Ciprian FĂCĂERU

XR Research Assistant

Email: ciprian.facaeru@unatc.ro
Mobile phone: +40735215917
CINETic Lab: Digital Interaction
Other affiliations: National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” (PhD student / Associate Assistant Professor)

Academic interests

new media design
interactive-immersive media and digital augmentation
set design for virtual, augmented & mixed realities
user experience and interaction design for immersive media
transmedia storytelling
computer vision

Research Project

My doctoral research project is focused on set/scenographic design for interactive-immersive-augmented reality media technologies applied in visual and performative arts. The theoretical research analyzes the mediative role of technology as defined by post-phenomenology philosophy, focusing on creative interactive technologies and technology-driven immersion and augmentation.

Tasks Performed

At CINETic I am a research assistant – research and art projects that make use of interactive technologies and XR – virtual, augmented and mixed realities.

As an associate assistant professor at UNATC I am assisting courses and laboratories for the Art of Game Design and New Media Design MA programs.

Background

My background in architecture design, visual arts and my active interest in emerging new-media technologies contributed to the creation of Augmented Space Agency, one of the few design and development studios with an emphasis on augmented, mixed realities and interactive media technologies. My desire to explore and experiment with the new pathways opened up by technology in information and communication media, culture, arts and entertainment ultimately generated a series of projects which emphasize real issues confronting the technological impact on modern societies through new art forms and expressions, digital mediated interactions and augmentation.

I am a graduate of architectural studies at “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism and with the various interactive VR/AR studio projects sparked my interest in the theoretical studies which led to my current doctoral research “Scenography of augmented space” at National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” Faculty of Film and applied research at International Center For Research And Education In Innovative Creative Technologies – CINETic.

Projects

I coordinated and contributed on several cultural, artistic and entertainment projects that integrated creative technological solutions. In various projects, I contributed as creative director, virtual set, experience and interaction designer, immersive and augmented digital media artist and consultant in creative innovative technologies.

EFDEN AR TOUR – augmented reality site-specific interactive architectural visualization AR app, Bucharest, 2015
IN BETWEEN TWO PILLS – is a multimedia theatre play directed by Cinty Ionescu that talks about depression as seen (or hidden), Bucharest/Linz, 2016
Vestea – extract from “In Between Two Pills”, that uses volumetric video capturing reinterpreted in augmented reality three-dimensional medium, Bucharest, 2016
rflON – is an interactive augmented virtuality art installation that creates an interactive experience that reflect the visitors existence in the virtual dimension. The installation set design is using digital design object replicas created by UBICUBI design studi, Bucharest, 2016
Wisdom Of The Earth – Visualizing the 3D scanned replica of “Wisdom of the earth” renown artwork of Constantin Brâncuși, Bucharest, 2016
Unicat Augmented Art – a collaborative encounter between traditional and digital art, mediated by an augmented reality mobile app, Bucharest, 2016
Contrapartida – an experimental theatrical play developed in CAVE immersive space that takes an innovative approach to both interaction and immersive audio-visual content in a theatrical play, Bucharest, 2017
Capitol Continuum – an interactive AR site-specific urban intervention. As the continuum evolves into the virtual realm created accelerated by technology the CAPITOL crosses into the digital space and the relationships with the city and its inhabitants are changing, shifting toward a new future. Bucharest, 2017
Portal of Cluj – visual connections generated by a creative process enforced by algorithms and technological methods. A process of digitization and re-interpretations of neglected, lost and forgotten urban spaces of Cluj-Napoca city. Cluj-Napoca, 2017
Medlife VR Hologram – an educational virtual reality project that help the public to better understand the MEDLIFE “Amplatzer Duct Occluder heart operation” developed in the CAVE system, part of the “Virtual Set Design and Augmented Reality” LAB at CINETic, Bucharest, 2018
Atinge – a virtual reality documentary film project directed by Alexandru Berceanu that is documenting the difficult life of romanian roma emigrants in different corners of Europe and the challenges that their communities are facing
ARound the City – is an AR mobile app that contains site-specific AR experiences designed by three teams of young professionals with the aim to raise awareness on the urban and architectural heritage of Bd. Magheru in Bucharest. The participants had different professional backgrounds from design, architecture and visual arts to programming and game development. Bucharest, 2018
Pisica lui Schrödinger – is a theatre play directed by Alexandru Berceanu that follows the psychological trajectory of a person affected by anxiety and depression, from attempts to rationalize what is happening to him, to the efforts to perform trivial tasks, to preserve the appearance of normality. Although the triggering factors are somewhere outward, the struggle is taken entirely inside, between the various inner voices that shimmer, inhibit, frighten, into a polyphony that leaves no room for silence in which to search for and find solutions.Bucharest, 2018
Self Patterns is an augmented reality app developed through a French Romanian partnership, between N+N Corsino (FR), CINEtic (RO), Augmented Space Agency (RO) and Linotip (RO). The project focuses on the intersection of dance, choreography and new technologies and it is part of the 2019 France-Romania Season with the support of the Institut Français, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Patronage Committee of the Season.
Patrimoniu100 is a mobile app targeting young audiences, that promotes responsibility towards the built cultural heritage in Romania. It allows users to actively contribute to the preservation of our cultural heritage through digital cataloguing and has an AR mode which allows users to paint virtual non-intrusive form of Graffiti.
Therme Forum Interactive Installation was presented to the public at FITS 2019 Festival offering a digital interactive experience by mirroring the users in a virtual performative art world. The project through a playful interactive experience opened the dialogue on contemporan evolution of “Public Spaces: Built and Virtual Environments”, Sibiu, 2019
Reniform App is an AR mobile app made for Reniform Production, an animation and VFX studio based in Bucharest, that is aiming to put the studio projects into a new environment of interaction with the audience.
we.AR platform is an AR mobile app platform that host different projects designed and developed by Augmented Space Agency with the goal to offer advanced augmented reality solutions to artists, creative studios and different creative cultural initiative. Bucharest, 2019
ASA app is the AR mobile app demo reel of Augmented Space Agency that takes an experimental design and development, creative research approach on the newest augmented reality mobile technologies with the goal to create new mesmerizing interactive experiences and further explore the augmented space. Bucharest, 2019
Flight Facility is an art & technology conceptual space designed for Flight Festival 2019, a small digital interactive art gallery that offers a glimpse into the ongoing fusion between art and technology and its possible future directions. The central project is an immersive virtual reality flight journey and an interactive gamified experience design to connect us to both the past and the future of the host city. Timișoara, 2019