LASER Talks Liverpool: Within Touching Distance

Exploring the role of the senses in emotional behaviour, immersive theatre and medical simulation

EVENT INFO

When: Monday 17th March 2025, 18:00-20:00 GMT

Where: John Lennon Art & Design Building, X-Gallery

Register via Eventbrite

The emergence of immersive technologies such as VR Headsets and Game Engines provide new opportunities for artists and scientists alike. In this Liverpool Art Science Evening Rendezvouz (LASER) we bring together speakers from very different disciplines whose work greatly extends the potential of these tools within neuroscience, health and immersive theatre to reveal insights into the artistic, scientific and technological basis of their unique illusionary and immersive power.

Join us in conversation with Dr Susannah Walker, Behavioural Neuroscientist and co-lead of the Somatosensory & Affective Neuroscience group at LJMU, John-Paul Mills, Digital Simulation Learning Technologist and member of the School of Nursing and Advanced Practice at LJMU, and Jorge Lopes Ramos, Professor of Interactive Theatre and Performance at the University of Greenwich and co-founding Director of ZU-UK.

ZU-UK’s latest work ‘Withing Touching Distance’ from which the title of this event is taken, is an award winning, genre defining piece of immersive theatre. Central to the power of piece is the bringing together of visual images from VR headsets with touch stimulus from actors, clothing and other props to deliver an experience of unparalleled emotional impact.

SPONSORS

The Leonardo/ISAST LASERs are a program of international gatherings that bring artists, scientists, humanists and technologists together for informal presentations, performances and conversations with the wider public. The mission of the LASERs is to encourage contribution to the cultural environment of a region by fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and opportunities for community building to over 50 cities around the world. To learn more about how our LASER Hosts and to visit a LASER near you please visit our website. @lasertalks

Liverpool LASER Talks is part of the worldwide series of Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) Talks sponsored by Leonardo, the International Society for Art, Sciences and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST). Liverpool LASER Talks are organised by Mark Roughley and Prof Caroline Wilkinson, and supported by the MA Art in Science programme, which aims to bring artists and scientists together to explore the boundaries of art-science research and practice.