XR (&) Education – symposium program

17/3/2023 – Friday

room 102, main building (Z)

18:00-19:30 – networking meeting

in the companionship of coffee and finger food 🙂

18/3/2023 – Saturday

TV production hall, main building (Z)

9:00-9:30 – registration

9:30-9:45 – welcome

Prof. Krzysztof Pijarski, Filip Pudło, PhD – Lodz Film School
Marta Materska-Samek, PhD – Jagiellonian University (project coordinator)

9:45-10:15 – Fashion in phygital world – case studies of Balenciaga and H&M

Michał Wójciak, PhD – Institute of Culture, Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University

The phygital could be perceived as a combination of physical and digital elements, which is created by applying digital elements in the real world or by the transfer of real elements into digital world. Fashion world is experimenting with AR and VR technology more and more, pushing the boundaries of our reality and creating the new ways of consumption. The main aim of the presentation is to discuss two case studies of digital fashion: Balenciaga Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow, a fashion video game made under the brand of well-known French fashion house and H&M Innovation Metaverse Design Story collection launched in 2022 by Swedish fast fashion company.

10:15-10:45 – Lois. Monstrous encounters

Letta Shtohryn – doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Media & Knowledge Sciences, University of Malta

This presentation will share the process and context behind the PhD research undertaken by Letta Shtohryn at the Department of Digital Arts, UM. It will focus on extended posthumanity, technology as a tool for mysticism, monstrosity and otherness explored via motion capture dance performance – Lois.Monstrous encounters.

10:45-11:15 – Teaching writers about XR – a chance for innovation in the writing practices or a dead end?

Agnieszka Przybyszewska, PhD – Institute of Literary Theory, Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz

As a co-creator of program of creative writing studies at the University of Łódź, Agnieszka Przybyszewska will share her experience of teaching future writers about XR. Her presentation will consist of short characteristics of the program of studies and general idea of incorporation the topic of digital storytelling into the curriculum and some case studies, focused mostly on teaching about AR storytelling. She will discuss a collaboration with PJATK in delivering workshops on AR storytelling for students of creative writing (at UŁ) and new media art (at PJATK). Works created during these courses will be exhibited in March/Aprils at XRcrosspace in London. She will also shortly sum-up her experience of delivering (in collaboration with a local startup) workshops for writers about using AR in storytelling (Bath, 2022).

11:15-11:30 – coffee break

11:30-12:00 – Traditional and XR film production – Virtual Production

Małgorzata Kotlińska, PhD, Filip Pudło, PhD – Lodz Film School

The use of XR production technologies has expanded recently also in the traditional film industry. One of the most desirable and promising technologies for the industry is Virtual Production. The speakers explore differences between traditional and XR film production workflow as well as share opportunities, challenges and examples from Virtual Production classes at the Film School in Lodz.

12:00-12:30 – Teaching the creative aspects of composing immersive, interactive experiences

Prof. Dimitris Charitos, Dimitris Delinikolas, PhD, Penny Papageorgopoulou – Department of Digital Arts and Cinema, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

This talk presents the project-based learning methodology adopted by the faculty of the Department of Digital Arts and Cinema of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens for the artistic laboratory class “Digital Artistic Creation” on the subject of VR . Within the course of the laboratory classes, the students are taught the design and development of virtual environment experiences, particularly focusing on the creation of interactive 3D assemblages and spatial compositions. Emphasis is given on the creative use of VR as an emerging communication medium.

12:30-13:00 – Outputs of the ErasmusXR project and sustainability plan for the future

Marta Materska-Samek, PhD – Institute of Culture, Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University

As chief coordinator of the ErasmusXR project, dr Materska-Samek will offer a summary of both the activities carried out and the project’s outcomes, as well as  reflect on possible future developments for the team and the activities in question.

13:00-14:00 – lunch break

14:00-14:30 – The Archisphere Studio of the Faculty of Intermedia in Krakow. Technology and Education

Prof. Grzegorz Biliński, Maciej Cyryl Gniady – Archisphere Studio in the Department of Areas of Art, Faculty of Intermedia, Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow

14:30-15:00 – Shaping artistic practice and XR

Prof. Piotr Kopik – 3D and Virtual Occurences Studio I, Faculty of Media Art, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw

The aim of the presentation is to consider how to educate and support individual artistic attitudes in the context of issues and techniques related to immersive environments. The background for the deliberations will be, among others, the documentation of selected works created as part of the educational process in the 3D and Virtual Events I studio, as well as a brief presentation of the speaker’s own artistic practice.

15:00-15:30 – Studio of Immersive Film and VR Experiences – artistic practice and teamwork

Robert Mleczko – Studio of Immersive Film and VR Experiences, Department of Film, Academy of Art in Szczecin

Classes in the studio are aimed at preparing students to carry out tasks using various digital techniques with contemporary narrative strategies and interactive activities. The priority, apart from the introduction to 3D technology, is to develop a research and experimental method. Conceptual and design activities are to sensitize the young artists to the presence of the immersant as a person participating in and co-creating the experience (Human-centered Design).

15:30 – 15:45 – coffee break

15:45-16:15 – Interdisciplinary research and education in virtual reality and new media

Prof. Piotr Napieralski – Institute of Information Technology, Faculty of Technical Physics, Informatics and Applied Mathematics, Lodz University of Technology

16:15-16:45 – From the ZTGK Challenge to scientific research and artistic activities – in search of the narrative in virtual worlds

Prof. Rafał Szrajber – Institute of Information Technology, Faculty of Technical Physics, Informatics and Applied Mathematics, Lodz University of Technology / Studio of Design Spaces and Virtual Objects for Games, Faculty of Design, Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz

16:45-17:15 – Immersive technologies in Education – experiences of Voxel Lab

Anna Laska-Leśniewicz, EngD – Institute of Mechatronics and Information Systems, Lodz University of Technology

17:15-17:30 – coffee break

17:30-18:00 – VR training solutions – a Virtual Training System case study

Konrad Ziaja – CinematicVR

CinematicVR is a creative XR Agency and one of the most experienced teams creating 360 videos and VR and AR applications in Poland. We successfully use VR and AR in business – both as innovative marketing tools and in training. We have created proprietary XR tools for the fashion and training industry. Among our clients were, among others, the Wawel Royal Castle, Next Film, Triumph, Regional Labour Office in Rzeszów, Marshal’s Office of the Malopolska Region, Atrium Poland, Żabka, Nespresso.

18:00-18:30 – Concluding discussion

Participants of the symposium + Krzysztof Pijarski, Jacek Nagłowski, Pola Borkiewicz – Visual Narratives Laboratory

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.
• Rafał 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 Strzemiński 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 Biliński and Alicja Duzel-Bilińska – 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 Łódź, BWA Wrocław, BWA Zielona Góra, Arsenal Gallery in Poznań, IS Wyspa in Gdańsk, Kunsthaus Dresden in Dresden, Bat-Yam International Biennale of Landscape Urbanism in Bat Jam, <rotor> in Graz, Lokal_30 Gallery in Warsaw, Różnia 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, Zachęta 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-Leśniewicz – 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 Liberacość dzieła 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 Poznań (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 Breguła, Monika Strzępka, Mariusz Grzegorzek, Grzegorz Jarzyna, Michał Borczuch, Joanna Rajkowska and Artur Żmijewski, 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 Michał Wójciak – Jagiellonian University
• Dimitris Charitos, Dr. Dimitris Delinikolas, Penny Papageorgopoulou – National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Letta Shtorhyn – University of Malta
• Małgorzata Kotlińska, Dr. Filip Gabriel Pudło – 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!