The AI & Web3 Summit is a meeting point for relations between people in the field of entrepreneurship, creativity, academic research, the cultural and technological industries, institutions and the social fabric: artists, technologists, entrepreneurs, researchers, musicians, filmmakers, designers, thinkers, makers, hackers, jurists and investors. Jointly organized by Sónar+D and UPF Ventures, it will be held at Fira de Montjuïc on 15 and 16 June, within the Sónar+D programme.

The summit consists of four sessions that will revolve around creativity and emerging technologies: Cinema & AI, Music & AI, Expanded Media and WEB3 & creativity. They will be led by professors and researchers from Pompeu Fabra University and will start with an inspiring talk by a leading figure in the sector, such as Cristóbal Valenzuela, co-founder of Runway; Nao Tokui, DJ, artist and founder of Qosmo; Mónica Rikic, electronic artist, Catalan National Culture Award 2021, and Portrait XO, artist and creator using AI.

As Teresa Roig, linked to UPF Ventures and director of the Summit, explains, “the diversity of expertise and perspective of the participants will promote creative synergies and their real impact”.

Following the inspiring talks, there will be the presentation of projects of emerging companies, applied and artistic research that develops technology and digital tools for the cultural industry as well as creative projects. The sessions will conclude with a round table on the challenges and opportunities that AI poses for the cultural and creative industries involving professionals from these sectors with researchers, creators, open source software developers and investors.

The AI & Web3 Creatives Summit is a project promoted by UPF Ventures, an innovation management company in which Pompeu Fabra University has a vested interest, that transforms cutting-edge research into high-impact businesses and provides support to grow startup and spinoff projects, creating bidirectional relations between enterprise and the academic world; and Sónar+D, an international congress that explores how creativity is changing our present and imagining new futures, in collaboration with researchers, creators and renowned professionals and businesspeople.

A multifacted programme: creativity & technology + knowledge & industry

Cinema & AI - 15 June, 2-4 pm

Inspiring talk: Cristóbal Valenzuela, co-founder of the video platform, Runway.

Presentation of projects by startups and of applied projects: Jorge Caballero will be presenting Artefacto, an applied research laboratory for film-making using computational tools. The co-founders of Quantic Brains Technologies will be presenting a platform for the AI generation of videos and video games. Pol Baladas will be demonstrating Fermat, a collaborative virtual whiteboard with AI for creatives.

Round table: chaired by Anna Giralt-Gris, with guests Cristóbal Valenzuela, co-founder of Runway,  Bill Cusick, creative director of Stability.ai, and Mayte Hidalgo, head of the AI Innovation Centre at Mediapro.

Music & AI - 15 June, 4-6 pm

Inspiring talk: Nao Tokui, DJ, artist and founder of Qosmo.

Presentation of spinoffs and artistic projects: we will find out about the process of creation with AI of “Ariadna’s secret”, an opera co-composed by Pere Péries, and applications to compose without being experts in music with AIBeatz, or to help us in the process of learning music, showing us in real time different performance parameters such as intonation, sound quality, tempos, expressiveness or body position with SkyNote App. 

Round table: chaired by Frederic Font, where Nao Tokui will be discussing with Yotam Mann, a musician and instrument maker and co-founder of the open-source music platform, Never Before Heard Sounds, and with AI and arts researcher at IRCAM and Deep Voice co-founder, Nicolas Obin.

Expanded Media - 16 June, 2-4 pm

Inspiring talk by Mónica Rikic, electronic artist and Catalan National Culture Award 2021.

Presentation of applied research projects, startups and artistic projects: Narcís Parés will be presenting Emil, European Media and Immersion Lab. Luis Parra, with Muse Scene Lab, will lead us into the world of musical practice through virtual and augmented reality, to sing or play with a virtual orchestra or band. Albert Barqué-Duran will be presenting Slowly Fading into Data, his latest work of artistic research on synthetic identities. 

Round table: chaired by Roc Parés, where Andrea Guzman, an expert in human-machine communication, will be talking to Mònica Rickic and to Pau Garcia, founder of Domestic Data Streamers, about extended cognition.

Web3 & Creativity - 16 June, 4-6 pm

Inspiring talk/performance with Portrait XO (she/they) about computational creativity.

Presentations of startups: we will get to know Union Avatars, which offers complete interoperability of the metaverse through a platform for creating, managing and distributing identities. Or proposals using blockchain technology to simplify monetary interactions between video game developers and end users; by reducing transfer costs and opening new monitoring avenues such as Openfort; or Blockets, which allows immediate payments to all parties involved in the organization of shows and cultural events as well as automating their management and making data-based decisions.

Round table:  chaired by Esther Achareandio, where Andres Lauer, co-founder of “third culture”, investor and consultant in emerging technologies with cultural value, will be speaking to Carlos Solana, who works linking technologies, business models and narratives with Metaverse & Web3 at Mediapro, and Patxi Barrios, Web3 Product Lead at Telefónica.

Full programme: www.upf.edu/web/rainfilmfest/summit