The Visual Media Lab (VMLab) is a facility within the Department of Letters, Philosophy, Communication equipped to analyse of the enjoyment and consumption of audiovisual products (feature and short fiction films and documentaries, television series, television programmes, adverts, music videos, internet videos, immersive information and journalism, video games, virtual reality experiences, augmented reality, mixed reality, etc.) through a methodology that integrates the traditional speculative methods of film theory with experimental and quantitative analysis tools.
Objectives and activities
The VMLab acts as:
a physical and conceptual space for the design and implementation of scientific research in the academic field, also in collaboration with fields that offer methodological integrations to visual media studies (computer science, economics, sociology, psychology, neuroscience) and with other University laboratories; as well as aimed at businesses in the field of audiovisual publishing production and distribution and the enhancement and promotion of the arts and cultural heritage;
a space for training and didactic experimentation that offers the opportunity to use equipment for the implementation and enhancement of educational projects to students during the course of their studies (as part of exercises, seminars, workshops), to thesis students in the final phase of their studies (three-year dissertation/ thesis), to doctoral students and research fellows;
a space for interdisciplinary theoretical, methodological and epistemological reflection and publication of research results through the design and implementation of seminars with researchers and scholars, including international ones, workshops and meetings with professionals and practitioners;
a hotspot for access to databases, platforms and archives for the study and analysis of the production, consumption and distribution of audiovisual products; and for the use of cinematic and automatic image annotation applications;
a creative hub for putting together public engagement activities as a meeting place between education and creativity, between universities and the local area through the promotion of cultural events open to the public, events presenting the outputs of teaching and research activities, artistic performances, book presentations and publishing initiatives.
Location and equipment
The VMLab, located on the Bernareggi campus in via Pignolo 76, has equipment (acquired through the 2021 University call for funding for research equipment and infrastructure) that allows for the recreation of environments and dynamics of traditional and/or immersive use (virtual reality and augmented reality) of audiovisual products and the real-time detection of certain parameters of user behaviour. The laboratory will also be equipped with workstations for accessing databases and analysing data on the consumption of audiovisual products on a national and international scale.
Scientific Director
Web site