From: Agora Internet Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Subject: CFP: CIBER@RT'96 CONFERENCE Date: Wed, 08 May 1996 19:28:32 -0700 Organization: UnipalmPIPEX server (post doesn't reflect views of UnipalmPIPEX) Message-ID: <31915850.23C@drac.medusa.es> Ciber@RT '96 First Internacional Conference on Virtual Reality CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS November 4-7, 1996 Valencia, Spain. Ciber@RT '96 is an annual international conference that has risen from the need of creating a space open for discussion and reflexion about the non-stopping evolution of New Technologies and its relation to the Art & Communication world. The present edition is fully dedicated to Virtual Reality, its social and artistic implications, its practical applications and the development of new interaction proposals, as well as the emerging phenomena of Virtual Communities. Conference Format: Ciber@RT '96 will start on Monday November 4th, and it will be developed during the three following days (November 5,6 and 7). Four masterly presentations and an undetermined number of communications will be presented. Electroacustic music concerts, performances and virtual art exhibitions will extend the programme to create a wide interdisciplinary spectrum for theoretic and creative brainstorming, debate and discussion. Every presentation will include simultaneous translation to English and Spanish. Communication sessions will be run in sequence, avoiding parallelism. The Conference will be a part of the "Second International Show on New Technologies: Art & Communication", where infographic works from schools and universities from all over the world, as well as special presentations, will be held. CALL FOR COMMUNICATIONS The participants interested in presenting communications should send a summary to the Conference address, containing: - Title of proposed communication - Author(s) personal data (name, address, e-mail...) - Institution (if any) and position - Addressed area (see list below) - Abstract of communication (500 words maximum) - Brief curriculum vitae of author(s) - Technical equipment requirements for presentation This summary, including all documentation, can be delivered by ordinary or electronic mail (in the first case, a PC or Mac formatted diskette with the text and a hardcopy should be enclosed) before the reception deadline. The text of the communications and the speech can be in English or Spanish. No previously published communication will be accepted. All accepted communications will be edited and published by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia after the Conference. DEADLINES Summary of communications reception: July 25, 1996. Acceptance notification: September 10, 1996. Advanced registration: September 30, 1996. Selected authors will be informed of the deadline for the final version submission. REGISTRATION AND FEES Advanced registration fee for participants in the Conference will be 20,000 pta., and 15,000 pta. for students. This fee will give the right to attend all activities of Ciber@RT'96. Registration after the advanced deadline will have an increased fee. Participants will receive a Certificate expedited by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia. The number of participants in the Conference is limited, so that early registration is encouraged. MASTERLY PRESENTATIONS JARON LANIER (USA): (to be confirmed) Visionary programmer, postminimalist music and cyberculture philosopher, he is one of the few persons in the planet that can be proud of having started a new industry. He developed in 1985 a new symbolic programing language, and in a few years he became a famous 'cyberenterpriser', owner of one of the world's strongest companies in the field (VPL). He sold its cyberglove to the NASA, and he begun to use the term 'Virtual Reality' in 1989, being one of the first persons to design virtual equipment. Nowadays he is associated to the University of Damouth (USA) leading several Robotics and Telepresence projects in the field of medical applications. PHILIPPE QUEAU (France): "Virtual Presences" Telecommunication Engineer and Research Director at the INA (The French Institute de l'Audiovisuel), he is one of the best international specialist in the study of synthetic images. He is also the responsible person for the IMAGINA Festival programme at Montecarlo, one of the most important festivals in the european field of New Images. Brilliant theoretician, he has written books as "Eloge de la Simulation - De la Vie des Langages a la Synthese des Images" (1986), "Metaxu: Theorie de l'Art Intermediaire" (1989) y "Le Virtuel: Vertus et Vertigues" (1993). MONIKA FLEISCHMANN (Germany): "Me and you: New Dialogues in the Cyber-Age" Artistic director of the Department of Visualization and Design of Media Systems (VMSD), and responsible of the area of computer art of the GMD (Sankt Augustin, Germany), one of the most important European research centres in the field of computer sciences and information technologies. She was co-founder in 1988 of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research on Art and New Technological Media ART+COM. Presently, Monika shares her work as main responsible of the CYBERSTAR Festival, oriented towards the search of interactive proposal for TV, with the realization of Virtual Reality projects and interactive installations that question the sensorial perception of the spectator. ZUSH (Spain): "The Augmented Reality" Highly reputed plastic artist, he is one of the computer art pioneers in Spain. Part of his art work has been developed as a collaboration with the Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT). He is presently creating images for the Web, producing a CD-ROM based on his work, and he is also involved in an interactive project of the Instituto del Audiovisual of the Universidad Pompeu Fabra named 'Arte para Curarte'. SUGGESTED AREAS FOR COMMUNICATIONS 1.- VIRTUAL REALITY AND SOCIAL IMAGERY New markets and new ways of social control generated by synthetic realities. Which types of virtual hallucinations and visual drugs are generated by virtual reality?. Virtual environments and mass-media. Economical and social impact of digitalization and virtualization of information. Which role does cyberspace plays in colective consciousness?. Might it be a new dogma?. Do virtual techniques help us to better understand and apprehend the world?. Virtuality and cultural modeling. 