The Expanded Play exhibition features an interactive collection of playful and experimental works that explore the boundaries of mixed reality, spatial interaction, and Artificial Intelligence within the realm of playful media. Now in its second edition, the cooperative exhibition showcases a range of student and artist works from the Digital Media Department at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, the Film Academy Baden Württemberg, Witten/Herdecke University, and the Department of Visual Computing at Masaryk University Brno. The exhibition is located at the Salzamt in Linz, a local platform and gallery for artists and cultural creators from various fields. This year’s selection addresses a wide range of topics and technologies that subtly echo the Ars Electronica Festival theme PANIC – yes/no. From dealing with climate catastrophes such as an oil spill, to justifying your existence as a non-AI individual, interacting as a spider-based entity, or splitting your senses to observe an occult ritual, each work possesses both a promising portion of agency, but also a shiver of fear. But there is no need to panic. These are all just simulations, right?
EXPANDED PLAY— Exhibition of Playful Media / Jeremiah Diephuis, Katja Zibrek - Photo: FH OÖ
Exhibition
EXPANDED PLAY— Exhibition of Playful Media
Jeremiah Diephuis (US/AT), Katja Zibrek (SI/FR)
Language //
EN, DE, nonverbal, other
Ticket //
FREE / No Ticket
Reverse Turing Test
Tore Knabe (DE), Jonathan Hart (DE)
This VR-experience challenges visitors to disguise themselves as the only human among advanced AI systems, raising profound questions about the nature of intelligence, identity, and reality.
Jiwa
Vinaya Tawde (IN)
Jiwa responds to challenges such as mobile dependency, isolation, and screen fatique by reimagining mobile AR gameplay as a shared, embodied experience.
Spider Embodiment
Philipp Thaya (AT), Martin Kocur (DE)
Spiders, with their unique anatomy and movement patterns, offer intriguing possibilities. This project explores what it means to embody a spider in virtual reality.
Soundwalker
Andrea Eckmayr (AT), Alexander Strauss (AT), Maksym Zinchenko (UA/AT)
Soundwalker is a VR experience in which you navigate a world cloaked in darkness using sound-based echolocation. As a blind traveler, every footstep, clap, or echo pulse reveals the hidden geometry of your surroundings.
Divine Machinery
Selina Behrens (AT), Florian Horak (AT), Simone Feldbacher (AT), Sebastian Grundherr (AT), Julia Posch (AT), Michelle Treziak (AT)
Divine Machinery is an interactive installation exploring transhumanism. Visitors touch the hands of a personified AI to alter its mood as well as the room’s soundscape, animations, and lighting.
The Summoning
Selina Behrens (AT), Sebastian Grundherr (AT), Moritz Höll (AT), Julia Posch (AT)
The Summoning combines visual, auditory, and digital storytelling and invites participants to explore a demon summoning ritual through fragmented perspectives.
Out of the Darkness
Richardo Serban (AT), Larissa Schäfer (AT), Jennifer Ye (AT)
Out of the Darkness is a digital multiplayer tabletop experience where you guide the Velynx—luminescent felines from the planet Claris—as they escape their abductors and reach the dispatched rescue ships.
GEMeinsam
Kevin Killinger (AT), Jan Klug (AT), Gerald Gruber (AT)
GEMeinsam artistically explores the theme of loneliness and how it affects people in different ways. The narrative structure guides the audience through a multi-layered residential building inhabited by numerous fictional residents.
ProDucktion
Nori Greinecker (AT), Bernhard Haunschmied (AT), Verena Kremsmayr (AT), Wiktoria Olborksi (AT)
ProDucktion serves as an arcade-like experience in which two players have to cooperate and construct a rubber duck with a hat.
Black Tide Protocol
Luca Geiger (DE), Alexander Hödlmoser (AT), Dino Ponjevic (AT)
The interactive experience Black Tide Protocol portrays a marine ecosystem on the brink of disaster. Can you stop the black tide—before it’s too late?
Evelynn
Philipp Asteriou (AT), Gerald Gruber (AT), Nicole Lehmann (AT), Stephanie Schattauer (AT), Anna Mühlbacher (AT)
Converse with Evelynn, an animated chatbot powered by Artificial Intelligence.
Mindful Moves
Danielle K. Langlois (US/CZ), Vojtěch Hyánek (CZ), Simone Kriglstein (AT)
Mindful Moves explores the realities of the modern society, where many individuals spend extended periods seated in front of screens with minimal physical movement.
Please note: The program for the Ars Electronica Festival 2025 is still in progress.
We are currently preparing all the information for the website and plan to put the full program online in the coming days – stay tuned!