The University of Athens’ narralive team kicks-off the CAPHE project’s secondment in Athens

Welcoming the participants with demos, trainings, and an exclusive peek into the Museum of Informatics & Telecommunications of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), the 2nd CAPHE mobility, hosted by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and narratologies, unfolds throughout October and November 2023.

The initial fortnight – organized by the Scientific Director of NKUA Associate Professor Maria Roussou, Assistant Professor Katerina El Raheb, Dr. Vivi Katifori, as well as Ms. Katerina Servi, Ms. Dimitra Petousi, Mr. Christos Lougiakis, Ms. Gina Koutiva, Ms. Marina Stergiou, and Ms. Lydia Themeli, a team of experienced researchers, software engineers, content creators, experience and content designers – set off to a vibrant start and was packed with diverse activities.

Digital storytelling and XR experience demonstrations:

  • Participants immersed themselves in digital storytelling at the Museum of Informatics & Telecommunications of the University of Athens by experiencing a hands-on demo of the VR project on the life of 20th century classical music composer Nikos Skalkottas, contributing to ongoing research on innovative participatory visiting experiences.
  • CAPHE members also explored another immersive VR production fusing technology and culture as they delved into captivating narratives of the Çatalhöyük Virtual Reality (ÇVR) experience. ÇVR explores portions of the UNESCO Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük, pushing the limits of common heritage VR models by demanding multi-user interaction (as opposed to typical single-user exploration). ÇVR prioritizes social and emotional engagement and uses value-oriented critical questions to encourage users to think more meaningfully about how their lives connect to the past people of Çatalhöyük.
  • A demo of an additional interactive storytelling experience, this time using mobiles, took place at the History Museum of the University of Athens. ‘What Should I Study’ is a museum experience addressed to students and younger audiences, which highlights glimpses of what it was like to study at the University in its early days, two hundred years ago.

Workshops:

  • Summing up the technology behind most of these storytelling experiences, the “narralive” research team at the University of Athens conducted a training on interactive storytelling using StoryMaker, an authoring tool supporting the complete creation of interactive storytelling experiences, from the first drafts of an idea to the final experience production for the end users. This hands-on session sparked insightful discussions on the impact of interactive storytelling across diverse fields.
  • CAPHE partners engaged in a workshop exploring the “Transition to 8: Bridging social issues, tech and contemporary art” platform, aiming to support music festivals that present artistic creations based on digital data reflecting collective social issues. The goal of the platform is to raise awareness among large social groups of pressing social issues such as racism, environmental degradation, homophobia, and others.
  • Dr. Panagiotis Liakos led a workshop titled “ΑΙ Art – Possibilities and Concerns,” exploring the fusion of artificial intelligence and art, allowing participants to experiment with AI tools for artistic creation and engage in thought-provoking discussions on the intersection of technology, art, and societal impact. 

The program was enriched with talks from the CAPHE partners: