CogNovo Research fellow Michael Straeubig delivered an artist talk titled "Towards Play Design for Machines" at the ISEA2016 conference in Hong Kong on May 22, 2016. The contribution connects two topics of this year's International Symposium on Electronic Art: "Game Over - Play Again Y/N", that asks about the distinction between play and art, and "The Animal and the Technological: Para/Post-Human Paradoxes" that interrogates distinctions like human vs. posthuman, human vs. animal or biological system vs. machine.
Michael presented his developing methodology, based on distinctions in a systems-theoretic context which is referencing George Spencer Brown, Humberto Maturana/Francisco Varela, and Niklas Luhmann. He discussed how this theoretical approach, recently outlined in the journal "Technoetic Arts", informs his practice, while focussing on the phenomenon of play. His ongoing investigation is outlined in the description of the CogNovo project "Designing Playful Systems in Mixed Reality".
ISEA2016, the 22st International Symposium on Electronic Art, has been taking place May 16-22, 2016 in Hong Kong. The theme is "Cultural R\>evolution" which invites a discussion about "aesthetics of change, renewal, and game-changing paradigms".
CogNovo is an Innovative Doctoral Programme, funded by the EU Marie Curie initiative and Plymouth University, to foster research training in the emerging field of Cognitive Innovation. CogNovo offers transdisciplinary training that combines scientific studies of the neural correlates and mechanisms of creativity, with investigations into the role of creativity in human cognition, and their application in sustainable technological and social innovation.