Technology with Empathy for Humanity | #AFutureByDesign Salon Series

Join us for the next #AFutureByDesign Salon Series on technology and empathy with Chris Solarski, Jean Leggett and Christina Gerakiteys.

Meet our guests: 

Chris Solarski

Chris Solarski started work in video games at Sony Computer Entertainment’s London Studio as a character and environment artist before making a career-defining detour into figurative oil painting. The unusual mix of game art and classical art eventually resulted in Chris authoring the Interactive Empathy and Embodiment (IEE) framework—a sensory design methodology that adapts traditional craft to interactive media with the aim of heightening kinaesthetic empathy and embodiment. Chris has authored two other books on game art and storytelling in games that are endorsed by the likes of Assassin’s Creed founding member Stéphane Assadourian, and Cyberpunk 2077 level designer Max Pears.

Chris’ work has been described as gaming’s equivalent to Robert McKee’s screenwriting classic, Story, and compared to Joseph Campbell’s universal storytelling structure. Chris has had the pleasure of presenting at the Smithsonian Museum’s landmark The Art of Video Games exhibition, Disney Research, SXSW, Google and FMX, to name a few.

Jean Leggett

Jean Leggett is the CEO and co-founder of One More Story Games, a games & edtech startup with a simplified publishing platform to help non-coding storytellers as young as 8 create and publish narrative games. Jean is a certified professional coach, international speaker, and professor of narrative design. She’s the lead writer on a game adaptation of #1 NYT bestselling author Charlaine Harris’ Lily Bard series about a sexual trauma survivor dealing with PTSD while solving crimes. Jean has coached and mentored over 250 game developers since 2018.

Host: Christina Gerakiteys

Christina Gerakiteys is Co-CEO of SingularityU Australia and a catalyst for change, alchemising impossible to possible through unleashing human potential. An eternal optimist and idealist, Christina’s mission is to inspire, transform and empower leaders to find solutions to humanity’s grand challenges. Through her work, she seeks to open hearts and minds to the abundant possibilities and hope for humanity presented by exponential technologies.