exchange of opinions between the participants. The participating institutions are: Jagiellonian University (Coordinator, Poland), University of Malta (Malta), Lodz Film School (Poland) and the Department of Digital Arts and Cinema, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece).

The symposium offers the opportunity to present and discuss recent research/achievements/artworks on the following fields:

• XR as a creative medium - State of the art and design of XR
• Cinematic Virtual Reality - Immersive Cinematography
• Social and Cultural Perspectives of the Multiuser Virtual Environments
• Distribution & business aspects of XR
• Immersing the audience in the XR experience and affording the audience participation

The ERASMUS XR Multiplier Event addresses practitioners, of any expertise level, involved with immersive media and technologies, namely academics, scientists and researchers, artists and digital creators, professionals, and companies active in the XR market, as well as cultural and media producers and managers.
In addition, as part of the aforementioned project, it aspires to function as an informative and educational tool for students, and anyone interested in being introduced to the world of immersive media or expanding their knowledge in the relevant fields.

10:00 - 10:45 | Welcome - Registration

10:45 – 11:15 | Introduction

Marta Materska-Samek, Adnan Hadziselimovic, Krzysztof Pijarski, Dimitris Charitos – Welcome & ERASMUS XR Project Presentation

Prodromos Tsiavos – Welcome & ONASSIS STEGI XR Αctivities

11:15 – 13:15 | Project Partners Presentations

Jagiellonian University (Coordinator, Poland)

Monika Hapek, Marzena Barańska – The Legal Dimensions of AR and VR: Selected Aspects

Michał Wójciak – Digital Fashion: Meaning and Practice

Marta Materska-Samek – XR as Innovation Priority: The Case of Entrepreneurial Discovery Process in Poland

University of Malta (Malta)

Adnan Hadziselimovic, Fabrizio Cali, Letta Shtohryn – Digital Arts Malta

Łódź Film School (Poland)

Krzysztof Pijarski – The Visual Narratives Laboratory: Combining Artistic and Research Processes in Search for the Language of XR

Spatial Media Research Group – National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece)

Dimitris Charitos, Charalampos Rizopoulos, Penny Papageorgopoulou, Iouliani Theona – Artistic Experimentation and Education on the Creative Aspects of XR

13:15 – 14:00 | Lunch Break

14:00 – 17:20 | Thematic Area: Social and Cultural Perspectives of Multiuser Virtual Environments

14:00 – 15:20 | Part A

Anastasia-Zoi Souliotou, Charikleia Kanari, Stavroula Zoi, Manthos Santorineos – @postasis Platform Paradigm for Social Interaction and Synergies in Art and Special Education

Maira Sounti, Caterina Antonopoulou, Louiza Katsarou, George Anastassakis – Investigating the Process of Teaching the Creation of Interactive Art in a Collaborative Virtual Environmental Context

Ioannis Deliyannis, Andreas Giannakoulopoulos, Marina Markellou, Iakovos Panagopoulos – Introducing Combined Metaverse XR Experiences: When the Ionian Film Office also Serves as a Tourism Location Guide for Ionian Islands in Greece

Kostis Oungrinis, Marianthi Liapi – Immersive Narratives for the Old City of Chania: A Social VR System for Virtual Time-Traveling in Ten Historic Locations of Chania

15:20 – 15:40 | Short Break

15:40 – 17:20 | Part B

Angelos Floros – The End of Childhood

Eleni Timplalexi – Lessons from The Theater: Digitally Generated Realities Through the Theater Lens

Akrivi Katifori, Maria Roussou, Christos Lougiakis, Athanasios Soulis, Sara Perry, Kristen N. O’Connor, Sebastian Vizcay, George Drettakis – Designing Historical Empathy into a Shared Cultural Heritage VR Experience

Polyxeni Mantzou, Xenofon Bitsikas, Anastasios Floros, Aristeidis Panagiotidis Diktampanis – Crafting an eXtended Apprenticeship for the Future

George Caridakis – Ubiquitous Augmented Cultural User eXperience: Content, Interaction, and Context Aspects

17:20 – 17:30 | Short Break

17:30 – 18:30 | Invited Keynote Speaker Presentation

Chris Salter (Professor, Immersive Arts | Director, Immersive Arts Space | Zurich University of the Arts) – Critical XR Futures – Promises, Presences, Practices

18:30 – 19:00 | Break

19:00 – 21:30 | XR Exhibition – Projects’ Demonstration

Akrivi Katifori, Maria Roussou, Christos Lougiakis, Athanasios Soulis, Sara Perry, Kristen N O’Connor, Sebastian Vizcay, George Drettakis - Designing historical empathy into a shared cultural heritage VR experience

Rokoko (Petros Morfopoulos, Yiannis Lamprou, Elias Stentoumis) - Rokoko Motion Capture Suit & use cases demos

