Scientific Culture Promotion Grant 2024
Student Work
Science Communication
The “Empathic Spaces” project was awarded a Scientific Culture Promotion Grant by the University of Coimbra in 2024.
The project was based on a disciplinary intersection between the areas of neuroscience, architecture and design, and multimedia.
Its fundamental idea is the concept of empathy, or the ability to experience reality in someone else’s shoes. In this sense, the aim was to provide the experience of a space, in place of a person with neurodivergent conditions such as anxiety, ADHD, autism or Alzheimer’s disease.
The “Empathic Spaces” project installations are crystallized in the creation of a set of virtual environments to be inhabited through Virtual Reality (VR) systems, purposely modeled with spatial and interactive characteristics seeking to create experiences that are reminiscent of the complexities of these mental health challenges, thus seeking to promote their broader understanding before society.
The final collection of virtual environments was developed by master's students in Design and Multimedia during the first semester of 2024.
Team:
Pedro Martins Carvalho - Darq / CEARQ-TD
Ana Luísa Cardoso - CNC / CIBB
António Monteiro - Darq
Carolina Lebre - CNC / CIBB
Jorge Cardoso – DEI / CISUC
Students:
Afonso Rodrigues, Afonso Martins, Alexandra da Costa, Ana Quintela, Beatriz da Silva, Bruna Gerardo, Clara Gomes, Flávia Simões, Helena Alves, Henrique da Silva, Ignas Petkūnas, Inês Carvalho, Ivan Silva, Joana Nunes, Mafalda Salvador, Margarida Santiago, Maria Catarina Antunes, Maria Rosa, Marta Teixeira, Miguel Santos, Rodrigo Rodrigues, Sara Braz, Sofia dos Santos, Tiago de Oliveira