A unique event at the Sydney Design Festival will gather experts from various fields to discuss what it takes to make great design experiences.

The discussion will take place at Sydney Design Festival, which opens 2 September 2016, and will bring experts in the fields of architecture, design, programming and human behaviour together on the same platform to discuss the making of great design experiences as well as how to challenge the way one thinks about the intersection of architectural design of physical spaces with the design of digital experiences.

What:   Designing Human Experience: Digital vs. Physical, for Sydney Design Festival
When:  Thursday, 8 September, 6 – 8 pm AEST
Where: Powerhouse Museum
            
500 Harris St, Ultimo 
            
Sydney , NSW, Australia 2007 
Cost:    Free

About the Instructors

Dr Luke Hespanhol - Media artist, Researcher, Lecturer, Interaction designer, Software developer

The Sydney-based Dr Luke Hespanhol investigates the potential of media art to create engaging experiences that lead to reflection on the relationship between individuals and the immediate environment around them. He has explored these possibilities of public expression through the development of interactive media installations for academic research, galleries and public art festivals, including multiple editions of Vivid Sydney.

Hespanhol holds a PhD from the Design Lab, University of Sydney, researching interactive media architecture and the user-centred design of hybrid urban environments. A former guest researcher at the Department of Aesthetics and Communication at Aarhus University, Denmark, he undertook a short residency at the Ars Electronica Futurelab in Linz, Austria. Currently, Luke is a lecturer in Design and Computation at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney.

Jeremy Harkins - Specialist in VR, Creative Developer, UX Designer, Director & Co-Founder, Ineni Realtime

Jeremy Harkins co-founded Ineni Realtime, an innovative technology company focused on the development of the Realtime Visualisation Industry. Harkins has spoken internationally about 3D immersive environments, VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) for architecture, mining and smart cities.

Through collaborations with architects, engineers and developers, Harkins aims to commercialise and integrate new technologies into the architecture, planning, infrastructure and construction industries. His company has partnered with world leaders in building automation, integrated systems and business process management, and is providing cutting edge solutions for some of the largest and most complex developments in the world.

Dr Lian Loke - Senior Lecturer, Director of Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts, The University of Sydney

An interaction design researcher and performance artist, Dr Loke is interested in how the designed environment shapes human behaviour and experience, and how interactive technologies can enable new forms of embodied expression. She is the Director of the Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts, University of Sydney.

Dr Sam Spurr - Senior Lecturer, UNSW Art + Design

A spatial theorist and designer working across academia, art, journalism and curatorship, Sam Spurr is currently a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Art and Design. After receiving her doctorate from UNSW in 2007, she taught architecture and design fulltime at UTS.

Spurr has curated numerous international and local exhibitions, public interviews and design projects that seek to expand the discourse on architecture, art and the city. She has exhibited at the Moscow Biennale 2013, Sydney Biennale 2012, Storefront Gallery NYC (2012), the Prague Quadrennial 2011 and The Gwangju Design Biennale 2011, as well as co-curated the first SEAM Symposium (2009) on architecture, film and dance.

Sydney Design Festival

Organised by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, the Sydney Design Festival will be held from 2 September to 11 September 2016.

Image: (Clock-wise from top left) Dr Luke Hespanhol, Jeremy Harkins, Dr Lian Loke and Dr Sam Spurr