Elena Simperl - Director of Research, Open Data Institute (ODI)

Elena Simperl is a Professor of Computer Science and Deputy Head of Department for Enterprise and Engagement in the Department of Informatics at King’s College London. She is also the Director of Research for the Open Data Institute (ODI) and a Fellow of the British Computer Society and the Royal Society of Arts. Elena features in the top 100 most influential scholars in knowledge engineering of the last decade and in the Women in AI 2000 ranking.

She obtained her doctoral degree in Computer Science from the Free University of Berlin, and her diploma in Computer Science from the Technical University of Munich. Prior to joining King’s in 2020, she was a Turing Fellow, and held positions in Germany, Austria and at the University of Southampton.

Her research is at intersection between AI and social computing, helping designers understand how to build smart sociotechnical systems that combine data and algorithms with human and social capabilities. Elena led 14 European and national research projects, including recently QROWD, ODINE, Data Pitch, Data Stories, ACTION, and MediaFutures.

Elena’s interest in leading initiatives within the scientific community has also taken form through chairing several conferences in her field, including the European and International Semantic Web Conference series, the European Data Forum, and the European Semantic Technologies conference. She is the president of the Semantic Web Science Association.

Alan Warburton - Artist, animator, author, curator & video essayist

I’m an artist, animator, author, curator and video essayist working with CGI, VR, AR, installation and sculpture. Over the last decade I’ve had over a million views of my animated films and even managed the unlikely feat of going semi-viral with critical video essays about computer graphics and visual culture. I’m currently researching digital images and labour for a PhD at Birkbeck’s Vasari Centre in London.

I’ve been commissioned by the BBC, Tate Modern, Photographers Gallery and Channel 4, exhibited work at Transmediale, Ars Electronica, National Gallery of Australia and had residencies and lectures at the V&A, Somerset House, Carnegie Mellon and the Architecture Association School. I’ve worked with artists Jeremy Deller, Matt Stokes and drag queen Katya Zamolodchikova. I’ve even won a few awards.

Ask me about CGI, AI, VFX, digital aesthetics, the philosophy of technology, artistic labour, queer politics and mental health awareness. Don’t ask me about accidentally becoming the centre of a human interest story about my upstairs neighbours art.

Karen Palmer - 'Storyteller from the Future' & SXSW XR Experience 2023 Winner

Karen Palmer is the Storyteller from the Future, an award winning XR creator and futurist who explores the implications of A.I and technology on societal structures and the impact of in-equality.

She does this through enabling participants to experience the future today through her immersive film experiences, that watch you back using artificial intelligence and facial recognition technologies.

Karen recently won the coveted XR Experience Competition at SXSW 2023 with her film Consensus Gentium.

There have been numerous interviews and articles on her work from Channel 4 News, BBC News, CBS News and press in Wired Magazine, Forbes, PC Mag, CBS TV , Fast Company , Engadget,The Guardian “It leapfrogs over VR”.

Karen is a TED Speaker and has been described as a Thought Leader in A.I, Immersive Storytelling for Impact, Futurism and Tech for a decade. She has been featured in innumerable interviews and events.

Previously she received Honorary Mention for the STARTS Prize ARS Electronica for Perception iO, the future of law enforcement. In 2017 her installation RIOT was acknowledged as one of the Digital Dozen Award for break throughs in storytelling.

Her Hack the Future Labs created 2020, are Think & Action Tanks at the intersection of Art, Film, Neuroscience Technology, Activism, Social Justice, Spirituality and the Parkour Philosophy of moving through fear.

Harmeet Chagger-Khan - Executive Producer for Innovation, The Space

Harmeet leads on innovation, immersive and interactive projects for The Space looking at how digital innovation increases access and reaches new audiences, and is the founder of Surfing Light Beams, a media studio creating immersive experiences and playable adventures with communities at the heart of the process.

Having researched Cultural Innovation at the Futurelab, Ars Electronica, and worked on behaviour change campaigns as Digital Strategist at M&C Saatchi, Harmeet uses the premise of immersive storytelling, fused with the artistic expertise of other disciplines, to create a space where the inventor, the artist, the intellect, the communicator and the leader can be harnessed and for individuals to recognise how valuable their contribution is within a community, a society, an organisation or as a global citizen.