With panels, discussions, and demonstrations, Dreaming with Eyes Open will bring together leading Virtual Reality (VR) artists, philosophers, theorists, and technologists to explore the revolutionary implications of this rich, immersive medium. Hear from Academy Award–winning visual effects artist Kevin Mack of Shape Space; groundbreaking artist Asad J. Malik, whose 1RIC Studio focuses on telling the stories of culturally underrepresented voices through augmented reality; Janet H. Murray, author of Hamlet on the Holodeck; Amelia Winger-Bearskin, who is co-directing a 360 video story about Native American monsters; USC Dornsife philosophy professor Kadri Vihvelin; and UC Irvine professor of cognitive science Donald Hoffman, who wrote the provocative and widely circulated article “The Case Against Reality.”

While autonomy is a feature of much organic life, it is perhaps the defining feature of human existence. It is also, however, a distinguishing facet of much recent technology; a new cohort of artificially intelligent machines, systems, and agents that operate increasingly without human intervention. The most conspicuous examples include driverless automobiles, autonomous weapons, social media bots, assistive robots, and devices comprising the Internet of Things. But all algorithmically-automated systems with which we now engage are self-governing to a degree. In what ways might the increased autonomy of these systems affect our own agency? How might our use of such systems impact how we function as humans? Or how we see ourselves as human? How might they alter our dynamics with each other?

Join us for a day of discussion about our past, present, and future relationship with autonomous technologies. In a series of panels, faculty from computer science, engineering, robotics, the humanities, and the social sciences will reflect on the applications, ethics, and history of these systems.