DCAC-2025 Stream [ΜΑΥ 9 - 10]
avarts.ionio.gr/stream

7th International Conference

Digital Culture & AudioVisual Challenges

Interdisciplinary Creativity in Arts and Technology

Hybrid - Corfu/Online, May 9-10, 2025

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Embodied Experience and Emotional Response: A Semiotic Analysis of Contemporary Videogames
Date and Time: 10/05/2025 (09:00-10:40)
Location: Ionian Academy
Anastasia Skorda, Miltiadis Koustas, Maria Daravigka, Vasiliki Manouilidou, Vasiliki Spai, Dalila Honorato

This paper explores contemporary videogames through a semiotic lens, analyzing their meaning-making processes across three distinct case studies: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020), Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016), and It Takes Two (2021). These games, representing different genres—social simulation, puzzle adventure game, and cooperative action-adventure—offer compelling ground for examining how videogames construct meaning and provoke emotional responses in players. The methodological approach combines technical analysis of game mechanics, narrative structures, and audiovisual design with ethnographic insights into player experiences, including self-reflexive gameplay documentation. This study contributes to a broader understanding of videogames as complex sign systems that mediate emotional, social, and cultural experiences in contemporary digital culture.

Anastasia Skorda

Anastasia Skorda was born in Kozani, Greece, where she received her first music theory and piano lessons. She is a graduate of the Department of Music Studies at the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with a focus on vocal performance. She holds degrees in advanced theoretical courses including harmony, counterpoint, and fugue. Skorda also studied at the University of Bergen, Norway, in the Department of Music Education (Høgskolen i Bergen, Music Education) through the Erasmus exchange program, where she further developed her performance skills. She actively participates in artistic events featuring both contemporary and classical repertoire. Her passion for art and music drives her to continuously explore new forms of expression and creation.

Miltiadis Koustas

Miltos Koustas is a graduate of the Department of Informatics at the Ionian University with a specialization in Information Systems and a postgraduate student in the “Audiovisual Arts in the Digital Age” program. His research and creative practice lie at the intersection of art and technology, with a particular emphasis on digital storytelling, interactive media, and sound composition. He has undertaken the development of personal projects that integrate diverse artistic disciplines, including the creation of an original video game in which he authored the narrative, designed the characters, created three-dimensional graphics, composed the musical score, and implemented the code. This work exemplifies his commitment to a holistic artistic vision, wherein technology serves as a medium for comprehensive aesthetic expression. In addition, he has participated in European projects in the fields of culture, education, and tourism, where he has been actively engaged both in project management and in creative production. His roles encompassed user interface and user experience design (UI/UX), the development of digital avatars, and multimedia content creation. Through his interdisciplinary methodology, he seeks to advance the role of technology as an artistic instrument, capable of narrating stories, eliciting emotional responses, and fostering emergent forms of digital culture.

Maria Daravigka

Maria Daravigka is a graduate of the Department of Informatics at the Ionian University with specialization in Informatic Systems and a post graduate student in “Audiovisual Arts in the Digital Age” program also at Ionian University. She researches about art and technology through personal projects and works in video/photo and in general content creation programs. Maria also attended multiple seminars on marketing and explores various forms of artistic expressions such as dance, photography, painting, singing, makeup art, hair styling, image making and more creative experiences. Last but not least, she designed setting packs (presets) in Lightroom, Photoshop and other Adobe applications (launched 2020) which are suitable for bloggers, photographers etc. 

Vasiliki Manouilidou

Vasiliki Manouilidou is a graduate of the Department of Audio Visual Arts at the Ionian University and a postgraduate student in the same department's Master's Program, "Audiovisual Arts in the Digital Age." Simultaneously, she is enrolled in the Distance Learning Program of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens titled "Special Education and Training: Diagnostic, Therapeutic, and Counseling Approaches," aiming to bridge the fields of art, education, and social inclusion. Her undergraduate thesis, entitled "Photography as Therapy: Exploring and Representing Emotions through a Multimodal Photographic Exhibition," focuses on the role of therapeutic photography. Within this framework, she created an accessible exhibition for people with disabilities, utilizing multimodal elements such as sound, narration, and tactile experiences, promoting empathy, inclusion, and the active participation of vulnerable social groups in the artistic process. She has been working professionally as a photographer based in Corfu, since 2018. She also holds diplomas in Byzantine Music, Vocal Performance, Harmony, Keyboard, and Dictee, reflecting her multifaceted artistic background.

Vasiliki Spai

Vasiliki Spai holds a BA (Hons) in Marketing Management from the University of East London and has attended specialized studies in Graphic Design at Vellios School of Art, focusing on visual communication, typography, and illustration. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in “Audiovisual Arts in the Digital Age” at the Department of Audio & Visual Arts, Ionian University. Her work bridges marketing, design, and digital arts, with a strong emphasis on visual storytelling. Since 2021, she has worked as a freelance graphic designer, creating content for print and digital media while collaborating closely with clients to deliver creative solutions. Vasiliki is also active in European volunteering initiatives and has attended multiple seminars on project management, social media marketing, and creative education. She explores various forms of artistic expression—including poetry, dance, painting, and music—bringing a multidisciplinary approach to her creative practice.

Dalila Honorato

Dr. Dalila Honorato is a social scientist creating safe spaces for convergence of Art & Science ideas. Her research explores embodiment, monstrosity, the uncanny, and the balance between phobia and paraphilia. She's a Professor of Aesthetics and Visual Semiotics at Ionian University (Greece) and collaborates with the University of Lisbon's Center of Philosophy of Sciences. She has spoken at prestigious international platforms and been a guest-fellow at universities of Malta, RPI and UNAM. She founded the "Taboo-Transgression-Transcendence in Art & Science" (TTT) conferences and co-founded with Marta de Menezes "FEMeeting: Women in Art, Science, and Technology." As principal editor of TTT proceedings and co-EIC of Technoetic Arts journal, she leads the "Rewilding Cultures" grant at Ionian University, where she directs the Interactive Arts Lab, heads the Master of Research in Hybrid Arts, and serves on multiple committees.


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