XR (&) Education

Symposium summarizing the works and results of the project „Experience and immersive technologies – from creative practice to educational theory”

March 18, 2023
TV production hall, main building
9AM-6:30PM
participation free, no registration beforehand required
the symposium will be held in English

The exact program can be found HERE.

The XR (&) Education symposium is a gathering of teams from academic schools from all over the country, primarily arts and technical schools, but also universities, to talk about education in the field of immersive media. These teams and individuals have their own path that has led them into the XR field, and are representatives of different fields of creativity, engineering and reflection. During the symposium, they will share their own experiences, present their practices and achievements, talk about completed projects, as well as the challenges and difficulties they face in the educational process. We want the symposium to become a place to exchange experiences and establish new relationships in exploring this still new field of activity, which, expanding the possibilities of the Internet, is becoming another technologically mediated, important area of social life.

Participation in the symposium was confirmed by:

• Piotr Napieralski – Institute of Computer Science, Faculty of Technical Physics, Informatics and Applied Mathematics, Technical University of Lodz
  Piotr Napieralski received his master’s degree in engineering from the Faculty of Technical Physics, Computer Science and Applied Mathematics of the Lodz University of Technology in 2000. In 2008, he obtained a PhD degree in technical sciences in the field of Computer Science, specializing in computer graphics at the Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science. In 2014 he received his habilitation in the discipline of computer science at the Technical University of Lodz. He has been working continuously since 2000 at the Institute of Computer Science of the Lodz University of Technology. His scientific interests include computer graphics, computer games, virtual reality, user interface design, programming 3D graphics, computer simulation and visualization, computer animation, mobile systems, mobile applications. He is the author or co-author of over 60 scientific papers. He conducts classes for students in computer graphics in Polish and English. Over the past several years, he has participated in many research and development projects financed by the EU. He is a member of ACM, IEEE (Senior Member), PTI, PTC, IGDA.
• Rafa? Szrajber – Studio of Design of Virtual Spaces and Game Objects, Faculty of Technical Physics, Informatics and Applied Mathematics, Technical University of Lodz / Studio of Universal Interior Design, Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz
  Born and bred in Lodz; an architect, designer and lecturer at the Strzemi?ski Academy of Art in Lodz and Lodz University of Technology. His research interests include the topic of architecture in video games, game design as a creative process, and the use of local heritage in the area of new media as a way of building local identity and values. He lectures courses such as fundamentals of game design, interface design for video games and level design. He maintains a keen interest in environmental storytelling and information-rich game world design. What interests him most in the virtual dimension is the relationship between human beings and space (the series of Game City and Game Districts). By immersing himself in VR, he relishes the opportunity to stop the hands of time and sketch – not only on a piece of paper. An ambassador of the games industry and promoter of inter- university cooperation in the field video game education. A co-organizer of the Team Game Development Competition (ZTGK) and Game Graphics Contest. The inventor of the underground world of Steam Rifts.
• Grzegorz Bili?ski and Alicja Duzel-Bili?ska – Archisphere Studio in the Department of Art Areas, Faculty of Intermedia, Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow
  Visual artists, stage designers, architects, professors of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. They place their main interests and work on the border of discourse and artistic activities relating to hybrid space. The area of their activity are new media plus space, architecture, urban planning, also as an artistic installation, as well as scenography and exhibitions. They have presented their works in Poland and abroad (United States – Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts, Salzburg – International Opera Music Festival, as well as the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Romania). Authors and moderators of 60 radio programs entitled #SZTUKANAUKA related to the subject of knowledge consolidation, in which both artists and scientists participated, as well as debates on the commonality of art and science methodology. Members of the trasnsdisciplinary research team that found and reactivated the outstanding work of robotic art of the 60s SENSTER by E. Ihnatowicz. Alicja is a member of the Program Council of the Somaesthetics And The Arts Center, whose partner is Richard Shusterman.
• Maciej Cyryl Gniady – Archisphere Studio in the Department of Art Areas, Faculty of Intermedia, Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow
  A graduate of the Krakow Intermedia Department of the Academy of Fine Arts, winner of the Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2016) and the Diamond Grant (2017). From 2018, a PhD student at the Academy of Fine Arts. Member of the DAS collective initiated by Krzysztof Garbaczewski, he realized works in VR widely exhibited internationally. An intermedia artist dealing with the art-science trend, he uses virtual spaces, procedural 3d and 2d animation techniques, databending, motion sensors and sound synthesizers in his activities. In his works, he explores the concept of haptic communication, cybernetic communities,  extended  consciousness  and  hybrid  reality,  reaching  for transhumanism and cybernetic poetry, creator and enthusiast of open source software and technology. One of the founders and originators of InstytutXR, where he creates his own projects related to mixed reality technology.
