AT Lab’s “Ballet Metanique” Participates in the Ars Electronica Festival 2022 at the Invitation

The Art & Technology Lab (AT Lab) under the Convergence Art Center’s immersive metaverse production, “Ballet Metanique,” was officially invited to the Ars Electronica Festival 2022 from 7 to 11 September in Linz, Austria. The K-Arts is the only university in Korea to receive the invitation. Since 1979, the Ars Electronica Festival celebrates its 43rd anniversary this year. It is known to be the Cannes in the media art field for showcasing the performances and exhibitions integrating cutting-edge technologies and arts. With its long history and tradition, it is the world's largest media art festival with more than 20 million joining online and more than 11 million coming to visit each year.

“Ballet Metanique” by director Park Ark, an alumnus of the School of Film, TV & Multimedia, is a converging work of art that integrates classical ballet with high-tech immersive technology. Combining the results of R&D – such as the network performance system created by the director and haptic technology vibrating to the sound – with the work, the product presents the audience with a fresh new experience exceeding the boundary between arts and science.

Aside from that, the K-Arts, as the managing institution, participates in the Cultural Content R&D Professional Manpower Training Project which aims to nurture experts in advanced art and technology by supporting the development of converging technology. Organized by the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Technology Center affiliated with the Korea Creative Content Agency, Pohang University of Science and Technology research team, Jiffycrew and Birdhand corporates in the high-tech content industry have taken part as joint research development institutions for two years. Operating a content-oriented R&D curriculum and an academia-industrial project, the project is ongoing with about thirty student participants.