--- title: "Now — Michael F Bergmann" url: "https://bergmann.ai/now/" description: "What Michael F Bergmann is doing now — talks, exhibitions, committees and projects." author: "Michael F Bergmann" --- # Now ### 2026-10-15 Passed my qualifying exam in the PhD in Critical Studies in Improvisation at the University of Guelph; now a PhD Candidate. ### 2026-10-09 **Gobo 1.0** Released Gobo, a small Mac app that mirrors personal calendars onto a work calendar as anonymous Busy blocks, on the [Mac App Store](https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/gobo/id6807221649). Built with Claude as collaborator; the sync engine is [open source](https://github.com/mfbergmann/gobo-core). More at [/apps/](https://bergmann.ai/apps/). ### 2026-09 Representing the School of Performance on the Representative's Council of the TMU Faculty Association (TFA). ### 2026-06 Judging the Music, Film & Theatre panel for The Global Undergraduate Awards, Dublin. ### 2026 Reviewer for the NeurIPS 2026 Creative AI Track, on the theme of Agency. ### 2026-04-22/2026-05-09 Contributed the digital art piece [“Before I was this”](https://bergmann.ai/projects/before-i-was-this/) to [flashDRIVE 2026, a fundraiser for Interaccess](https://www.interaccess.org/exhibitions/flashdrive-fundraiser-2026). Work was exhibited in the gallery and available for sale. ### 2026-04-02 Co-chaired the 3rd Annual Creative AI Symposium at Toronto Metropolitan University with Dr. Afsoon Soudi, hosted by the Creative AI Hub. ### 2026-02-13 Official release of *Nuptials* (Freestyle Digital Media), a feature film directed by Sean Braune. I was producer, projection designer and created the live in-camera VFX. ### 2025-12-01/2026-02-01 Mentoring artists of the Setsubun Residency at the [Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre](https://jccc.on.ca/). ### 2025-11-18/2025-11-22 Produced *The Frankenstein Project* with Debashis Sinha, Performance Studio Theatre, TMU. ### 2025-11-01/2025-11-15 Co-designed with Kristen Ferguson: [291 by Jade O’Keeffe](https://www.peterboroughtheatreguild.com/upcoming-plays/291), for the Peterborough Theatre Guild. ### 2025-09-12 Presented [Hallucinating Children: Improvisation After the Algorithmic Shipwreck](https://bergmann.ai/writing/hallucinating-children/) at the [Hugarflug annual conference on artistic research at Iceland University of the Arts.](https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3812891/3812892) ### 2025-07-01 Joined the Creative AI Hub Steering Committee at The Creative School ### 2025-04 Became a board member of UKAI Projects. ### 2025-04-02 Exhibiting [“To my creators...”](https://bergmann.ai/projects/to-my-creators/) at the [Creative AI Symposium at Toronto Metropolitan University.](https://www.torontomu.ca/the-creative-school/creative-ai-hub/symposium-/) ### 2025-02-17 Joined the USITT Research and Creative Endeavours Committee ### 2025-02-01 Reviewer for EVA London 2025 Conference on Electronic Visualization and the Arts ### 2025-02-14 Guest lecture at Yale University, for the graduate class Advanced Professional Projection Design. Focusing on the use of AI in visual generation, open source models, and ethic usage. ### 2025-01-07/2025-01-09 Attendance at CES 2025, Las Vegas. Including attending the Delta Keynote at the Sphere, and NVIDIA Keynote. ### 2024-12-12 Hosted "Beyond the Screen: Exploring AI Personhood and Their Representation in Media", a discussion on Artificial Intelligence Personhood. As a jumping off point for discussion we will be viewing pieces of media from Star Trek episodes that focus on AI and their legal rights and place in society. We will be discussing how non-human sentient beings are represented and treated within the context of the show and what it means for the rapidly changing landscape of AI in our own world. The Creative School Catalyst, Toronto. ### 2024-12-03 Joined the Faculty Tenure Committee for The Creative School. ### 2024-11-17/2024-11-23 **AVARA 2024** Led 8 students over the semester to develop an installation project for AVARA 2024 in partnership with OAMK in Oulu, Finland. This culminated in the students' installation as a creative research presentation at the conference. As well, I delivered the closing keynote for the conference, "Wellness for who? An examination of wellness through a research-creation student project." - [Program - oamk](https://oamk.fi/en/productions/avara-2024/program/) - [AVARA X Performance - School of Performance - Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) (torontomu.ca)](https://www.torontomu.ca/performance/season/avara-x-performance/) - [From Oulu to Toronto: Performance welcomes students from Finland - The Creative School - Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) (torontomu.ca)](https://www.torontomu.ca/the-creative-school/news-events/news/2025/03/from-oulu-to-toronto--performance-welcomes-students-from-finland/) ### 2024-11-02/2024-11-03 