Digital Culture & AudioVisual Challenges

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.

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.

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.