From March 9, 2026, Online
The Complex Artefacts and System Design Studio of the MSc in Communication Design will host the 2026 chapter of the new DiGRA Italia Talks Series. A new series of open lectures on Interactive Digital Narratives and Games, organised by Ilaria Mariani and Mariana Ciancia, from the Department of Design, with DiGRA Italia, as the Italian chapter of Digital Game Research Association.
Each session will host seminal scholars from around the world.
Agenda:
- Leonardo Codamo “On AI-Driven Narrative Systems”
March 9, 2026, from 5:15 pm to 6:15 pm CET
This lecture will examine the innovative integration of AI within narrative design, focusing on an AI-driven Dungeon Master. This experimental tool represents a significant departure from traditional methods of narrative construction and presentation, enabling designers to engage with AI in the creation of dynamic, player-responsive stories. The session will explore the relationship between AI, designers, and players, discussing how AI can facilitate real-time storytelling, manipulate narrative, and enhance player agency without compromising story coherence.
Leonardo Codamo is a multidisciplinary designer specializing in interactive narratives and game design. Currently Product Designer at Arcweave, where he develops innovative storytelling tools through user-centered approaches. He serves as faculty at SAE Institute and Politecnico di Milano, teaching game design and interactive design principles. His published research explores narrative-interaction relationships in games and IDNs. His professional experience spans narrative design for RPG titles, mobile game development, experimental gameplay projects, and board game innovation, consistently crafting experiences that bridge digital and physical realms through player-centered methodologies.
Registration is required on Eventbrite.
- Joleen Blom “On Characters and transmedia storytelling”
March 16, 2026, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm CET
The talk addresses the topic of fictional characters across the domains of transmedia storytelling and worldbuilding in franchises. Adopting an inclusive and comprehensive perspective, the talk will reach out to Media Studies and Game Studies to explore the origins, boundaries, and evolutions of the role of game characters and their interplay with players. Formal elements such as narrative continuity, character proliferation, and narrative consumption will be tackled and discussed. The talk will provide references to popular game series and individual titles from Japan, China, Europe, and North America to support the discourse, providing a bridge between theory and practice.
Joleen Blom is a Japanologist and games scholar, postdoctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies at Tampere University in Finland, where she researches mediated intimacy, and parasocial relations with game characters.
Registration is required on Eventbrite.
Other lectures will follow.
The link to the Webex room will also be forwarded before the event to those registered on Eventbrite.