Ran a workshop on projection design for the Peterbough Theatre Guild, Peterborough, ON. ### 2024-10-23 Presented the provocation "Personhood // AI" at the UKAI Carnival of Shipwreck (Oct 22-27, 2024). ### 2024-10-22 Awarded an $1000 Travel grant from Toronto Metropolitan University to support the Shipwreck project in Iceland. ### 2024-10-16/2024-10-18 Presented at the [PQ Symposium: Technologies in theatre, performance and exhibition design](https://pq.cz/symposium-technologies/), in Prague, CZ. Presentation: “Beyond Tools: Reimaging Technology as Co-Participants in Performance Design.” [Watch](https://www.youtube.com/live/45hmvwxHbgQ?si=Wrrf-FmZgmnrhvHV&t=23190) ### 2024-10-11 Continued as a member of the CATR committee to select the Heather McCallum scholarship, Robert Lawerence scholarship, and CATR Grants ### 2024-07-22 Gave talk on the future of AI in the creative industry at a TechTO event. [TechTO: AI | July 22, 2024 (ti.to)](https://ti.to/techtoronto/techto-july-22-2024) ### 2024-06-20 Reviewer for International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media. ### 2024-06-02/2024-06-30 **Shipwreck: Iceland** With UKAI projects and five other Canadian artists, I travelled to Iceland for a month-long residency with SÍM to develop Shipwreck. I contributed to the group exhibit, as well as created a solo piece, ["To my creators..."](https://bergmann.ai/projects/to-my-creators/) - [UKAI Projects & SÍM Residency: Shipwreck | SIM Residency (sim-residency.info)](https://www.sim-residency.info/event-details/ukai-projects-sim-residency-shipwreck) - [Shipwreck: UKAI Projects - Iceland (2024) on Vimeo](https://vimeo.com/1004172730) ### 2024-05-10 Received funding from Erasmus+ to take part in a staff mobility to OAMK in Oulu, Finland. The beginning of collaberative creative projects between our universities. ### 2024-04-19 **Labour and Us Performance** Along with my IMPR cohort and band "Almost Alchemy", we presented a performance that came out of a series of workshops that we developed between March 14 - April 17, 2024. The workshops were designed for workers to explore creative outlets for themselves, to build solidarity with each other through the arts. The final performance included a roundtable discussion with Alan Filewod, Tom Scholte, Cynthia Ashperger, and Judith Thompson. It was performed at ImprovLab, University of Guelph. - [Labour and Us: A Workshop and Performance Series | Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/labour-and-us-a-workshop-and-performance-series-3165279) ### 2024-04-12 Presented my ongoing research at the IICSI Research Studio Session, ImprovLab, University of Guelph. 2024 IICSI Research Studio Session Schedule - IICSI (improvisationinstitute.ca) ### 2024-04-02 **Creative AI Symposium panel** Discussed the future of AI in creativity and education on a panel for the first Creative AI Symposium, hosted by the Creative AI Hub at Toronto Metropolitan University. - [Creative AI Hub Symposium](https://www.torontomu.ca/the-creative-school/creative-ai-hub/symposium/) ### 2024-03-20 Conference presentation at USITT 2024: “Robotics, AI, and the Future of Theatre”. With Hersch Nathan and Jada Vercosa. ### 2024-01-25 **RUBIX 2024** Presenting “Almost Alchemy”, two 360 video experiences that highlighted improvised research creation performances. - [RUBIX 2024 - The Catalyst - Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) (torontomu.ca)](https://www.torontomu.ca/the-catalyst/events/rubix-2024/#!accordion-1703090903336-almost-alchemy---michael-f-bergmann) ### 2024-01-25 Received Tenure and promoted to Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University ### 2024-01-23 Participant in the Pure Research project at Tarragon Theatre, conducted by Guilty by Association exploring the dramaturgical foundations of Unreal Engine and C++ programming and how they affect creative choices for live performance. ### 2024-01-15 Reviewer for EVA London 2024 Conference on Electronic Visualization and the Arts ### 2023-12-08 **[THT582 x Ground](https://www.torontomu.ca/performance/news-events/2023/12/tht-582-x-ukai-projects---above-ground---below-ground/)** As the final project for this class, engaged with industry partners and created an immersive installation off-site, integrating robotics, AI, and show systems. ### 2023-10-25 CATR Scholarship and Grant Committee to select the Heather McCallum scholarship, Robert Lawerence scholarship, and CATR Grants ### 2023-06-04/2023-06-10 **WWDC 2023** I was invited to attend Apple’s WWDC special event in person to participate in developer activities and gain a first look at the new Vision Pro. This was written up in The Creative School’s Top 5 newsletter: - [Get the inside scoop on game-changing innovations in augmented reality with the new VisionPro](https://www.torontomu.ca/the-creative-school/news-events/news/2023/07/get-the-inside-scoop-on-game-changing-innovations-in-augmented-r/)