MEEET Lab – DSI Lab Call Submission approved!
11. June 2023
We are very happy to announce, that our submission for a DSI Lab was approved!
The DSI Board approved our DSI Lab submission!
Our lab, dedicated to creating a comprehensive research and outreach hub focusing on the intersection of media appropriation and material environments, evolving technologies and human interaction will closely cooperate with the lab proposed by Prof. Thomas Schlag (URPP Digital Religions), co-creating the
MEEET-Lab: Media Existential Encounters and Evolving Technology Lab
@ DSI and UB
with following aims:
- to provide a physical space accessible for researchers and the interested public alike;
- this physical is equipped with the latest media technology to provide a hands-on lab, where learning and exchanging about emerging media technologies like digital games/proto-metaverse environments, VR/AR/XR applications and AI systems is facilitated;
- engaging in these emerging media technologies provides the possibility not only to learn about existential and pressing questions regarding the fast changes that shape our society due to digital transformation but also help to set up the exchange amongst diverse players in academia (e.g. members of the DSI and also academic institutions outside the UZH), facilitating innovative research projects (like citizen science research);
- additionally, the lab functions as a place for outreach measures, inviting the interested public, policymakers and industry/technology stakeholders to engage in exchange with researchers about topics of digital transformation and the implications of emerging technologies in private and public life;
- both our submissions are particularly concerned with the outreach to students and teachers on all educational levels alike (university, secondary and primary school, churches/religious communities), facilitating access to emerging technologies for building a contemporary direction for new content and modern forms in curricula and formal as well as non-formal educational processes.
We also see the following additional value that proliferates both submissions:
- the group Schlag et al. contributing with their expertise in existential meaning-making practices, based on their research in the URPP Digital Religions, exploring both the benefits that come with technological innovation (esp. AI) as well as the potential ethical, political, regulatory, and health-related risks and challenges;
- the group Kato/Bubenhofer et al., with their expertise in the holistic approach to media appropriation and historical hands-on approaches, including the profound knowledge of Large Language Models as well as in digital games, based on the knowledge resources provided by the members of the DSI Community Gaming, including game-based learning and research approaches and the involvement of the game developing sector.
Regarding the location of the MEEET Lab, we are delighted to cooperate with the Digital Library Space of the UB and work on further expanding their already existing services and transforming the space into a comprehensive research, learning and outreach hub.