2.- VIRTUALITY VS. REALITY Essence of virtual worlds. The virtual concept and our sense of reality. New representation systems. Are virtual realities metaphoric realities?. In the experience of virtual worlds, which roles do the image and the model play?. Fanciful spaces and symbolic world: the nature of virtual environments. Which are the psychological impacts of virtual worlds?. The potential nature of virtuality. 3.- VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES What is a virtual community?. Televirtuality and telepresence. Symbolic representation of human identity in the cyberspace: clones, avatars, aliases, ghosts, daemons... Which are our responsabilities in the virtual communities?. Mask games in cyberspace: private vs. public personality. Cybersex: which is the role of the body in the virtual worlds?. Has cyberspace its own life?. Does it scape from human control?. New algorithmic techniques for network control. Virtual labyrinths and vertigos. Hyperimages and hypertext. Autonomy and tyranny of the cyberspace. 4.- PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF VR Practical applications of interaction technologies. New application horizons of these technologies in the field of art and communication. Experience obtained in existing work environments from the technical point of view. Which is the present state of simulation techniques and what do they consist of?. Do they offer a real and practical advantage beyond the mere exhibition of technology?. Are the real time image synthesis techniques capable of becoming tools that allow new ways of world representation?. Do they produce a deep influence on our way of working, inquiring or amusing?. 5.- INTERACTION TECHNOLOGIES Up to which point a simulation of natural stimuli has been achieved?. What is the reason for the present limits?. Devices?. Our ignorance about psychological mechanisms of interaction?. The computer systems that should interpret and produce the stimuli?. What does the digital adaptation of audiovisual and telecommunication technologies involve?. Which are the interaction and real-time synthesis technology advances that allow us to feel immersed in a virtual environment?. What are the navigation techniques?. 6.- ART AND VIRTUAL REALITY Have the new horizons of virtuality produced a radical revolution in the conception of art?. Has the object idolatry finished?. Does virtuality generate new art languages with specific properties?. Which challenges does virtual art bear?. Interactivity and the artist-public relation. What is the role of the galleries and the critics when the creative offer can become almost infinite?. The new distribution streams. The museum in the age of virtual reality. Does virtual art have a potential nature?. What do we call life of an art work?. Is the virtual artist an 'intermediate' artist?. Esthetics and policy in virtual art. SELECTION OF COMMUNICATIONS The evaluation and selection of the communications will be carried out by a selection committee and a scientific advisoring committee, composed of the following experts: Scientific Advisoring Committee: Xavier Berenguer (Universidad Pompeu Fabra) Josep Blat (Universidad de las Islas Baleares) Pere Brunet (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya) Javier Echeverria (Universidad del Pais Vasco) Santos Zunzunegui (Universidad del Pais Vasco) Selection Committee: Salvador Bayarri (Universitat de Valencia) Josep Gavaldat (Universitat de Valencia) Jose M. Iturralde (Universidad Politecnica de Valencia) Angela Molina (Director or Ciber@RT '96) Emilio Rosello (Universidad Politecnica de Valencia) Jenaro Talens (Universitat de Valencia) CIBER@RT '96 PRODUCTION & ORGANIZATION Angela Molina: Director / Chair Fernando Carrion: Coordinator Cesar Fernandez: Coordinator Jimmy Entraigues: Media Manager Aurea Ortiz: Technical Advisor CONFERENCE VENUE Ciber@RT '96 will be held in the Conference Room of the Faculty of Fine Arts (Facultad de Bellas Artes) of the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia. SPONSORS Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) Vicerrectorado de Cultura (UPV) Facultad de Bellas Artes (UPV) SUPPORTERS Generalitat Valenciana Direccion General para la Modernizacion de las Administraciones Publicas Institut Valencia de la Joventut (IVAJ) Cinema Jove Valencia Universitat de Valencia (UV) K-Tuin (Apple Valencia) Iberdrola Telefonica Fundacio Bancaixa CyberDrac ------------------------------------------------------------- REGISTRATION FORM First name(s):_______________________________________ Surname:___________________________________________ Passport number:_____________________________________ Job title:____________________________________________ Official education:____________________________________ University:__________________________________________ Department:_________________________________________ Address:____________________________________________ Post Code:__________________________________________ City / Country:______________________________________ Phone No.:___________________________ Fax No.:_____________________________ E-mail:______________________________ Date:________________________________ PAYMENT Payment for registration is required in Pesetas and will be made by bank transfer, indicating your name and "Ciber@RT '96 Registration Fee", to the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia. Bank: CAJA DE AHORROS DEL MEDITERRANEO Account No: 2090-2832-640002-10 Cancellations: In the event of cancellation, and provided that written notice is received 20 days prior to the event, a refund of 50% of the registration fee will be made. No refund will be made otherwise. INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION Ciber@RT '96 Universidad Politecnica de Valencia Centro de Formacion de Postgrado Camino de Vera s/n 46071 Valencia. SPAIN Phone: +34 6 387 77 51 Fax: +34 6 387 79 59 E-mail: ciberart@cfp.upv.es WWW: http://faeton.eleinf.uv.es/ciberart96.html