About Cnap
The Center for Non-Anthropocentric Play (CNAP) is a research group situated within Noroff University College's Interactive Media Department in Kristiansand, Norway.
Co-founded in 2021 by Dr. Erik Geslin and Dr. Filipe Pais, colleagues in the Interactive Media Department, CNAP emerged from their shared passions for ecology, nature, and play experiences. Dr. Geslin is an expert in game and VR/XR development, specializing in affective gaming, while Dr. Pais is a researcher in Interactive Arts and Design, with a particular focus on exploring the intersection of these fields with technological agendas and their impacts on nature, human behavior, and non-human entities.
As a response to the pressing need to rethink design in the post-Anthropocene, CNAP is dedicated to the cultivation of new social imaginaries in game experiences.
Our primary goal is to incorporate more-than-human worlds into the realm of play, addressing their often overlooked or misrepresented status in the gaming industry. Our interests transcend the confines of screens and traditional magic circles; we are equally committed to investigating and proposing design methodologies that account for the lives of all beings, including human minorities and marginalized groups, as well as non-human lifeforms. Our focus also extends to promote energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprints associated with game development and usage.
In our pursuit of a non-anthropocentric approach to interactive games and play, our ultimate goal is to cultivate a profound understanding of the intricate relationship between humans and non-humans, with a measurable impact beyond the gaming realm. We envision play experiences that entertain while also embodying environmental responsibility, nurturing care, and inclusivity. To make this transformative journey possible, CNAP is committed to forming a diverse community, by inviting researchers, developers, and thinkers from an array of disciplines, ethnical backgrounds, genders, religions, and sexual orientations, as well as embracing the rich perspectives of indigenous peoples.
Team
DR. Erik Geslin
(PhD, Associate Professor, CNAP co-lead)
Dr. Erik Geslin has been actively involved in the video game industry and VR simulation as a producer and CG artist. Driven by a research focus that converges Cognition and Neuroscience with video games and Extended Reality (XR) technologies, his expertise focuses in amplifying player enjoyment, attention, motivation, and the elicitation of emotions. Erik has also played a major role in establishing The Emotional Games Awards and has contributed to diverse AAA and indie game projects.
Currently, Dr. Geslin is an Associate Professor and co-Lead at the "Centre for Non-Anthropocentric Play," situated within Noroff University College, Norway. He also occasionally lectures in other academic environments such as the University of Agder in Norway and Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.
Within the CNAP, he is actively engaged in conceiving games and XR experiences that aim to transcend human-centric viewpoints and generate new social imaginaries.
DR. Filipe Pais
(PhD, Associate Professor, CNAP Co-lead)
Filipe Pais is a Portuguese educator-researcher and curator.
His work explores the intricate relationships between contemporary art and design movements, investigating how they inquire into and represent technological agendas, play, human and non-human behavior, digital materiality, algorithmic sovereignty, and ecology.
Filipe is an associate professor and co-lead of the research laboratory "Centre for Non- Anthropocentric Play" at Noroff University College in Norway. He is also an associated researcher at the Reflective Interaction Group at École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and an associate lecturer at the London College of Communication, UAL, in London.
Some of the international collective exhibitions that Filipe organized as a curator and co- curator, in connection with his research, include "Playmode" (Lisbon, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Brasília, 2019 - 2023), "From bits to Paper" (Strasbourg, 2016), and "Re-enter Lisbon" (Lisbon, 2012).
Network / Collaborations
Ensadlab, Ensad, Paris
LCC, UAL, London
Arts & Metiers ENSAM
UCO L3Di Laval
Rïtsumeikan University Kyoto
About the Center
The Center for Non-Anthropocentric Play (CNAP) is a research group situated within Noroff University College's Interactive Media Department in Kristiansand, Norway.
Co-founded in 2021 by Dr. Erik Geslin and Dr. Filipe Pais, colleagues in the Interactive Media Department, CNAP emerged from their shared passions for ecology, nature, and play experiences. Dr. Geslin is an expert in game and VR/XR development, specializing in affective gaming, while Dr. Pais is a researcher in Interactive Arts and Design, with a particular focus on exploring the intersection of these fields with technological agendas and their impacts on nature, human behavior, and non-human entities.
