The Spatial Media Research Group operates within the Faculty of Communication and Mass Media, School of Economics and Political Sciences of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Spatial Media Research Group is active in research and development in the fields of interaction design, multimedia, virtual environments, mobile communication and locative media, adaptive, personalised and intelligent systems, visual communication and visual design, computer‐mediated communication, game studies and social media.

Spatial Media Research Group is directed by Professor Dimitrios Charitos. Research staff includes post‐doctoral, doctoral, and post‐graduate researchers. Additionally, Spatial Media Research Group maintains a broad network of external collaborating experts from the academic and professional community. The activity record of Spatial Media Research Group includes research and technological development projects, academic collaboration partnerships, organisation of scientific and cultural events, contribution in the edition of journals and set‐up of digital media, production of educational software as well as education, training and new media literacy programmes. As evident from the above, Spatial Media Research Group has considerable expertise in designing, developing, and evaluating interactive systems and environments in various domains and modes of interaction (desktop, immersive, augmented reality, mobile locative media, etc.). Spatial Media Research Group has conducted research on the perception and impact of the technologically augmented urban space as approached from multiple perspectives (psychological, social, political, cultural, artistic etc.). Additionaly, research on issues of digital, interactive, and installation art, as well as on methods for collaborative artistic creation, has been conducted during the last 10 years in the laboratory. Finally, in addition to research, Spatial Media Research Group coordinates or participates in several educational activities (e.g. undergraduate and postgraduate courses in interaction design, hybrid spaces and technologically enhanced education) pertaining to the above fields.

The third Hybrid City Conference seeks to investigate Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a means of supporting more Sustainable Cities and Resilient, Self-Reliant Communities as well as for empowering Citizens. By proclaiming “Data to the People” the Hybrid City Conference adopts a citizen centered approach and seeks to highlight bottom-up projects, initiatives and processes of technological mediation, which assist individuals, communities and cities in responding and adapting to the above mentioned new challenges. The Hybrid City Conference aims to offer insights into the complexity of factors that weaken the city fabric and affect urban wellbeing. Furthermore, it aims at investigating the potential of ICTs to support proactive and collective design towards future cities, focusing on real needs and maintaining a critical stand towards the prevailing “smart-everything” rhetoric. Available in [pdf]