Milieux Institute Launch

She:kon! Spring means melting snow and the reveal of new things.

One of those things is the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture, and Technology. It is a new inter-faculty research institute established by the Office of Research at Concordia University.

There was an open house from 2:00 to 6:00PM on March 30, with a reception during the second half. The event was a chance for those working in the labs and studios to poke around and see what their neighbors are up to. Some of the guests were invited friends, collaborators and partners along with the faculty and students.

People streamed through the Obx Labs offices and were able to ask questions about past and future works being done here. The team was decked out in the new IIF t-shirts and many were given to visitors.

Our Skins video games were available to play, P.o.E.M.M. was set up on an iPad, our island in Second Life was open to explore and many delighted in having the chance to demo some VR set ups, all while TimeTraveller™ played in the background. The HTC VIVE was a hit as people lined up to try out the spacey tech.

Milieux is a new institutional platform for integrating research/creation in digital arts, culture and technology.

Milieux describes its goals as: creating beautiful new spaces and possibilities for communication and collaboration, supporting student creativity and interdisciplinary experience, and developing critical public engagement through technology and culture.

There were good chats and the shared enthusiasm helped to revitalize everyone as we escape the winter funk.