From March 10-14, ESPRONCEDA will host a dynamic program exploring the intersection of art, VR storytelling, AI-powered tools, XR technologies, and spatial computing.
This immersive week will bring together 4 to 5 artists from each of the seven European partner organizations of the PMP Project, including Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Lapland University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Youth for Equality (Slovakia), Perypezye Urbane (Italy), Culture Hub (Croatia), Prisms (Malta), and Espronceda (Spain).
Throughout the week, participating artists will attend workshops and lectures organized by ESPRONCEDA. They will experiment with AI-powered artistic tools, explore new approaches to immersive VR storytelling, and develop virtual environments using XR technologies. The program is designed to push creative boundaries, combining technology with artistic expression to stimulate critical thinking and generate meaningful experiences.
Two main workshops will explore VR’s potential using different approaches and methodologies, and one lecture will discuss AI-powered tools for enhancing artistic creation.
The Embodied Narratives Production Workshop will guide participants in creating deeply personal, empathy-driven stories. Through sensory immersion, they will craft VR narratives that offer audiences the opportunity to step into another person’s perspective. At the same time, the Virtual Environments Workshop will introduce participants to XR, AR Cloud, and immersive technologies, offering a hands-on experience in digital world-building, interactive design, and spatial computing. Both workshops will be deeply connected to the Barcelona context, using the city as a source of inspiration and exploration.
The AI Art Adventure lecture, on the other hand, will explore cutting-edge AI tools that will empower artists to create and share their visions. Through interactive examples and practical insights, attendees will leave inspired and equipped with tools to enhance their artistic practice.
With artists from across Europe coming together in a collaborative and experimental setting, we hope that the Barcelona Workshop Week will be a transformative and positive experience where creativity, technology, and critical thinking converge to shape new narratives!
Program, alternative 1: Embodied narratives production
Monday 10.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: Team introduction, workshop overview, and goals presentation.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: Group dynamics: participant introductions and creation of working subgroups. Initial brainstorming on the creative direction of the narratives.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break
15.30 – 17.00: Lecture about AI Art Adventure by Daniel Sabio_The Glad Scientist. Attendees will go on a wild ride through the latest in artificial intelligence (AI) tools and how they can be used by artists. Expect a ton of references, examples, and interactivity to learn new ways that AI can help artists holistically share their visions with less resources at their disposal. Attendees should leave inspired, and with a list of tools they can immediately start using for their own art.
Tuesday 11.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: Introduction to narrative and multisensory techniques using The Machine To Be Another. Review of examples from The Library of Ourselves.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: Conceptualization and design of personal narratives. Drafting basic scripts and initial planning for recordings.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break
15.30 – 17.30: Recording session: participants work on initial recordings of their narratives. Files must be submitted by 17:30 to review, ensure quality and confirm that all takes are complete.
Wednesday 12.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: Technical development: recording narratives with a focus on perspective and multisensory elements.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: Continuation of recordings, incorporating feedback and refining performances.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break
15.30 – 17.30: Additional recording session. Files must be submitted by 17:30 for review and quality assurance.
Thursday 13.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: Integration of sensory elements: fine-tuning and coordination of recorded materials.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: Preliminary assembly of narratives: teamwork to consolidate visual, tactile, and auditory content.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break
15.30 – 17.30: Submission of final recordings with precise timing details for video editing. Participants should also bring one or two images with credits, names of “actors,” titles, and other supporting materials. Additionally, two audio files (e.g., narration or effects) and optional background music should be submitted for inclusion in the final experience.
19.00 – 20.00: Sound Art Performance and Lecture by Maribel Tafur. In collaboration with the Theatre in Palm European project.
Friday 14.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: Final rehearsal of completed narratives. Final adjustments to ensure coherence between narrative and sensory elements.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: Presentation of the participants’ created narratives. Space for feedback, final reflections, and closing remarks.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break and end of day
Program, alternative 2: Virtual environments
Monday 10.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: General Presentation. Introduce yourself, and presentation of the Workshop: Virtual Environments.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: History about reality-virtuality continuum. Creation of subgroups for group dynamics.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break
15.30 – 17.00: Lecture about AI Art Adventure by Daniel Sabio_The Glad Scientist. Attendees will go on a wild ride through the latest in artificial intelligence (AI) tools and how they can be used by artists. Expect a ton of references, examples, and interactivity to learn new ways that AI can help artists holistically share their visions with less resources at their disposal. Attendees should leave inspired, and with a list of tools they can immediately start using for their own art.