As a response to the pressing need to rethink design in the post-Anthropocene, CNAP is dedicated to the cultivation of new social imaginaries in game experiences.
Our primary goal is to incorporate more-than-human worlds into the realm of play, addressing their often overlooked or misrepresented status in the gaming industry. Our interests transcend the confines of screens and traditional magic circles; we are equally committed to investigating and proposing design methodologies that account for the lives of all beings, including human minorities and marginalized groups, as well as non-human lifeforms. Our focus also extends to promote energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprints associated with game development and usage.
In our pursuit of a non-anthropocentric approach to interactive games and play, our ultimate goal is to cultivate a profound understanding of the intricate relationship between humans and non-humans, with a measurable impact beyond the gaming realm. We envision play experiences that entertain while also embodying environmental responsibility, nurturing care, and inclusivity. To make this transformative journey possible, CNAP is committed to forming a diverse community, by inviting researchers, developers, and thinkers from an array of disciplines, ethnical backgrounds, genders, religions, and sexual orientations, as well as embracing the rich perspectives of indigenous peoples.
Game Design
HCI
Non-human Centred Design
More-than-human Design
Serious Games
Gamification
Critical Play
Eco games
Eco-design
Ecofeminism
Affective Videogaming
Extended Reality technologies
Arts
Phenomenology
Aesthetics
New Materialism
Object-Oriented Ontology
Team
DR. Erik Geslin
(PhD, Associate Professor, CNAP co-lead)
Dr. Erik Geslin has been actively involved in the video game industry and VR simulation as a producer and CG artist. Driven by a research focus that converges Cognition and Neuroscience with video games and Extended Reality (XR) technologies, his expertise focuses in amplifying player enjoyment, attention, motivation, and the elicitation of emotions. Erik has also played a major role in establishing The Emotional Games Awards and has contributed to diverse AAA and indie game projects.
Currently, Dr. Geslin is an Associate Professor and co-Lead at the "Centre for Non-Anthropocentric Play," situated within Noroff University College, Norway. He also occasionally lectures in other academic environments such as the University of Agder in Norway and Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.
Within the CNAP, he is actively engaged in conceiving games and XR experiences that aim to transcend human-centric viewpoints and generate new social imaginaries.
DR. Filipe Pais
(PhD, Associate Professor, CNAP Co-lead)
Filipe Pais is a Portuguese educator-researcher and curator.
His work explores the intricate relationships between contemporary art and design movements, investigating how they inquire into and represent technological agendas, play, human and non-human behavior, digital materiality, algorithmic sovereignty, and ecology.
Filipe is an associate professor and co-lead of the research laboratory "Centre for Non- Anthropocentric Play" at Noroff University College in Norway. He is also an associated researcher at the Reflective Interaction Group at École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and an associate lecturer at the London College of Communication, UAL, in London.
Some of the international collective exhibitions that Filipe organized as a curator and co- curator, in connection with his research, include "Playmode" (Lisbon, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Brasília, 2019 - 2023), "From bits to Paper" (Strasbourg, 2016), and "Re-enter Lisbon" (Lisbon, 2012).
Network / Collaborations
Ensadlab, Ensad, Paris
LCC, UAL, London
Arts & Metiers ENSAM
UCO L3Di Laval
Rïtsumeikan University Kyoto
Noroff School of Technology and Digital Media
Noroff Education AS, Tordenskjoldsgate 9
4612 Kristiansand S
Norway
Dr. Filipe Pais
filipe.pais@noroff.no
Website design by Joana Pestana and Nuno Maio
Dr. Erik Geslin
erik.geslin@noroff.no
Noroff School of
Technology and Digital Media
Noroff Education AS, Tordenskjoldsgate 9
4612 Kristiansand S
Norway
Dr. Filipe Pais
filipe.pais@noroff.no
Dr. Erik Geslin
erik.geslin@noroff.no
Website design by Joana Pestana and Nuno Maio