30.10.2024Illusion of Life – Principles and Perils of Anthropomorphic Design

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?

The Illusion of Life workshop is 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.

Day 1 Keynote: Prof. Dr. Johanna Pirker: How AI is Changing our Games
Wednesday, October 30 2024, 18:00-19:30 with Apéro
Hermann Escher Saal, Zentralbibliothek Zürich,

Johanna Pirker is 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 
Thursday, October 31 2024, 09:00-17:15
Hermann Escher Saal, Zentralbibliothek Zürich and MEEET Lab @ DSI & UB

Speakers:
Dr. Fabio Zünd
Researcher and Managing Director at Game Technology Center & Media Technology Center ETH Zürich, Co-Founder 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 CDProjekt 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

Programme: 

Organisation: 
Manuel Flurin Hendry & Hiloko Kato

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