ReniaPapathanasiou

Hey jammers! I am a sound engineer and XR designer, developer, and producer. I completed my studies at the Department of Music Technology and Acoustics of the Hellenic Mediterranean University in Rethymno, Crete and she holds a Master of Arts in "Art, virtual reality and multi-user systems of artistic expression" (a collaboration between the Athens School of Fine Arts and the department of Arts and Technologies of the Image of the Paris 8 University). I worked as a music teacher as well as an event manager and senior manager in fields related to the music industry in Athens and Crete. Since 2013 my research concentrates in extended reality systems and artistic interactive installations as well as in the involvement of extended reality systems in education especially addressed to special-needs populations via ludic environments. My individual and team works have been presented in several conferences and festivals, including the IEEE VR2015 in Arles, the Digital Storytelling in Times of Crisis in Athens, the International Conference: The Future of Education, 5th Edition (2015) in Florence-Italy, Festival Miden in Kalamata, the 5th International eLife Dual Congress in Greece, the Invisible Cities Conference (University of Athens, Communication and Media Department) in Athens, the exhibition “Dream Minds in Virtual Bodies” at the metamatic Taf gallery in Athens, in Layer One Conference Greece 2018 etc. Since 2016 I work also as a tutor in several educational seminars on design and creation of immersive interactive experiences using XR technologies and game development, in collaboration with the Onassis Foundation, Panteion University and Space Under and since 2018 she co-organizes the Global Game Jam Athens. I am co-founder and Managing Director of ViRA | Virtual Reality Applications, a company founded in 2016 based in Greece that focuses on the design and development of XR applications and game development. Since 2019 I also work in Pausilypon Films and Documatism as a project manager focusing mainly on documentary films and installations. Since 2020 I am part of the Studio Bahia orgnanisation, whose mission is making therapy accessible so we can address mental health crises, from epidemics of anxiety and depression to conditions caused by violence and trauma by designing and developing accessible XR applications. Currently I am a PhD Candidate at the School of Film of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.