Creative Technology and Transformative Storytelling Symposium 2026
Join us on 19 November–20 November 2026 for the Creative Technology and Transformative Storytelling Symposium, hosted by the Centre for Transformative Media Technologies (CTMT) and the Virtual Creative Design Research Centre (VCD).
Embodied AI
In the wake of the waning industrial momentum behind the Metaverse, embodied AI marks a shift from speculative, totalising virtual worlds toward situated, task-oriented intelligence, embedded within existing media ecologies. Rather than pursuing platform enclosure and immersive universality, current state-of-the-art systems – such as multimodal robotics, vision-language-action models, and real-time generative pipelines – demonstrate a maturing integration of AI within production workflows (eg virtual production, XR, automated robotics). Simultaneously one can observe a proliferation of GenAI film festivals and the integration into storytelling workflows and production processes.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 July
Acceptance notification: 17 August
Announcement program: 1 September
Presented by
- Centre for Transformative Media Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
- Virtual Creative Design Research Centre, AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand/Aotearoa
In collaboration with
Swinburne Documentary Research Group, Swinburne University of Technology
Diversifying and Decentralising Creative Practice Research Group, Journal of Media Practice and Education (JMPE)
International Journal of Creative Media Research (IJCMR)
This two-day event will feature:
Thursday (19 November)
Symposium (all day) HYBRID (online and in person)
Friday (20 November)
Showcase (morning till early afternoon | evening, MINA Screening at ACMI).
Venue Auckland (NZ)
VCDRC AUT
Case-room WG405, AUT City Campus
55 Wellesley Street East, Auckland Central, Auckland 1010
Venue Melbourne (AUS)
CTMT
EN106, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn
John St, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Symposium Leads
A/Prof. Max Schleser – Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Prof. John McCormick – Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
A/Prof.DafyddSill -Jones – AUT University, New Zealand/Aotearoa
Mr Gregory Bennett, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand/Aotearoa
Symposium Committee
Dr Peter Brace, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Dr Chen Chen, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand/Aotearoa
Yang Guo, PhD Candidate, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand/Aotearoa
Soyun Jang, PhD Candidate, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Katy Morrison, Deakin University, Australia
Associate Professor Angelique Nairn, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand/Aotearoa
Associate Professor Predrag K. Nikolic, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia
Assistant Professor Onur Birol, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Türkiye
Lucky Umang Singh,PhD Candidate, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand/Aotearoa
Dr Awnili Shabnam, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Hadis Salehi Gahrizsangi, PhD Candidate, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Dr Kien Tran, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand/Aotearoa
Dr Denby Weller, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Dr Yara El Turk, Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), Sydney, Australia ; MA Candidate, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Hanna Zhu, PhD Candidate, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Dr Ruohan Tang, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, UK