2022 – present

Marcello, or ‘Maro’ as he also goes by, is an interactive media researcher and designer drawn to projects that involve multidisciplinary challenges and possibilities for exploration. He is fascinated by the potential of technologically facilitated creation and playful interaction, while remaining invested in questions about the impact of technology on life and society.

He has worked as educator next to his research and design work, primarily in courses focusing on video games and interactive experiences. In his teaching, he weaves together aspects of programming, design, art, and psychology; all being necessary components in the creation and understanding of interactive media. As a teacher, he sees his role as a ‘designer’ of growth, self-realization and managed uncertainties. He is particularly proud of the work that he publishes together with his students and considers such collaborations the best form of academic education.

Maro’s work is characterized by its multimodality, involving not only different actors and stakeholders from project to project, but also tailoring research methods to each specific purpose. Although his ‘home discipline’ is in the study and development of interactive experiences, he is primarily interested in the opportunities for personal and societal impact that can be afforded by them. His most recent line of research pursues this by studying the use of games for research purposes, and developing a better understanding for the creation of such ‘academic games’.

At CoPAN, Maro will be developing a VR environment to study mimicry, and use his background as interaction designer to ensure that researchers receive data approximating a high degree of ecological validity, and participants interact naturally within that space.