6th Global Conference Videogame Cultures and the Future of Interactive Entertainment Thursday 17th July – Saturday 19th July 2014 Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom Call for Presentations: This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference aims to examine, explore and critically engage with the issues and implications created by the mass use of computers and videogames for human entertainment and focus on the impact of innovative videogame titles and interfaces for human communication and ludic culture. In particular the conference will encourage equally theoretical and practical debates which surround the cultural contexts within which videogames flourish. Proposals, presentations, workshops and reports are invited…

Call for Papers: Social Robots: Form, Content, Critique Special issue of The International Journal of Social Robotics Co-editors: Michaela Pfadenhauer (Karlsruhe University / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) Satomi Sugiyama (Franklin College, Switzerland) Charles Ess (University of Oslo) We invite papers from scholars and researchers across the disciplines (including philosophy, robot ethics, Artificial Intelligence, cognitive science, media/sociology, information science, art history) that examine and explore social robots through three distinct but inextricably interwoven frameworks: Form/appearance (e.g., human/animal likeness in appearance; everyday media forms and robotic functions; cultural attitudes toward robot forms, etc.) Content/AI/applications (e.g., implications of artificial intelligence in everyday human…

Merging Media: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Study of Hybrid Arts Call for Papers Saturday 1st February 2014 University of Kent, Canterbury Although we naturally recognise different artistic media as distinct forms – music, painting, sculpture, film, dance, theatre, architecture, animation, and so on – we also understand that these mediums can nevertheless have a meaningful dialogue in the creation of new artworks. Over the course of art history there have been numerous occasions when different media forms have merged or been juxtaposed for artistic purposes. These intermedial examples have seen word and image intertwined on the page in the…

Call for Papers: Unnatural Futures Conference Dates: 3 & 4 July, 2014 Venue: Centre for the Arts University of Tasmania, Hobart From genetically modified foods to zombie apocalypse, concerns about the future are increasingly reflected in contemporary media, policy and culture. An “unnatural future” is being shaped by rapidly escalating anxieties about the social, cultural, environmental and technological risks that now pervade everyday life. This climate of fear and uncertainty about the future requires careful consideration around how best to respond and intervene in debates, discussion and media representations around our “unnatural future”. This conference brings together researchers from a…

Frontiers Special Issue: Uncanny Valley Hypothesis In collaboration with Frontiers in Psychology, a Research Topic titled “The Uncanny Valley Hypothesis and beyond.” is being hosted by Marcus Cheetham and Ayse Pinar Saygin. The idea behind the research topic is to create an organized, comprehensive collection of contributions, as well as a forum for discussion and debate for contributors from different domains (including but not limited to robotics, computer graphics and animation, artistic design, cognitive science, psychology and neuroscience) to present their perspective on the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis and its relevance. We have created a homepage on the Frontiers website (section…

COGNITIVE FUTURES IN THE HUMANITIES 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, DURHAM UNIVERSITY, UK, 24-26 APRIL 2014 CALL FOR PAPERS We invite proposals for 20 minute papers and preformed panels for the second international conference associated with the research network, Cognitive Futures in the Humanities, funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council. The conference will be hosted by Durham University, on 24-26 April 2014. The purpose is to explore, and critically evaluate, new ways of working in the arts and humanities that respond to concepts developed in the sciences of mind and brain. It will be an interdisciplinary conference for researchers…