Tuesday 11.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: Definition about Head Mounted Displays and examples. Spatial Computing & AR Cloud.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: Immersive Gadgets for AR/VR. Use Cases for Virtual Reality / Mixed Reality and Digital Twins. Monoscopic and Stereoscopic theory.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break.
15.30 – 17.30: Homework: “Mono/Stereoscopic visualization”.
Wednesday 12.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: Homework review from the previous day. Software Virtual Reality and examples about Immersive virtual environments. Install APK in HMD and VR/PC test session.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: Embodiment, Presence & Plausibility. Activity: Rubber Hand experiment. Storytelling & Storyliving. Explanation Analysis VR.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break.
15.30 – 17.30: Group dynamic: “Analysis VR App/Game experience”
Thursday 13.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: Homework review from the previous day. Extended Reality Interaction and examples. Virtual Reality Navigation and examples.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: Definition of Simulation Sickness. VR Template explanation and inspiration. Communication masterclass.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break.
15.30 – 17.30: Homework: Conceptualization of a VR immersive experience using Miro board.
Friday 14.3.2025
10.00 – 11.30: Homework review from the previous day. Final adjustments of the concept. Pitch preparation.
11.30 – 12.00: Coffee Break
12.00 – 14.00: Showcase of the VR experience analysis and Pitch Presentation about the concepts in Miro.
14.00 – 15.30: Lunch Break and end of day
Experts and facilitators
MARC GALVEZ graduated in Video Game Design and Development from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (CITM), with extensive experience in virtual reality (VR) development and user experience (UX) design. Worked as a VR Developer and Project Manager at Espronceda Institute of Art and Culture, a UX Designer and UI Developer at Digital Twin Technology in Germany, and a VR/WebGL Developer for children’s serious games in MRI environments for the Ready Teddy project in the U.S. Contributed to artistic VR projects, including Temples del Zenit by Enric Pladevall, and cutting-edge initiatives like immersive drone-based light painting with Ars Electronica’s Futurelab. Designed Beat the Impact, a VR music game for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and developed VR platforms such as Inmensiva and Mozilla Hubs Virtual Gallery. Passionate about merging technology, art, and innovation. Linkedin Website: https://optus23.github.io/
DANIEL GONZÁLEZ FRANCO (Spain/Colombia) is an Interdisciplinary researcher, artist, and entrepreneur. Special interest in social innovation, developing immersive experiences towards a more empathetic society. One of the founders of the collective BeAnotherLab, creators of “The Machine to Be Another” an Embodied Virtual Reality system that addresses the relationship between identity and empathy. Their work has been awarded with the European Social Innovation Competition award, Laval Virtual Awards (‘Learning and Humanities Award’), 2 times Ars Electronica (Honorary Mention), and N.I.C.E. awards (‘solving the world´s major challenges´) among others. Daniel received the prestigious Laval Virtual Award 2019 in the Art&VR Category, And the VR Grand Prize in Kaoshiung Film Festival in Taiwan with his VR/Dance hybrid piece; “Eve, Dance is an Unplaceable place” along with Margherita Bérgamo. Website: https://beanotherlab.org/
DANIEL SABIO is a Puerto Rican conceptual artist living and working in Barcelona. Their work focuses on audiovisual performance and installation arts and is driven by a deep interest in science and spiritualism balanced with an understanding of emotional and transformational responses (plus a dash of humor). The artist’s solo work and collaborations have been consistently welcomed at diverse festivals and events worldwide including Ars Electronica, Venice Biennale, ISEA, FILE, LEV, and DreamHack, among others. It has been awarded residencies for both art and music, and shown in galleries in Shanghai, Tokyo, New York, and Berlin. Commercially, they have worked with Grammy-award-winning musicians, Under Armour, and Super Nintendo World, among others. They are a professor at La Salle BCN, teaching AI animation and artistic system design in the Master’s of Digital Art and Creative Technology. Website: https://thegladscientist.info/4023/
If you want to learn more about the seminar you can visit this link: https://pmpproject.turkuamk.fi/events/barcelona-workshop-week-10-14-3-2025/
