Juergen Hagler is an academic researcher and curator at the interface of animation, game, and media art. Currently, he is a Professor of Computer Animation and Media Studies and the head of studies of the bachelor’s and master’s programme Digital Arts at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Hagenberg Campus. Since 2014 he is the co-head of the research group Playful Interactive Environments with a focus on the investigation of new and natural forms of interaction and the use of playful mechanisms to encourage specific behavioral patterns. He has been involved in the activities of Ars Electronica since 1997 in a series of different functions. Since 2017 he is the director of the Ars Electronica Animation Festival and initiator and organizer of the Expanded Animation Symposium. In 2023, he founded ANIMA PLUS, a Linz-based organization with the aim of supporting animation art and culture in Upper Austria and beyond.

Johnny DiBlasi is an interdisciplinary researcher and artist whose practice sits at the intersection of art, science, and technology and that explores a range processes and interests. Through this creative practice, DiBlasi works with computational media, bio-data, digital networks, and artificial intelligence to create interactive installations that fuse site-specific data structures into a physical architecture. Through various works, he explores the aesthetic possibilities of data gathered in real time and how these aesthetic experiences can connect an audience to the pulse of the landscape in which they coexist. His works address timely topics in areas such as generative deep learning, cybernetics, phenomenology, human-computer interaction, and bio creation / data. DiBlasi exhibits his works and installations nationally and internationally at venues such as the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) and SIGGRAPH, and he was awarded a Fulbright US Scholar Award for his research and creative project conducted at the Museums Quartier in Vienna. DiBlasi is Assistant Professor of in the Department of Art and Visual Culture at Iowa State University. He earned an MFA from the Photographic and Electronic Media program at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. DiBlasi teaches studio courses in creative AI, video, web design, creative coding, and interactive media. He is a founding member of the arts research group [phylum] which brings together other artists and researchers working at the intersection of science and technology. In addition to teaching, DiBlasi has experience working in the creative industry as a photographer and web designer.

Ahran Koo is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of Art Education at California State University, Fresno. As an artist, art educator, and art advocate, she promotes the efficacy of art to address cultural and social awareness. Locally and globally, she focuses on community art and critical multiculturalism, encourages interdisciplinary collaboration through social engagement, and advocates culturally responsive/sustaining pedagogy. Dr. Koo has published various research at national and international journals and exhibited her artworks over twenty years. Dr. Koo received PhD in Arts Administration, Education and Policy from The Ohio State University and MFA and BFA in Korean Painting from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea.

Borim Song is a Professor of Art Education at the School of Art and Design of East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. She holds her Ed.D. and Ed.M. from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. Her scholarly interests include new technologies for art education, online education practice, contemporary art in K-12 curriculum, cross-cultural and intercultural movements, and community-based art education for the underserved population. Song’s writings on art, art education, and cultural studies appear in publications in both the U.S. and Korea. Song also has actively exhibited her artwork, and her solo exhibitions were at Macy Gallery in New York City and at J. Y. Joyner Gallery, Greenville, NC.

Borim Song is a Professor of Art Education at the School of Art and Design of East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. She holds her Ed.D. and Ed.M. from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. Her scholarly interests include new technologies for art education, online education practice, contemporary art in K-12 curriculum, cross-cultural and intercultural movements, and community-based art education for underserved population. Song’s writings on art, art education, and cultural studies appear in publications in both the U.S. and Korea. Song also has actively exhibited her artwork, and her solo exhibitions were at Macy Gallery in New York City and at J. Y. Joyner Gallery, Greenville, NC.

Ahran Koo is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of Art Education at California State University, Fresno. As an artist, art educator, and art advocate, she promotes the efficacy of art to address cultural and social awareness. Locally and globally, she focuses on community art and critical multiculturalism, encourages interdisciplinary collaboration through social engagement, and advocates culturally responsive/sustaining pedagogy. Dr. Koo has published various research at national and international journals and exhibited her artworks over twenty years. Dr. Koo received PhD in Arts Administration, Education and Policy from The Ohio State University and MFA and BFA in Korean Painting from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea.