STEAMDIVE PROJECT: MEETING & MOD HACKATON – MIRROR OF DIVERSITY

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STEAMDIVE is a pioneering project that aims to encourage students to recognize and experience diversity and work towards social inclusion through ‘learning by doing’ workshops and digital tools. The Hackathon meeting was held in Crete in the beautiful city of Heraklion on 30 September, 1 and 2 October 2024, where the partners got together to take another step towards the completion of realizing the project.

The work took place at the Institute of Computer Science (FORTH-ICS), where on the first day of the meeting the partners met to evaluate the project and consider improvements to be implemented. Experiences were shared through the presentation of a project produced and presented by the Tehnicka Skola School in Serbia (Workshop for Trainers on Physics (Optics) and Camera Making), which encourages creativity and perception of the laws of physics through STEAM, where the seven partners participated: The ErasmusLearn Centre of Oloklirosi and the 11th General Lyceum of Heraklion from Greece, Tehnicka Skola from Serbia, Danmar Computers from Poland, the Mucur Saglik Education and Aid Foundation from Turkey and the Agrupamento de Escolas de Atouguia da Baleia, from Portugal.

On the second day, students from the Tehnicka Skola school in Serbia, the 11th General Lyceum of Heraklion in Greece and the Agrupamento de Escolas de Atouguia da Baleia in Portugal attended a presentation and demonstration of the tool: Mirror of Diversity, an educational digital art software in the scientific field of 3D modelling of the geometry and appearance of the human face, using Artificial Intelligence for 3D facial representation and photorealistic facial video synthesis in combination with science and mathematics. Its highly innovative characteristics are based on the unique combination of science, creativity, art, digitization and social awareness, the practical artistic steamdivedive.eu workshops and, above all, the project results, which combine technology, art and knowledge in a unique and original way.

At a later stage, the students were able to explore the software by using the application to capture images of their face and projecting the images in 3D. In a final step, the students were able to transform their face into a face of another gender or of people from different places (Asia, Africa, and Northern Europe).

Finally, they carried out an evaluation in which they were able to express their opinions and suggestions for improvement. On the last day of the meeting, the participants were able to enjoy the culture of Crete with a guided tour of the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, followed by a convivial lunch with a tasting of traditional Cretan delicacies, organised by our partner The ErasmusLearn Center by Oloklirosi.

The Erasmus+ funded project “DIVERSITY IN STEAM (STEAMDIVE)”, which started on 30 December 2022, was once again a stage for conviviality, a space for sharing ideals and cultures, where everyone grew a little more, in an atmosphere of excellence, accompanied by ancient culture, warm hospitality and rich and varied cuisine.