Feeling better: Immersive technologies, experience design and wellbeing

You are warmly invited to Feeling better: Immersive technologies, experience design and wellbeing, the second in the series of Creative Digital Cultures events.

Chaired by Professor Sarah Atkinson (King’s College London), the event will feature short talks as follows:

Jon Armstrong (Guildhall School of Music & Drama)

Dr Leslie Deere (Guildhall School of Music & Drama), ‘The Embodied Instrument: exploring the potentials of movement and music for immersive wellness’. This talk will present Leslie's recent PhD research project, which uses gesture to activate VR audiovisuals as a meditative experience. Potentials will be explored on XR technologies for wellbeing and as an addition to pre-existing therapeutic modalities. 

Professor Ellen Helsper (Professor in Socio-Digital Inequalities, The London School of Economics and Political Science), ‘Experiencing interactive digital spaces’. Ellen will present her work on how interactive digital spaces are experienced differently depending on who we are and who else is there. Based on over two decades of work in this area, amongst others through the From Digital Skills to Tangible Outcomes (DiSTO) project, she will discuss how we collectively shape these immersive environments in ways that might exacerbate or alleviate historical inequalities. She’ll discuss what the obstacles and facilitators are to creating technologies that generate positive experiences and benefits for all.

Allan Rankin (Managing Director, Target3D), A discussion about one of Target3D's collaborative projects, KAi, that involved creating a generative AI metahuman. This project combines cutting-edge AI with advanced digital human modelling to create lifelike, interactive virtual being. The project raises important questions about ownership and authorship and sustainability: who owns the intellectual property rights to an AI-generated entity? This talk will explore these technical achievements and ethical dilemmas, inviting discussion on the future of AI and human interaction. This project is an R&D Project in partnership with Digital Catapult and funded by UKRI.

Following the discussion there will be a demonstration from Guildhall Production Studio’s current project opeRAVE. The project explores the intersection of traditional opera and modern performance technology, using the Holosys volumetric capture system to digitise key characters from well-known opera for XR performance practice. Performers from BirdGang Ltd present characters including Carmen, Figaro, Don Giovanni and the Queen of the Night, who are reimagined with traits and styles influenced by contemporary dance and street culture. The resulting digital avatars, captured in detailed 3D, allow for immersive and interactive opera experiences in virtual and augmented reality settings. This fusion of classic cultural expressions with cutting-edge technology opens new possibilities for engagement and expands the reach of operatic art into new media landscapes.

The event is held in the premises of Target3D, a leading motion capture, VR and immersive technologies studio.

Refreshments will be served.