Vivid Ideas will captivate Sydney over 23 days and nights from 25 May to 16 June.
Dan Goods – Game Changer
Dan Goods is the Director of the Museum of Awe and the visual strategist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. If you want to hear how science and creativity can come together to make meaningful experiences – this is the talk for you. You don’t need to be a scientist, a designer or an artist to appreciate the work that Dan creates. He specialises in making people understand complex problems with ease.
Dan likes to present experiences that remind people of the beauty and privilege of being alive. This might be through a magic box that lets people see particles from exploded stars in real time or through listening to the location of satellites.
At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab he creates installations that encourage people to discover more about planets and stars and he is involved in developing future space missions. He also likes to put things in perspective and has been known for drilling a hole into a grain of sand to show our place in the vast universe.
In his keynote we will hear how he went from a kid playing with soda bottles to art student and finally – his own unique position at the world’s preeminent space and science institution.
Outside of NASA, Dan is creating the Museum of Awe, a mind blowing experience of art, science and theatre that brings together collaborators from around the globe. Recently, Goods was named as “one of the most interesting people in Los Angeles”.
Prepare to be amazed as Dan makes the world around you come to life in new ways – hear about buildings that pulsate, how to talk to spaceships, why we are all connected and discover what exactly humans are made of.
Dan will be joined by the sharp, surprising and witty Bernie Hobbs, a passionate science communicator on ABC radio, TV and on-line. If you have ever wondered what makes the world tick or are just curious to know more about space – come along.
What: Vivid Ideas
Who: Dan Goods
When: 3 June 2018
Where: City Recital Hall
To Find Out More Click Here
Jane McConigal and Kriti Sharma: Future Thinking – Game Changer
Are you interested in the future? Who isn’t. It seems our brain however does something weird when we think about our future self. It starts acting as if you’re thinking about a completely different person. As Director of Game Research and Development at the Institute of the Future, Jane Mc Gonigal Phd teaches How to Think Like a Futurist: Improve your Powers of Imagination, Invention and Capacity for Change at Stanford University. Jane will take you on a crash course in thinking about the near and the far-off-future as more than an exercise in intellectual curiosity, but instead an essential practical skill from which we can all benefit.
Drawing on her work as a game developer and a futurist – Jane will present a 20 minute session – How to make friends with the Future. She asks: Can you imagine the single biggest challenge you’ll personally face five years from now? Can you picture what will be the three most important technologies in your life twenty years from now? What about the biggest challenge the world will face in fifty years? Research reveals that imagination has a direct neurological link to greater creativity, empathy, and optimism. In other words, futurist thinking gives you the ability to create change in your own life and the world around you, today.
Jane McGonigal PhD is renowned for her work as a pioneering game designer, TED speaker and author of the New York Times bestselling books Reality is Broken and SuperBetter. After suffering a debilitating concussion that left her bedridden and suicidal, Jane decided to turn her experience into the role-play game SuperBetter. Not only did gamifying her recovery help Jane overcome her brain trauma, it has helped half a million people overturn their depression, anxiety and chronic pain.
Jane McGonigal will then be joined by Kriti Sharma.
Kriti is a leading global voice in AI and its impact on society and the future of work. She built her first robot at the age of 15 and has been building AI technologies to solve global issues ever since, from productivity to education to domestic violence. Kriti was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for advancements in AI and was included in the Recode 100 list of key influencers in technology in 2017 alongside Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Amongst other achievements, Kriti has recently advised the UK Parliament in the House of Lords on AI Policy and was invited as a civic leader to the Obama Foundation Summit for her work in ethical technology.
Kriti is perfectly positioned to talk us through the ethics of AI and will share her insights into why there is a need for more diversity in technology – from those developing it – to those who are coding the future. The good news is that AI is within our control. We can teach AI the right values, the right ethics. We just need to act sooner rather than later.
After Kriti Sharma’s 20 minute presentation – these two pioneering women will be in conversation with Marc Fenell, Australian radio and tv broadcaster, award-winning journalist, interviewer, author and the anchor of SBS VICELAND’s live nightly news show The Feed to discuss their crusade to retain the human element in a digital world.
Together, they’ll explore what sort of society are we creating with technology and who benefits? By the end of this session, you will have the practical tools you need to imagine how your life — and the world — could be very different and use your newfound imagination to create change today.
What: Vivid Ideas
Who: Jane McConigal & Kriti Sharma
When: 3 June 2018
Where: City Recital Hall
To Find Out More Click Here
