Join Center for Computational Experience faculty and graduate students as we discuss the wide range of ways technology can enhance social connection, even when we can’t be together in person.
Our three panelists, Elizabeth Swensen, Jared Duval, and Ferran Altarriba Bertran, will discuss projects and topics ranging from everyday play to stay connected, to technology used to enhance shared mealtimes, to therapeutic apps for home use when you can’t see your healthcare provider.
The panel will take place in a Zoom meeting, followed by discussion in Mozilla Hubs, a digital space that allows for mingling and discussion among panelists and audience, which supports regular computer logins as well as VR if you prefer to join with your headset.
Panelist Bios:
Jared Duval: Social Games and a Healthier Tomorrow
Jared is a therapy game creator, a play chaser, and an advocate for a healthier tomorrow. His broad range of skills and experiences—from the technical, aesthetic, playful, and medical—has culminated in a passion for chasing play in therapy contexts to co-create therapy games that are fun, more productive, and engaging for people with disabilities. He is the creator of SpokeIt (SpokeItTheGame.com), a speech therapy game for children with cleft speech and Cirkus, a movement-based game for children with Sensory Based Motor Disorder. He is also a lead for Spellcasters, a virtual reality physical rehabilitation game for stroke survivors.
Jared double majored in Computer Science and Information Technology for his Bachelor’s degree at Western New England University. He is currently a PhD student in the Computational Media Department studying under Sri Kurniawan in the ASSIST Lab and Katherine Isbister in the SET Lab. Research interests include serious games for health, Human-Computer-Interaction, assistive technology, participatory methods, and user testing.
Personal page: www.jareduval.com
Elizabeth Swensen: Physical and Dynamic Simulation in Distanced Tabletop and Embodied Play (How Board Games Are Surviving the Pandemic)
Elizabeth Swensen is a game designer, paper-tearer, and Assistant Professor of Art & Design: Games & Playable Media at UCSC. She received her M.F.A in Interactive Media from the University of Southern California and her B.A. in Classics from Willamette University.
Her research is in designing narrative for interactive experiences, system design for playful learning, and experimental Tabletop RPG design as a part of the UCSC Center for Monster Studies.
Ferran Altarriba Bertran: Designing Playful Technology that Connects us During Mealtime
Ferran Altarriba Bertran is a Playful Interaction Designer, and currently a Computational Media Ph.D. candidate at UCSC. Ferran's research explores how to design everyday-use technologies that afford playful engagement with mundane activities and situations. As part of his research into playful technology, Ferran also investigates how to add an element of play to Human-Food Interaction—that is, the interplay between humans, food and technology.
Ferran holds a double BA (Hons) degree in Multimedia and Interaction Design from the University of Girona (Spain) and the University of Lincoln (UK). He also graduated as an MSc in IT Product Design at the University of Southern Denmark, where he specialized in Participatory Innovation, and Playful and Embodied Design. In between his BA and MSc studies, Ferran did a one-year visiting scholarship in the Human Sensing Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. He's also been a visiting student at PHL Hasselt (Belgium) and TU/e Eindhoven (Netherlands).
Personal page: www.ferranaltarriba.com / Email: ferranaltarriba@gmail.com / Instagram: @ferranaltarriba
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We look forward to seeing you there!