The Tech&Play festival grows and presents forty technological activities open to the public

• From the 25th to 28th of April, MWCapital brings experiences, workshops, debates, and performances to showcase technological innovations in a fun and educational way at the Fabra i Coats: Barcelona Art Factory.
• Family Day will be celebrated on Sunday, April 28, a day designed to enjoy games, immersive experiences, workshops, and performances with the family to bring technology to the youngest members of the house.
  The festival, organised by MWCapital, counts on the collaboration of the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, the Government of Catalonia, and the Barcelona City Council, as well as the support of CaixaBank Group and Damm.

April 5, 2024

Mobile World Capital Barcelona presented today the second edition of Tech&Play, a festival that brings the latest technological advances closer to all citizens and that this year will explore areas such as robotics, Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, immersive realities, or gaming, among others. This year, the event is growing both in duration and number of proposals for all audiences, with more than 40 technological activities and the participation of 30 speakers.

From 25 to 28 April, Tech&Play will bring to Fabra i Coats: Barcelona Art Factory, in Sant Andreu de Palomar, a total of 15 technological experiences and a dozen workshops to explore technology, as well as an extensive programme of dialogues between experts from different fields and shows where art and technology will merge. A festival for everyone to learn and experience, in a playful, free, and educational way, the new technologies that are transforming our society, will finish on Sunday with Family Day, which is dedicated to the little ones.

The festival will also be the center of the intense debate on the use of new technologies with sessions that will address key issues such as digital rights, screens in the family environment, cybersecurity among adolescents, STEAM skills or AI applied to artistic creation. Tech&Play will also count with references such as the singer and composer Maria Arnal who will dialogue and bring her proposal to experiment with sound, technology, and art. The Director General of Digital Society of the Government of Catalonia, Liliana Arroyo, will debate with the CIO of MWCapital, Eduard Martín, about the use of screens for families. We will talk about cybersecurity with Natalia de Seras, director of Information Security at CaixaBank, and about STEAM women with Carlota Llacuna, from the CaixaBank Tech Innovation team. UPF associate professor Sergi Jordà will present the applications of AI in the world of music. And Barcelona School of Creativity will organize one of its popular Prompt Battle, in this case focused on imagining the future of Barcelona.

In addition, KIDS Barcelona, the adolescent scientific council of the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona, will discuss the importance of society’s commitment to making research in health sciences advance. Likewise, the Tech&Play will also feature the final act of the first edition of the SX3 Academy, the first School of Digital Rights in Catalonia promoted by 3CAT with the collaboration of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, the Catalan Data Protection Authority, and the Cybersecurity Agency of Catalonia to digitally train teachers and digitally empower students in the exercise of their digital rights.

Tech&Play is organised by MWCapital with the collaboration of the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council, and also with the support of the CaixaBank Group and Damm. In addition, around forty entities collaborate in the different activities.

Technology for everyone

Tech&Play attendees will experience technology first-hand through different immersive activities. Among others, with ‘Robotics for all’ they will interact with various robots and components; thanks to virtual reality they can also take a trip through the industrial evolution of Barcelona or discover the MareNostrum supercomputer. In addition, there will be an experience where they will understand how algorithms act on us, and in the Lolo and Sosaku installation they will co-create music with Artificial Intelligence and 37 robotic machines. Digital leisure and culture will also be the protagonists of the festival, with dance shows, concerts, and artistic installations that use technology to create links with spectators.

Workshops to discover and enhance digital skills

Children and adolescents will find in Tech&Play the ideal environment to discover or enhance their digital skills. The festival will host a dozen of workshops divided by age (from 6 to 18 years old), where they can generate a comic using Artificial Intelligence, build and program a robot with Lego Spike, create “sound maps” dancing with motion sensors, or enter the world of animation or cybersecurity. In addition, they will discover how to apply Visual Thinking as a study method, with CaixaBank Tech, as well as try a selection of “alternative video games” designed by students of Pompeu Fabra University and talk to their creators.

Family Day: a day for the little ones

Finally, Sunday, April 28 will be Family Day at Tech&Play. A day with a dozen activities designed to enjoy with the family. Games, immersive experiences, workshops, and shows to bring technology closer to children in an understandable and playful way.

Throughout the day, families will be able to participate in a dozen activities divided by age and guided by monitors. From doing a quick course for mini-DJs to playing catching U-Smart Toys and their colored lights, getting started in electronics with workshops to create small and fun robots, dancing at Silent Disco, or enjoying technological magic shows. Agile and short activities (between 15 and 30 minutes), designed so that all festival goers can enjoy them.