Event
Mon 24 Jun 2024 11:00-13:30 at Watershed Room W1
Afrofeminist Ethics Concerns in the Design and Use of Avatars
Afrofeminist Concerns in the Design & Use of Avatars - Workshop The purpose of this session is to facilitate a conversation on the ethical issues involved in the design and use of avatars today

Credit: Desola Lanre Ologun (Unsplash)
Hosted by

Cèlia Domínguez Hernàndez
Cèlia supports the Pervasive Media Studio community to develop new partnerships and networks; making its R&D community more visible and creating more accessible opportunities to participate.Favour Bọ̀rọ̀kìní
Favour Borokini is a PhD student at the University of Nottingham. Her research explores afrofeminist concerns in the design and use of avatars and is interested in everyday accounts of how afro-descended people, especially women visually represent themselves online.AFROFEMINIST ETHICS CONCERNS IN THE DESIGN AND USE OF AVATARS
When we create avatars, we often do so in order to say something about ourselves, people we know (or don't know), objects, pets and other non-human animals and even things.
But what goes on when we use and interact with them? What do these visual images help us or prevent us from saying? And how can we design better technologies to enable afrofeminist futures?
Everyone is welcome but we would like to specially invite African women living in the UK and design stakeholders, including artists, writers, animators, gamers, product designers, devs, HR, policy/lawmakers etc. Today, the word 'avatar' is used to describe all kinds of visual representations.
Please book in advance, due to limited places available. If you are interested in attending please fill in this form.
Programme
Opening remarks, overview of project - 10-15 minutes
Round of introductions - 5-10 minutes
Discussion session exploring participant perceptions of what an avatar is: What is an avatar?/How do you use them in your personal/professional life? - 20-25 minutes
Interactive session - Participants create and design their avatars for 20-30 minutes
Break - 15 minutes
Discussion Session exploring participant perceptions of their created avatars, what is an ideal avatar, challenges and opportunities 20 -30 minutes
Conclusion
Please note:
We will provide light refreshments and laptops for the avatar creation workshop but welcome to bring your own!