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With its first edition of the Art - Science - Technology Festival of Artecitya, Helexpo ventures a new approach to the Artecitya idea, focusing on the relationship between art, science and technology, particularly on the investigation of the possibilities for social change that are embedded into all three fields. The inspiration behind this approach has been the greatly successful E-Gaming Festival organised by Helexpo since 2012, largely attended by mostly young audiences.
According to Jane McGonigal (Institute for the Future, Director of Games Research and Development) gaming can contribute to the creation of a better world, because of the special skills (superpowers as she calls them) that gamers develop: urgent optimism – belief into an immediate positive result that can be succeeded thanks to the action of the gamer; social fabric – individual players become communities that work together towards a common goal; blissful productivity – belief into hard work, endeavour and perseverance; and epic meaning – the search for an epic win. With these skills, the solution of complex, urgent problems looks feasible! Moreover, through applications such as e-gaming or virtual and augmented reality, our perception of space and time expands, it becomes shifting and intermittent. The city –either as community (present) or as scenography (dystopic future or medieval past)– becomes versatile and flowing depending on the Gamer’s actions and movements. Typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) are often applied to other areas of activity, typically as online marketing technique, to encourage engagement with a product or service (gamification). In the same manner, the use of such elements may be used for the reinforcement of the feeling of community among people from different backgrounds, the solution of social problems and the embracing of a healthier, sustainable way of life. Within this context, alongside the E-Gaming Festival that now becomes part of the Art –Science – Technology Festival of Artecitya by Helexpo, the following projects are presented: EGAMING
The largest gaming event in the Balkans takes place again this year in Helexpo’s Pavilion 17 for the 5th year in a row.The event is a real treat for gamers of all age groups, featuring 4.000 square meters of classic and contemporary gaming, presentations and showcases, competitions and tournaments, discussion panels and happenings, as well as a rich board games section for the fans of more traditional formats. The Event’s overall focus is on Entertainment, eSports and Education. Daily showcases and gaming panels offer Gamers the opportunity to test new titles and to improve their skills in existing ones. Special sections include cosplaying workshops and competition, educational seminars on videogame development and new technologies, as well as spotlights for the beloved YouTubers involved in the field. AMANDA AMANDA is a virtual reality game against bullying, developed by four students of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki –Vassilis Baltatzis, Margarita Bintsi, Ilias Chrysovergis and Georgios Schinas– under the guidance of their professor and mentor Leontios Hadjileontiadis. AMANDA aims to raise awareness and suggest ways of dealing with the phenomenon of bullying. It is addressed to pre-teen and teenage school kids, as well as to educators and psychologists, who deal with the phenomenon on a daily basis. AMANDA is set-up as a virtual reality game, using traditional game elements such as challenges, different game levels, avatars and scores that make the experience challenging and entertaining. At the same time, the game’s virtual world of images, videos and interactive material aims to raise the user’s empathy and self-confidence, in order to efficiently deal with bullying incidents at school and other social environments. Additional applications provide educators and psychologists with the tools to better understand the phenomenon. The application was developed using the latest findings of neuroscience (mirror neurons) and technology (virtual reality), in collaboration with expert psychologists and educators. It is named after Amanda Todd, a 15 year-old victim of bullying, who ended her life after having suffered physical, psychological and sexual violence. Before she died, she published an online video, recounting her tragic story. Last July, Team AMANDA travelled to Seattle, USA, to compete in the finals of the international Microsoft Imagine Cup 2016 Competition. The team won 1st prize in the World Citizenship category and 2nd prize in the overall classification! In a few weeks, Team Amanda will cross the Atlantic once again, to present the project at the “Microsoft Ignite” conference in Atlanta and at “We Day” in Toronto. ENTER THE GAME In collaboration with Associate Professor Manthos Santorinaios and the “MA in Art and Virtual Reality” of the Athens School of Fine Arts and Université Paris 8. “Enter the Game” is an artistic approach to the world of gaming and an allegory on space, seen through the perspective of virtual reality – the space of thought, the space of the human body, the space of memories, emotions and perception. The art works / games, take place within a hybrid space, between the real and the virtual. Featured works: “Choice in crisis” An artwork set-up as a game, where the participant is asked to deal with a system in crisis, while the game documents the participants' reactions. “Choice