scifilx
LISBON'S SCIENCE-FICTION INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
18-19 JULY 2015 - INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TÉCNICO, LISBOA
LECTURES
i SCHEDULE_
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
i ACADEMIC EXPERTISE_
As promised, Sci-Fi Lx has invited some remarkable panelists to talk with us about the science and culture of science-fiction.
We are honoured to annouce that Prof. Dr, Luís Correia, of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Prof. Dr. Christopher Damien Auretta and Prof. Dra. Maria Paula Diogo, both from the Interuniversitary Center for the History of Sciences and Technology, Prof. Dr. Paulina Mata, from the Faculty of Science and Technology of the New University of Lisbon (FCT-UNL), Alexandra Martins, from the Psychology Faculty of the University of Lisbon, and Prof. Ivan Barroso from ETIC, will be present at the 2015 Sci-Fi Lx.
- Prof. Dr. Luís Correia - The network as an intelligent super-organism
This subject has been debated for quite some time in Artificial Intelligence and Philosophy (form vs. matter problem). It focuses on the possibility, contested by some (many), of there being non-corporeal intelligence. On another hand, on a planetary scale it is something we might have to consider.
Professor Luís Correia is the Head of the Computer Science Department of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL) and the Coordinator of the Agent and Systems Modelling (MAS) research group of Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute (BioISI) research center at FCUL.
- Prof. Dr.ª Maria Paula Diogo - Imperfect Love: Stories of human-machine relations
Second on our list is one of the pioneers in History of Technology in Portugal, focusing on the study of History of Science and Technology, from the 18th century to the 20th century, Professor Maria Paula Diogo.
Professor Diogo is presently the President of the Applied Social Sciences Department at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology on the New University of Lisbon (FCT/UNL), and the Coordinator of the UNL hub of the Interuniversity Center of History of Sciences and Technology (CIUHCT).
- Prof. Dr. Christopher Auretta - Title to be defined
Another member of CIUHCT, Professor Christopher Auretta, is well know in the academic circles of science-fiction.
Professor Auretta is a doctorate of the University of California, USA, and lectures at the FCT/UNL where he organizes seminars on Contemporary Thought and in the area of Science and Literature.
He is also a known author, having recently published two books “Em Torno do Cinema” and “Álvaro de Campos”.
- Prof. Dr.ª Paulina Mata - XXI Cuisine: Almost Fiction, Almost Scientific
Prof. Drª Paulina Mata, from the Faculty of Science and Technology of the New University of Lisbon (FCT-UNL), in charge of the Masters in Gastronomic Sciences, will be at Sci-Fi Lx to teach you all about Molecular Gastronomy.
During the last couple of decades new culinary movements have emerged, characterized by new concepts, languages and technical approaches. In some cases these developments were made possible by scientific research and the transfer of scientific knowledge.
In this process, Molecular Gastronomy, a field of Food Science which studies domestic or restaurant cuisine, has made important contributions. It has, in fact, helped to optimize culinary practices and develop new techniques on the last few years.
- Prof. Ivan Barroso - Videogames: Profession of the Future
Prof. Ivan Barroso is not only a game designer, but also the editor for the Pushstart magazine and Professor of Animation and Videgogames at the School of Technology, Inovation and Creation (ETIC).
OLISIPPO OBSCURA_
On Sunday afternoon Olisippo Obscura will teach us all something about LARPs with the lecture LARP: The Future of Roleplaying Games.
From the traditional form of the pen-and-paper games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, with a group of friends playing around a table, to large live-action games (LARP), with hundreds of people acting out their assumed roles, role-playing games have evolved into many different forms during the last thirty years.
In particular, Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) is based on a more physical enactment: the symbolism and the third-person virtuality of pen-and-paper games are compensated by strong iconic contents into a reality in which the players are required to act out the actions of their characters in first person.
When the players demand a greater resemblance to the reality in digital games, LARP games bring the players into the reality, facing real struggles to solve and real enemies to overcome: LARP players can interact directly with the game world without any technological device to reproduce it, such as virtual reality head-mounted displays.
That makes the LARP games really powerful: they allow us to live a second physical life. Everything else is incidental. The physical experience of life, framed in a dramatic or aesthetic context: this is LARP.
i THE ORIGINS OF COSPLAY_
Where did cosplay come from? Who started it, who spread it around the world? What is this fascination this generation has with disguising themselves as animation characters and hang out at conventions, such as this one?
These are some of the answer that will be answered in this lecture on the Origins of Cosplay, presented by Leonor Grácias.
Leonor Grácias is the first Portuguese Cosplay representative in Japan, Vice-President of the Portuguese Cosplay Association - APC (Associação Portuguesa de Cosplay), and one of the cosplayers who most revolutionized cosplay in Portugal.
i FROM THE UNKNOWN TO THE KNOWN_
On Saturday afternoon we will be graced with the presence of Ana Sousa and Luís Gonçalves from Psinove.
They will instruct us with a lecture titled: From the Unknown to the Known: A Psychological Journey to Space and Sci-Fi.
Space and the Universe have always fascinated human beings. We are attracted to things we do not understand or know, as a way to exercise some control over a world/universe pretty unpredictable.
With the technological evolution, we have been advancing in our knowledge of space and have indeed sent both unmanned and manned missions.
Does everyone have the correct profile for this sort of journey? What different types of motivation can exist to join these kinds of missions? Are all cultures the same in their approach to space exploration? What is the necessary preparation in a manned mission to space? How do human beings react to the interaction with artificial intelligence? And what is the role of AI's in the future of humankind?
i LET'S TALK ABOUT STEAMPUNK_
Saturday afternoon the Lisbon Steampunk League will host a lecture/round table, entitled: "Let's Talk about Steampunk?
With this round table, the Lisbon Steampunk League guests will have an opportunity to talk a little about this theme and how it influences their daily lives, either by the creation of convivial activities, literary influences, fashion, movies, etc.
It will be an open conversation between the guests and the audience, so if you wish to know a bit more about this punk sub-culture, make sure to stop by!
Disclaimer: The program for the Sci-Fi Lx 2015 is still under development. The Sci-Fi Lx Team reserves the right to change dates, program and speakers without notice, due to space monkeys screwing with this ship's control stations.