Call for participation

12-15 November Paris
A 4 day ”art & science” event composed of a 2 day symposium and a 2 day collaborative residency

SHIVR (Shared immersive virtual reality), understood here broadly as technologically mediated setups that allow multiple individuals to cohabit transformed and responsive spaces of action,  goes back at least to Plato’s cave and has been a pervasive dimension of human cultural history. SHIVR thus constitutes a natural ground for creative expression and experience, and especially the emergence of collective creative dynamics. Recent developments in wearable sensor technology (e.g. motion capture, physiological signals etc..) and in immersive media (e.g. VR caves, VR headset, spatialized sounds, haptic interfaces) have increased the potential and reach of SHIVR, especially the capacity for individuals to interact (either locally or across different physical locations) in real-time with each other  and with the virtual environment itself. In this 4 day event we propose to collectively reflect on the impact, potential and limits of the current state of the art for scientific, artistic and applied research on joint action, with an emphasis on collective or collaborative creativity. How does or can SHIVR offer the conditions for creative interactions to occur/emerge? To what extent can the technology enhance or limit interactional and creative dynamics? What is the impact of co-presence on (collective) creativity? How can we capture, analyze and model these dynamics and to what extent can SHIVR provide a context for meaningful creative interactions between individuals and virtual agents? How can artists take control of their technologies and make them a creative tool?
The first two days (ENSAD Paris) will include talks, round tables, live demonstrations and a public performance. The last two days (centre CNRS Pouchet, Paris) will take the form of a collective residency where different research/development/artistic projects will co-inhabit the same space to allow for both formal and informal cross-fertilization.