in crisis” is a collaborative work, developed by students of the MA in Art and Virtual Reality of the Athens School of Fine Arts and Université Paris 8 (academic years 2013-2015). The work has been successfully presented at international conferences and Festivals. It has also been used as a tool for scientific research. Students: Giannis Bardakos, Christina Chrisanthopoulou, Ifigeneia Mavridou, Anna Meli, Nikos Papadopoulos, Renia Papathanasiou, Maria Velaora. In collaboration with professors Dr Stavroula Zoi, Dr Nefeli Dimitriadi and Taxiarchis Diamantopoulos. Curator, coordinator: Dr Manthos Santorinaios, Director of the MA in Art and Virtual Reality of the Athens School of Fine Arts and Université Paris 8. “aqua polis - ancient evening sight sea ing” (work in progress) by Andriana Daouti The work is based on the concept of mapping and on the idea of a construction network seen from the perspective of a route-flow, a structure and an interaction of the elements that compose a system. This new “inter-net” is associated with the concept of the exploration of historical monuments and cultural elements that function as geographical-cultural references. The discourse between those elements presented in the work is not arbitrary, as they are chosen because they share architectural styles and symbolistic values. The work unravels as an intricately planned labyrinth that, for all its complexity, is expected to have a solution-exit. The expected flow is interrupted by structural inventions, where parallel “routes” (routes as in walking or system flows) lead to dead ends or to undefined destinations. This endless wandering, route, “search for a solution” becomes a comment on experiential reality, a proposal for a new way of thinking, a novel way of perceiving that will redefine and change reality, leading towards an alternate vision, a utopia. “Fear of Heights” (work in progress) by Konstantina Vetsiou “Fear of Heights” is an artwork in progress about this condition, experienced in a virtual reality environment. The work refers to the idea of the use of virtual reality as a tool, in order to face stress and anxiety syndromes, such as phobias (fear of heights, claustrophobia, etc.). It represents worlds created by the human mind under specific circumstances, where the person is trapped, even though that same person is the creator of those worlds. The use of a virtual helmet in a stereoscopic dive creates a full experience for the user, who is asked to navigate through the different environments of the work facing the given challenges relevant to the specific phobia. “Body – bacteria – cycle of life” (work in progress) by Christina Oikonomou The work presents the body as a structure where different powers, both constructive and destructive, co-exist: different body parts and their operations grow alongside bacteria, ready to react whenever the conditions change, as it happens when the body stops to operate. The spectator / user enters the body with the mission to find a malicious cell and destroy it. The MA in “Art, virtual reality & versatile artistic expression systems” run by the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA) and the “Département Arts et Technologies de l’ Image” of Université Paris 8, explores gaming technologies, alongside other scientific and technological applications, in order to research and propose new ideas and models that emerge through the convergence of art, gaming and educational technologies. The MA provides essential knowledge –technological, theoretical and artistic– to students that want to get involved with creative technologies in the fields of Art, digital games, performative arts and education, through the use of digital technology and the complementary methods of architecture and research. The duration of studies is two years, spent in Athens and Paris. The MA is directed by Professor Alain Lioret (Université Paris 8) and Associate Professor Manthos Santorinaios (ASFA). AURA: ADVANCE URBAN RESPONSIVE ART “AURA – Advanced Urban Responsive Art” is an “invisible information network”, the will form the digital aura of the city and will operate as: - Portal for cultural interactions and experiences to be addressed to, encountered and experienced by all citizens in their everyday lives. - Widely available data platform for the development of services that support cultural resources, in order to enhance knowledge and research. - Springboard for technologically advanced approaches to cultural resources and their visual representations through augmented modeling. - Tool to activate citizenship participation and actions that derive from or aim to enhance that participation. Floating optical fibers sensitive to the pollution of the Gulf of Thermaikos, soundscape installations, “sound memory traps” that minimize noise pollution, “musical plants” that react to touch, immaterial musical instruments, “smart” monuments, interactive pavements, sound balloons in sensors around the city and social media applications… The project AURA develops a new mentality and vision of the city, not only as a geographical framework of reference, but as an interactive living environment, in a multi-disciplinary cooperation of cultural stimuli (past, present, future). |
Thessaloniki Greece, HELEXPO |
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The project is funded with support from the European Commission.
This communication reflects the views only of the author. The Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. |