• Piotr Kopik – 3D and Virtual Occurences Studio I, Faculty of Media Art, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
  Multimedia artist – author of installations, videos, machinimas, animations, VR works, computer graphics and performances. He also works with collage and drawing. A graduate of the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Co-founder of the szu szu group, participant of exhibitions, among others at CCA Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Museum of Art in ?ód?, BWA Wroc?aw, BWA Zielona Góra, Arsenal Gallery in Pozna?, IS Wyspa in Gda?sk, Kunsthaus Dresden in Dresden, Bat-Yam International Biennale of Landscape Urbanism in Bat Jam, <rotor> in Graz, Lokal_30 Gallery in Warsaw, Ró?nia Gallery in Warsaw, Harbor Gallery in Boston. His films have been shown, among others, at FILE in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Planete+ Doc Film Festival, Zach?ta National Gallery of Art, Muranów cinema and TVP Kultura. He runs the 3D and Virtual Events Studio I at the Faculty of Media Art of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he also heads the Department of Virtual Space. He lives and works in Warsaw.
• Anna Laska-Le?niewicz – Institute of Materials Engineering, Technical University of Lodz
  Assistant professor at Institute of Mechtronics and Information Systems, a member of the Voxel Research Lab, graduated in Biomedical Engineering from Lodz University of Technology in 2012, and Materials Science from Warsaw University of Technology in 2014. She received the Ph.D. degree from TUL in Biomaterials in 2022. She is an educator and researcher in many European projects. She is involved in several projects on virtual and augmented reality. She specializes in Biomedical Engineering, User-Centre Design, Usability Testing and Human-Computer Interactions.
• Dr Agnieszka Przybyszewska – Institute of Literary Theory, Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz
  Passionate about all unconventional literary forms – from ancient visual literature, through liberature to digital texts. She co-created the creative writing program at the University of Lodz, she was also the initiator of workshop projects conducted in cooperation with local creative industries and other research centers. As a NAWA scholarship holder in the Bekker programme (2020–2022), she completed a two-year internship at the Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries at Bath Spa University (UK), and was recently a scholarship holder in the British project “Amplified Publishing” (2021–2022). Author of the book Liberaco?? dzie?a literackiego (2015) and several dozen scientific articles on electronic literature (m.in. kinetic typography, location narratives, (playable) literature, kinetic and haptic reading, AR books), published in Polish, English and Spanish. She has been promoting electronic literature for years. She is a member of the Center for Electronic Literature Research and the Electronic Literature Organization, one of the editors of “The Writing Platform”, as well as a translator of e-literary texts. Currently m.in she is working on a monograph of Kate Pullinger’s digital work, an archive of the author’s works project and a popular science book on electronic literature.
• Robert Mleczko – Studio of Immersive Film and VR Experiences, Department of Film, Academy of Art in Szczecin
  A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Pozna? (today’s University of Arts) in the field of animated film (1997) and the Lodz Film School. Since 2001 he has been working as a cinematographer for feature films, documentaries, as well as films bordering on visual arts, as well as in the theater as a lighting director, creator of video projections and author of stage design. He collaborated in Poland with such artists as Krzysztof Garbaczewski, Hubert Czerepok, Karolina Bregu?a, Monika Strz?pka, Mariusz Grzegorzek, Grzegorz Jarzyna, Micha? Borczuch, Joanna Rajkowska and Artur ?mijewski, and abroad, among others with The Wooster Group in New York.
• Konrad Ziaja – CinematicVR, creator of the Interactive Training System
  XR producer, founder and CEO of CinematicVR – a studio creating VR and AR content for business clients, marketing and training purposes. Responsible for XR projects for HBO Poland, Amnesty International, McDonald’s, Onet, Mercedes-Benz, Stock, Nespresso, Atrium Poland, Triumph and many others. XR educator, lecturer at Film Spring Open. Amateur paleontologist, fan of everything related to space and rockets.

The aim of the ErasmusXR project was to prepare educational materials, including syllabi, curricula and open educational resources, for existing programs educating both cultural and media managers and creators seeking to connect with audiences in the digital space. The resulting materials are intended to improve the knowledge and skills of academic faculty working with immersive technologies to effectively manage, disseminate and produce digital art and content in a market environment. Part of the participants of the project will also speak at the symposium:

• Marta Materska-Samek – Jagiellonian University
• Dr Micha? Wójciak – Jagiellonian University
• Dimitris Charitos, Dr. Dimitris Delinikolas, Penny Papageorgopoulou – National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Letta Shtorhyn – University of Malta
• Ma?gorzata Kotli?ska, Dr. Filip Gabriel Pud?o – Lodz Film School

The XR (&) Education symposium will begin in the late afternoon of March 17 with a networking session, speeches and discussions are planned for Saturday, March 18.

Come to listen and discuss with us!