Mattia Thibault receives prestigious ERC Starting Grant for mediascape evolution research
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded 2024 Starting Grants to young scientists across Europe. At Tampere University, Associate Professor Mattia Thibault received ERC funding for his five-year project titled InterReal: A Systematic Exploration of Interreal Translations in the Media Multiverse.
Thibault’s new project, set to begin in January 2025, focuses on current and future evolutions of our mediascape.
“We have witnessed through social media how dangerous it can be to underestimate the repercussions that new media can have on our societies. At a time when the main narratives about technological development are dictated by large corporations, it is particularly important to conduct rigorous and critical research on these topics,” he comments.
Towards a complex mediatic space
Thibault explains that despite discussions of a single metaverse, the current situation suggests we are heading towards a multiverse, representing a complex mediatic space where many different realities – such as immersive virtual reality spaces, augmented reality applications and countless virtual worlds – coexist.
“Different objects, spaces and subjects can circulate across these different realities and be modified in the process. I call this interreal translation. In this project, my team and I will try to understand what happens when we conduct interreal translations and how they might evolve in the future,” he says.
Seamless movement between virtual spaces
Thibault predicts that in the future moving between virtual spaces will become seamless, and the desire to represent ourselves or bring our belonging with us will likely increase.
“Navigating the multiverse and translating ourselves and our digital belongings across different realities will then become part of our daily lives. The InterReal project will provide a solid foundation for navigating more confidently between different realities and, hopefully, building a multiverse that is diverse, plural and ethical,” he concludes.
Thibault’s project combines translation studies and semiotics with speculative research and human computer interaction.
In 2024, the European Research Council (ERC) has awarded 494 Starting Grants to young scientists and scholars across Europe, totalling nearly €780 million. This funding supports cutting-edge research across a wide range of fields from life sciences and physics to social sciences and humanities.
