On 3 June, ImproVive attended Night of the Nerds in Eindhoven. During this event, young people were introduced to technology, innovation and creativity in an interactive way.
For us, this was a great opportunity to show how technology and human behaviour come together. Technology is not only about code, sensors or systems. Especially when developing technology, you also encounter social and communicative challenges. How do people understand each other? How do we respond to difficult situations? And how can technology help make behaviour visible and open to discussion?
During Night of the Nerds, we spoke with around 50 to 100 young people. They were able to talk to our virtual humans in Indirect Discrimination and experience our VR application ReAction.
ReAction
ReAction is a VR experience developed as a preventive tool for young people. The application helps start conversations about peer pressure, making choices and avoiding knife violence. The experience was originally developed in co-creation with young people from Den Helder, in collaboration with MEE & de Wering Youth Work, cultural centre Triade and Gamesolutionlab. The final version was launched in 2023 and is suitable for use by youth workers and teachers.
Indirect Discrimination
Alongside ReAction, we also showed how young people can talk to AI-driven virtual humans. The Indirect Discrimination project explores how AI-driven virtual humans can be used to practise difficult social situations. Users have a conversation with a virtual character and practise how they can respond when someone makes discriminatory comments about others. In this way, technology becomes not only a demonstration, but also a tool for exploring social situations in a safe and accessible way and making them easier to discuss.
We noticed that many young people were not only curious about the technology, but also genuinely continued the conversation with the AI. Sometimes, the conversations even went beyond the original topic. This clearly shows how accessible and inviting this form of interaction can be.
We would like to thank everyone who stopped by, took part and joined us in conversation. Many thanks as well to Lotte van Leeuwen and the Night of the Nerds organisation for the invitation and the pleasant collaboration.
We look back on an energetic and inspiring day in Eindhoven!
Cover Photo: Jessie Kamp
