Explore the inventive work being created by Virginia Tech faculty and students and join discussions with some of the nation’s leading innovators from places like Microsoft Research, Nokia Bell Labs, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratories during ICAT Creativity + Innovation Day.

Presented by the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, join the online immersive experience on Monday, May 4, from 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Real-time streaming conversations

The day includes two synchronous Zoom conversations with some of the nation’s leading innovators. The keynote speaker session begins at 1 p.m. and features Microsoft Research Principal Research Designer and self-described fusionist Asta Roseway, who will share her transdisciplinary journey as a co-founder of Microsoft’s artist-in-residence program.   

A conversation with creativity and innovation thought leaders begins at 2 p.m. Moderated by ICAT senior fellow Lisa McNair, the panel features Roseway, along with Patty Bartlett, retired associate provost, Smithsonian; Ben Congleton, Silicon Valley CEO, Olark; Scott Davidoff, human interfaces manager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratories; Andrew Kim, manager, Steelcase Workspace Futures Group; and Domhnaill Hernon, vice president, Innovation, Strategy, Creativity, Research and Development, Nokia Bell Labs. The panelists will share thoughts about ICAT Creativity + Innovation Day projects that intrigue them and discuss the intellectual, intuitive, economic, creative, and ethical forces that are shaping the future. 

360-degree YouTube experience

Online visitors can experience “Benthos 360” and dive into the Clinch River with researchers as they document the conservation of Appalachia’s endangered freshwater mussels—one of the most imperiled animals on the planet. “Benthos 360” transports participants to the mussels’ underwater environment through an immersive, 360-degree YouTube experience, where they can follow a restoration biologist’s fight to save the mussels.

"ICAT: Open (at the) Source" exhibition in virtual reality

In conjunction with ICAT Creativity + Innovation Day, “ICAT: Open (at the) Source” gives users the opportunity to explore a virtual world filled with innovative ICAT projects. Navigate the virtual gallery and interact with other users in an online environment created using Mozilla Hubs, an open source resource that can be accessed by a web browser. The exhibition features four projects:

“The Recursions of Escher” explores the interplay between science and M.C. Escher’s art in a unique visual environment. Escher’s largest work, “Metamorphis III,” is presented in three dimensions. Patterns from the piece are “lifted” from the print’s plane, morphing and transforming into various animal shapes. An audio component helps illustrate these transformations.

“HokieNauts: The NASA S.U.I.T.S.” showcases the work of the Virginia Tech student team that participated in the NASA SUITS (Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students) Design Challenge. The official space turkeys of Virginia Tech, the HokieNauts designed and created space suit information displays within an augmented reality (AR) environment. The work is intended to aid astronauts in performing spacewalk tasks.

“Zoología Fantastica in the Mist: Bringing Borges’s World to Virtual Reality” is a 3D interactive story world that brings to life several creatures from Jorge Luis Borges’s fable anthology “Zoología Fantastica.” In this adaptation, Borges guides a little boy through a misty, magical realm in order to help him identify and understand mythological creatures. As each new creature appears, original music plays, 3D models of the creatures materialize, and a dynamic story environment shifts with the viewer’s movements. 

Merging the disciplines of creative technology, socially engaged art, and neuroscience, “Memory Bank” artistically interprets neuroimaging data to investigate how emotional memory is recalled and visually expressed by memory-holders, exploring the potential for empathy and human connectivity by emphasizing the signature brain patterns associated with participants’ recalled experiences of love.

Videos showcasing the university’s creativity and innovation

Through coursework and research projects, Virginia Tech students and faculty have explored their own creative ideas. From traversing place-based history with augmented reality to projecting onto natural cliff faces to tracking eye movement to measure learning, ICAT Creativity + Innovation Day celebrates the work that happens when people from Virginia Tech’s creativity and innovation community join forces to tackle complex challenges using creative applications and cutting-edge technologies. Experience this work through a series of 3- second videos.

All ICAT Creativity + Innovation Day events, including the Zoom discussions and “ICAT: Open (at the) Source” projects, can be accessed from a central online location.

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