October 30 & 31 Keynote and Workshop: lllusion of Life – Principles and Perils of Anthropomorphic Design
7. October 2024
Join us for the event "Illusion of Life – Principles and Perils of Anthropomorphic Design" on October 30 & 31 @ Hermann Escher Saal, Zentralbibliothek Zürich and MEEET Lab @ DSI & UB. The keynote and workshop present an opportunity to gain insight into this fascinating topic with presentations from experts in game design and technology, the arts and social sciences. It will also provide the opportunity to interact with life-like AI-driven creations in a hands-on phase.
In today’s computer- and AI-driven world, virtual life-like creatures and humans amaze us with their authenticity. Their movements and looks fill us with awe. Some make us want to linger with them, to test their capacity for natural interaction. Others may frighten us. But all too often, when we encounter digital beings, we struggle to take them for real.
In his seminal 1994 paper “The Role of Emotion in Believable Agents”, computer scientist Joseph Bates explored the concept of believability in artificial agents by drawing lessons from the arts. Bates emphasised the importance of taking cues from traditional character animation, in particular the Disney animators’ classic “The Illusion of Life”.
Inspired by Bates’ insights, our workshop aims to explore the intersection of art and artificial intelligence. How can expressiveness be harnessed to create more believable and engaging agents? What does it take to achieve that goal? Is it the sheer quality of the training data that can help us get there? What happens to an audience in moments of awe and how can we create them?
Day 1 Keynote: Prof. Dr. Johanna Pirker: How AI is Changing our Games
When? Wednesday, October 30 2024, 18:00-19:30 with Apéro
Where? Hermann Escher Saal, Zentralbibliothek Zürich (Zähringerplatz 6, 8001 Zürich)
Speaker:
Dr. Johanna Pirker: Professor for Media Informatics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Assistant Professor, Software Engineer, and Researcher at the Institute of Interactive Systems and Data Science at Graz University of Technology (TUG)
Day 2 Workshop
When? Thursday, October 31 2024, 09:00-17:15
Where? Hermann Escher Saal, Zentralbibliothek Zürich (Zähringerplatz 6, 8001 Zürich)
and MEEET Lab @ DSI & UB (Rämistrasse 69, 8001 Zürich, 1st floor)
Speakers:
Dr. Fabio Zünd: Researcher and Managing Director at Game Technology Center & Media Technology Center ETH Zürich and Co-Founder of Aperion XR AG
Prof. Dr. Emily Cross: Full Professor at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences
Santiago Solarte Diago: Expert Gameplay Animator at CD Projekt Red and Oophaga animation. Portfolio: Epic Games, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, TheThirdFloor, CD Projekt Red, and Crytek
Manuel Flurin Hendry: Award-winning Film Director, Screenwriter and Artistic Researcher at ZHdK
Dr. Hiloko Kato: Reseacher at Game Lab, ZHdK, Postdoc CH Ludens, Head of Research at the MEEET Lab @ DSI & UB, University of Zurich
You can find the full programm and timetable here
Organized by: Manuel Flurin Hendry & Hiloko Kato
Universität Zürich – DSI – Community Gaming | ZHdK | Games in Context | MEEET Lab