DTMH (Tom Kolokithas, Peggy Grigoriou) - VERDU: VR Immersive Learning

Krzysztof Pijarski - The Visual Narratives Laboratory - projects demos

Michael Tzetzias - Columbia VR project & Hyperlands project

George Zestanakis, Koen Koopman - Chronoscope VR

Maria Kamarianaki, Maria-Eleni Belitsi, Aria Saridi, Eirini Konstanta - Project Zak, Something has changed here

Alexandros Kontogeorgakopoulos – Dj set – Improvisation: mixing/remixing music and soundscapes

10:00 - 10:30 | Registration

10:30 – 12:10 | Thematic Area: XR as a Creative Medium – State of the Art and Design of XR

Konstantina Vetsiou – Combining Extended Reality and Brain-Computer Interfaces: Towards New Applications of EEG in Art and the Field of Visual Interaction Experience

Stavroula Zoi – Composite Extended Reality Environments and Emerging Areas of Creative Experimentation

Spyros Vosinakis, Marina Stergiou, Dimitris Baltas – New Directions in Interactive XR Dance Performances

Penny Milia, Anna Meli – A Study of Inserting Images into a Poetry Book in an Augmented Reality Environment: The Experimental Project “After the Fire”

Giannis Koukoulas, Manolis Simos, Kostas Ioannidis, Aristotelis Tympas – TECHNO-LOGIA Hub | Research Dissemination Hub on Art in a Techno-Logical Society

12:10 – 12:20 | Short Break

12:20 – 14:00 | Thematic Area: Cinematic Virtual Reality – Immersive Cinematography

Chanee Choi – Remembrance: Magma

Anastasia Georgaki – Augmented Musical Heritage and Archeosoundscapes: The CIVIS Project “Sacred Sound, Sacred Spaces”

Loukia Alavanou – Oedipus in Search of Colonus

Christiana Kazakou – Narrative Research as Practice: A Methodology of Curating

Manthos Santorineos, Stavroula Zoi – XR – Cinema – Game – Interactive Narrative: The Need to Define Boundaries or a New Unconditional Narrative – The Experiment of the Art Exhibition in Ciné “Alphaville”

14:00 – 14:45 | Lunch Break

14:45 – 15:40 | Thematic Area: Distribution & Business Aspects of XR

Nefeli Dimitriadi - Extended reality Cinema production: innovative workflows and mixed techniques for multiple VR/AR/MR media outputs and platforms

Tom Kolokithas – Defining the New Age of Training with Verdu: From RnD to Market

Vangelis Lympouridis – Designing MEDxR Applications: Lessons from the Field

15:40 – 15:50 | Short Break

15:50 – 17:10 | Thematic Area: Immersing the Audience in the XR Experience and Affording Audience Participation

Manolis Patiniotis – Gaming the Past

Panayiotis Kyriakoulakos, Anthie Kolokotroni, Genovefa Chatzimenoikou – Evaluation of Two Art Installations in Live Performances through the User Experience: A Case Study of Interactive Art Installations

Polyxeni Mantzou, Xenofon Bitsikas, Anastasios Floros, Aristeidis Panagiotidis Diktampanis – XRaying the City’s Past

Maria Roussou, Katerina El Raheb, Dimitris Nastos, Athanasios Soulis, Dimitris Christopoulos, George Sofianopoulos, Katerina Servi, Kleanthis Zoumpoulakis, Lucas Katsikaris, John Parcharidis, Sakis Rogkas, Hara Sfyri – Visiting an Ancient Athenian Home within a Multi-visitor, Multi-sensorial eXtended Reality Storytelling Experience

17:10 – 17:20 | Short Break

17:20 – 17:50 | Invited Keynote Speaker Presentation

Michel Reilhac (Venice Immersive [Venice Biennale] founder and co-curator; Founder and Head of Studies for Venice Biennale College Cinema and College VR) – After Venice Immersive 2022, Lessons Learned about the Metaverse

17:50 – 18:00 | Short Break

18:00 – 19:00 | Invited Keynote Speakers Presentations

Marcos Novak (Professor, Department of Media Arts and Technology | University of California, Santa Barbara) – Allotopes XR / Ulysses XR / An Allotropic Allotope for 2122 (Venice Biennale 2022 Invited Proposal)

transLAB Teamwork (Marcos Novak, Alan Macy, Diarmid Flatley, Nefeli Manoudaki, Iason Paterakis, Pau Rosello-Diaz) – Alloplex: Hydnum XR | Extending Transmodal Worldmaking beyond Russell’s Circumplex Model of Affect (video)

Diarmid Flatley | Nefeli Manoudaki | Iason Paterakis | Pau Rosello-Diaz – Individual Presentations