[ISEA2023] Panel: Francois Garnier, Emmanuel Mahé & Rémi Ronfard — Electronic arts in the age of the metaverse: what kind of a positive symbiotic organization?

Panel Statement

Theme: Immersion(s) Subtheme: Symbiotic Organizations

Keywords: Metaverse, Virtual reality, Practice based rersearch, Art and Design, Creative economy, Cultural sovereignty

History has shown us the importance of experimental artistic practice in the development of media, including the role of the novel and poetry in the media of writing, and the role of auteur cinema and video art in the moving image, and, more broadly, the electronic arts in their widest acceptance

If we consider symbiosis as a metaphor to describe many types of association or cooperation in which the protagonists come from different sectors of activity, the history of digital 3D spaces is a “symbiotic form”. The interdependence of the components of a symbiosis can be negative (parasitism) or positive (beneficial to the components). The contribution of artists and designers to socio-technical innovations – both in the evolution of interaction modalities (HMI) and in the production of content – is essential to ensure that these do not lead to a negative symbiosis for users. If we extend to cultural practices, the question addressed in this panel is:how can cultural practices stimulate positive and sustainable uses of the future Metaverse?

Two researchers in art and design through practice invite the authors of the report of a national inter-ministerial mission on the development of metavers, to discuss this question.

It is a question of considering, in an interdisciplinary approach, the tracks, the actors, the dynamics, the organizations and the devices that can stimulate a symbiotic and positive development of metaverse.