Perception: Interface as Experience- Part 1
Hosted by: Habib Zargarpour

Emerging forms of innovative storytelling are immersing their audiences in exciting and constantly changing ways, both in the virtual and real worlds. From collaborative videogames to live-venue performance and installations, this panel will examine the Multi-Sensory and emotional impact of new interfaces.

Habib Zargarpour, Visual Effects Supervisor, Senior Art Director, Electronic Arts, ea.com
Habib Zargarpour serves as a Senior Art Director at Electronic Arts (EA) since 2003. In this role, Habib is responsible for the visual aspects of the projects including production design and the overall look. Habib has over 12 years of experience in visual effects in film followed by 6 years in the interactive games industry. Nominated for two Academy Awards in Visual Effects, for his work on "Twister" and "The Perfect Storm" while at ILM, his other projects include the pod race sequence in "Star Wars Episode I", "Star Trek First Contact", "Spawn", and "Signs". Zargarpour believes in the convergence of tools between films and games. His most recent project, "Need for Speed Most Wanted", received a Visual Effects Society Award in 2006. Zargarpour graduated with distinction in Industrial Design from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1992 where he discovered his passion for design in film.


Chris Bird, Founding Partner, United Visual Artists
Based in England, United Visual Artists (UVA) is an art and design practice whose projects span permanent architectural installation, live performance and responsive installation. Founded in 2003, by Matt Clark, Chris Bird, and Ash Nehru the trio sought to create an environment where the combination of art direction, and design, technical production and custom software development functioned as equal partners. UVA's first project was the creation of stage visuals for Massive Attack's 100th Window world tour in 2003. Utilizing a large LED screen as a digital information display board rather than a video screen, the show created the template for what has become UVA's trademark mixture of precision, rhythmicity, minimal design aesthetic and sculptural use of lighting and LED. After an initial successful staging of Volume at the Victoria & Albert Museum, it has toured internationally and led to several other public commissions that have also toured worldwide. UVA’s first permanent responsive light environment was the award-winning Kabaret’s Prophecy nightclub in London. Further developing the discovery and exploration of both process and medium continues to enable UVA to work with a wide range of canvases with a primary of focus on working with light - and its relationship with people.


Ed Cookson, Director, The Sancho Plan
After graduating from Oxford University Ed Cookson entered the videogames industry, where for five years he honed his audio, visual and production skills making award-winning games and earning himself a BAFTA nomination for his interactive audio work. In 2002 Ed moved on to co-create and direct his own BBC children’s animation series, during which time he founded The Sancho Plan - a collaboration of writers, musicians, animators, designers and programmers focused on creating live interactive entertainment experiences for the 21st century. Fusing animation, music, gaming, technology and performance, The Sancho Plan’s uniquely refined interactive adventures have since been shown in cinemas, theatres, clubs and festivals, and on television and computers screens around the world.



Malcolm Garrett , RDI, FRSA - Creative Director, Applied Information Group, aiglondon.com
Malcolm Garrett is a creative director at the graphic design consultancy Applied Information Group (AIG), which has offices in London and Vancouver. He is also creative director of dynamolondon.org, an online forum for interactive design industry in London. With over three decades of design experience, he has worked with all manner of communications, arts and entertainment media. His work throughout the 80s with musicians such as Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, Simple Minds and Peter Gabriel is widely regarded as having a seminal influence on contemporary graphic design. For the last two decades he has been particularly interested in user-experience and interface design for interactive media, across a range of platforms from web through to interactive cinema. He is a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI), and is a member of the RDI Executive Committee. He is a Visiting Professor at Central St Martins. He sits on the Eye Magazine Editorial Board; the Skillset Interactive Skills Council; is the Events Director of the i-Design conference at the London Design Festival; and is a past member of the Interactive Entertainments Committee at BAFTA. He is a Founding Member of 5D: the Future of Immersive Design.

5D Conference

Digital technologies are blurring the boundaries between the passive and active experience of visual art, entertainment, environmental design and the built environment. Out of these transformations emerge unique challenges and inspirations for those facing the creative process of world-building and storytelling in narrative media.

5D offers a progressive platform for discourse on the present and future of immersive design, and its impact on all aspects of the creative media space, by engaging creative collaborators working in a broad spectrum of disciplines and media.

This unprecedented cultural event is curated for everyone involved in design and storytelling, and the creation of immersive environments, across all mediums. Its goal is to unite a vital community of designers and image-makers from across a broad spectrum of entertainment, built environment and media disciplines, and serve as a catalyst for innovation.

Join renowned designers and thinkers for a series of inspiring, educational and career-enhancing discussions and networking, focused on the evolving nature of entertainment content creation, the challenges of world-building, and the design of experience-driven environments.


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