The Virtual

— a room without borders?

A conference 15th–16th September 2005
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This page was last updated 2005-09-09

Beside the keynote speakers, the conference will emphesise on four different sub-themes and round up with a panel dabate. Theme a and theme b will run parallell during Thursday afternoon and theme c and theme d will run parallell during Friday morning.

Here is a complete compilation of the conference abstracts: virtual2005_abstracts.pdf

theme a: Digital competence and technological capital

In today’s society the question of having resources is not exclusively a matter of economical wealth. Knowledge about digital technology, something we could call digital competence or technological capital can also be a force of power. What qualities do this technological capital have and in what way do we conquer it? This question is of great importance in our society where digital technology is a significant part of our every day life.

theme b: The cyborg citizen

In this theme, we will discuss the 21st century cyborg citizen; the contemporary citizen living in a world of technological artefacts. Examples range from plastic surgery, to knowledge on the human genome, to the use of 24/7 authorities and mobile phones in everyday life. What does in it mean to be human today – and what is “human”?

theme c: Democracy and digital divides

In this theme, we will discuss democracy and different aspects of digital divides. Access and the use of ICT in everyday life will be discussed in relation to i.e. age, gender, and ethnicity. It is also important to bring the idea of an information society for all and the goals of IT strategies and politics into the discussion.

theme d: The [re]construction of time and space

All actions are spatial as well as temporal, including actions in the virtual world. The question isn’t if these dimensions are relevant for our understanding of the virtual as part of the reality that is ours. A far more interesting question to discuss is the question of how space and time are related when considering modern digital technology. Conventionally we conceive a room as a place with well defined borders that allows actions to take place over time. The room defines the type of actions that are allowed within its borders. However what happens if we take actions as our starting point and ask what space and time does an action consume. Are we then talking about a room without borders?

programme

Thursday 15th

  
11:00 - 11:30 Introduction and Welcome: Patrik Hernwall
Presentation of the Virtual Society research project: Patrik Hernwall, Anna Lindqvist, Arash Mokhtari & Homan Panahi
11:30 - 12:30 Keynote speaker: Christer Sturmark - "The global network society"
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch at the conference center
14:00 - 15:00 Keynote speaker: Barry Brown - "Hedonic computing: the computer science of leisure and enjoyment "
15:00 - 15:30 Coffe break
15:30 - 18:30 Theme a: Digital competence and technological capital
Introduction and presentation of theme a: Claudijo Borovic
Moderator: Jonas Linderoth - " Gaming and identity: Rethinking the player – avatar relation"
Presenters and papers:
Daniel Spikol, Mikael Nilsson & Håvard Bakken - "What qualities do this technological capitalhave and in what way do we conquer it?"
15:30 - 18.30 Theme b: The cyborg citizen
Introduction and presentation of theme b: Patrik Hernwall
Moderator: Anders Sandberg
Presenters and papers:
Ulf Hagen - "I solved notpr0n" - an online "riddle-game" and the community built around it
Anders Albrechtslund - "The 'Body-graph': Reading the Body as an Absolute Signature"
Rolf Hughes - "Orderly disorder: auto-poiesis, emergence and transgenic-art"
20:00 Dinner at the conference center

Friday 16th

  
09:00 - 12:00 Theme c: Democracy and digital divides
Introduction and presentation of theme c: Sofia Lundmark
Moderator: Ola Larsmo - " The digital revolution in a historical context"
Presenters and papers:
Pål André Aarsand Simonseen & Karin Aronsson - " Gaming and the Appropriation of Social Space"
Fatima Jonsson - "Krang party -a cyborg citizen project for young cyborg citizens"
Ragnhild Mogren - "The 21st century citizen - living in a reality of convergence"
09:00 - 12:00 Theme d: The [re]construction of time and space
Introduction and presentation of theme d: Arvid Löfberg
Moderator: Alexandra Weilenmann - " Negotiating place in mobile phone talk"
Ulf Wilhelmsson - "Film as virtual space reconstruction"
Anthony Papargyris & Angeliki Poulymenakou - "Studying organized activities within persistent virtual environments - Cooperatively constructing shared contexts as a continuous process of negotiation of meaning"
Leif Handberg, Alex Jonsson & Claus Knudsen - "Community building through cultural exchange in mediated performance events"
Charlie Gullström - "Meeting Spaces : Spaces Meeting"
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch at the conference center
13:00 - 14:00 Keynote speaker: Katherine Hayles - "The Virtual as Possibility Space:  Implications for Narrative"
14:00 - 14:30 Coffe break
14:30 - 16:00 Panel Debate
Moderator: Kenneth Knoespel
Panel: Ola Larsmo, Jonas Linderoth, Anders Sandberg & Alexandra Weilenmann