Empathy Hack: Building Empathy Through Technology and Art

$25 General Admission AAC Members and Penn State Abington Students/Faculty Free Abington Art Center is bringing together a talented group of key thought leaders across art and technology for an immersive exploration of empathy. Participants of all ages, interests, digital skills and non-skills are welcome.  Questioning how to design for everyone will lead a day of communication groups and prototype modeling. Demos of the latest technologies will be set up with experts on-site to discuss how these innovations will shape our future. Hackathon Challenge: Participants will take insights from the presentations to identify key areas where developing with empathy is most needed. Participants will present their ideas and reasoning behind them. Judges will choose the winning idea to be built out for the next series event in the fall. Panel of industry leaders: Don Undeen - Founding and Senior Manager of the MediaLab at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is currently an independent consultant based in Washington DC, Manager of the new Maker Hub at Georgetown University, and involved in a range of initiatives that connect the vision of the arts to the practical needs of business and social entrepreneurship. Austin Seraphin - Co-founder of Philly Touch Tours, is an accessibility consultant, blind from birth, who brings a unique perspective as a technologist to the user experience. Proficient with the Apple platform, Austin designs uniquely operational features in app development via screen reading and assisted technologies in mobile devices. Callie Leone - A global strategist for startups and marketing whiz, Callie works to define the future of technologies with a focus on AR and VR, spearheads strategic initiatives for humanitarian and disaster relief and brings thought leadership to business ventures in both the USA and Europe. Robert Peagler - Chief Problem Solver (CPS) for Social Innovation Solutions, Rob is focused on the development of strategies to align multiple stakeholders to effect large-scale and sustainable systems change. Rob co-founded the Design Studio for Social Intervention (DS4SI) at MIT, worked as a strategist on the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's New Options Project, and was a member of IBM Research's Market Analysis & Strategy group. Rob is a proud dropout of the University of East London’s SmartLab doctoral program in Design and Social Emergence. Luke Schantz - A multi-disciplinary technologist, Luke’s work spans artistic, technical and business ventures. His own practice primarily engages collaborative, creative projects. Currently a technology-maven with the IBM Global Entrepreneur Program, providing technical mentorship to startup businesses. Previously, Luke spent five years working with the Blue Man Group. His creative innovations for Blue Man have been seen by millions of people worldwide. He is a featured influencer for technology brands such as Makerbot and 3D Systems. This event is the first of a series focusing on designing and  building technology that fosters a deeper sense of connection and compassion in our society. Food and drink will be available throughout the day. Limited spots available. Penn State Abington Faculty, William Cromar, Senior Lecturer in Art and Program Chair for Art and Integrative Arts. This event is sponsored by the Invent Penn State collaboration between the Abington Art Center and Penn State University Abington and organized by Hana Iverson, Executive/Artistic Director of Abington Art Center. Part of Philly Tech Week 2017 presented by Comcast. Sign up for Technical.ly Philly daily newsletters so I can receive headlines, job listings, and info about upcoming events.