Saving the Wanamaker Light Show
Today we’re joined by Kathryn Ott Lovell, President & CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center, to talk about an exciting campaign to bring back two of Philadelphia’s most beloved holiday traditions: the Wanamaker Light Show and Dickens Village. For generations, families have gathered under the glow of the Light Show, listened to the majestic sounds of the Wanamaker Organ, and created cherished memories in the heart of Center City. When Macy’s closed its Center City location, the future of these traditions was left uncertain. But thanks to the Philadelphia Visitor Center and its partners, there’s now a plan to restore the magic for the 2025 holiday season and preserve it for generations to come. ✨ If you’d like to be part of saving one of Philadelphia’s most treasured holiday traditions, visit SaveTheLightShow.org to learn more and make a donation. Every gift helps bring back the magic of the Wanamaker Light Show and Dickens Village.
Girl Scouts of Eastern PA - Calling All Girl Bosses
I welcomed four inspiring guests from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania’s Calling All Girl Bosses initiative—a free, yearlong leadership program helping girls in grades 6–12 become confident changemakers in their communities. Joining us are two remarkable Girl Scouts: Jasmine Wielgoszinski from Northeast Philly and Kinsley Jackson from West Philadelphia. They’ll share how their Gold Award projects are making an impact—from advocating for farm animal therapy to leading mural tours rooted in Black history. With them are their biggest supporters—moms and volunteers Adrienne Wielgoszinski and Lillian Jackson.
📍 Learn more or register: gsep.org/girlbosses
📲 Follow on Instagram: @girlbossesphl
⚖️ Lauren Cristella & Patrick Martin | The Power of Jury Duty
We’re joined by Lauren Cristella, President & CEO of the Committee of Seventy, and Patrick Martin, Philadelphia Jury Commissioner, to highlight the critical civic responsibility of jury service. From ensuring justice to reflecting the diversity of our communities, jury duty is one of the most direct ways citizens can shape the legal system. Lauren and Patrick are working together to educate and empower Philadelphians to take their place in the courtroom and uphold democracy.
🌐 Learn more: https://seventy.org/jury-service-initiative
Today we’re joined by Kathryn Ott Lovell, President & CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center, to talk about an exciting campaign to bring back two of Philadelphia’s most beloved holiday traditions: the Wanamaker Light Show and Dickens Village. For generations, families have gathered under the glow of the Light Show, listened to the majestic sounds of the Wanamaker Organ, and created cherished memories in the heart of Center City. When Macy’s closed its Center City location, the future of these traditions was left uncertain. But thanks to the Philadelphia Visitor Center and its partners, there’s now a plan to restore the magic for the 2025 holiday season and preserve it for generations to come. ✨ If you’d like to be part of saving one of Philadelphia’s most treasured holiday traditions, visit SaveTheLightShow.org to learn more and make a donation. Every gift helps bring back the magic of the Wanamaker Light Show and Dickens Village.
Girl Scouts of Eastern PA - Calling All Girl Bosses
I welcomed four inspiring guests from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania’s Calling All Girl Bosses initiative—a free, yearlong leadership program helping girls in grades 6–12 become confident changemakers in their communities. Joining us are two remarkable Girl Scouts: Jasmine Wielgoszinski from Northeast Philly and Kinsley Jackson from West Philadelphia. They’ll share how their Gold Award projects are making an impact—from advocating for farm animal therapy to leading mural tours rooted in Black history. With them are their biggest supporters—moms and volunteers Adrienne Wielgoszinski and Lillian Jackson.
📍 Learn more or register: gsep.org/girlbosses
📲 Follow on Instagram: @girlbossesphl
⚖️ Lauren Cristella & Patrick Martin | The Power of Jury Duty
We’re joined by Lauren Cristella, President & CEO of the Committee of Seventy, and Patrick Martin, Philadelphia Jury Commissioner, to highlight the critical civic responsibility of jury service. From ensuring justice to reflecting the diversity of our communities, jury duty is one of the most direct ways citizens can shape the legal system. Lauren and Patrick are working together to educate and empower Philadelphians to take their place in the courtroom and uphold democracy.
🌐 Learn more: https://seventy.org/jury-service-initiative
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to What's going on? A show
about making a difference in our lives and our communities.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow. Today we'll hear an interview conducted
by one of our summer work Ready students, Trinity Nievez,
who speaks with a rising senior at the University of
Pennsylvania about the importance of art in healthcare, and we
explore how AI is shaping the future of gaming. But
(00:22):
first we check in with a visionary behind a new
innovative sports and social club. We are joined by David Goudstadt,
a visionary hospitality and real estate executive who's reshaping the
way we think about urban recreation. As founder and principle
of Ballers, David is bringing a bold new concept to life,
a hospitality forward social sports brand that blends premium sports, design, dining,
(00:47):
and community. With a track record that includes founding the
Fittler Club and helping to launch Equinox Hotels, David's innovative
approach is rooted in two decades of global experience. He's
also a Proud Fellow, a Princeton grad, and a triathlete
who's just as passionate about building a community as he
is about breaking a sweat. So, thank you so much
(01:09):
for joining us here today. So, David, tell us, how
would you describe Ballers and its mission?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Sure, thank you for having me. Ballers is really born
from my love of sport and our passion to bring
people together around the shared love of sport. And when
you look at what we've done historically, everything we've done
has been around community and hospitality. So this is just
an extension of what I've done for the last close
to thirty years of my career, which is how do
you leverage the aspects of hospitality that we love most
(01:37):
bring people together around a shared love of something, and
in this instance it will be sport.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So tell us more specifically about what Ballers does.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So, Ballers is a social sports venue. There's a club
component to it, but anyone from the public can come
and experience what we have to offer. We'll have pickleball
courts padel, there's a turf playing field which will be
primarily use for soccer, but can be used for any
type of event on a field, We've got two squash courts.
We'll have golf simulators as well as a short game
(02:07):
practice area, and then we have an extensive gym, locker room,
and recovery areas that will include things like infrared saunas,
cold plunges. And then on the hospitality side, we've actually
got two bars and a full restaurant.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
You've got a little bit of everything, don't you.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It's a lot. We like it.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Where are you located.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
We're located in Fishtown in a building called the Battery.
It's actually the historic power plant of Philadelphia and it's
a truly iconic structure.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Where can listeners go to learn more about Ballers in
any upcoming openings or events.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We have a very active Instagram page which is Ballers
Social Sports, which is our handle, and then we've got
a website which is ballersdashus dot com. First in best
to Philly and then export it.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Well, I like to thank you so much, thank you.
Today we're diving into the future of emotionally intelligent gaming
with William Santo, chief Technology Officer at Chico Studios. With
over twenty years of experience at major tech players like
Amazon and BlackBerry. William is leading the charge and developing
(03:13):
AI agents that don't just think, but feel. At Kaiko Studios,
the mission is to merge emotional intelligence with artificial intelligence
to create game characters that are deeply responsive, emotionally aware,
and capable of evolving in real time. It's the next
big leap towards immersive, human centered gaming experiences. So what
(03:34):
inspired Kaikos Studios to explore the intersection of emotional intelligence
and artificial intelligence in gaming.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Well, it's a combination of a bunch of things. It
starts with how do we evolve our imagination. All of
us founders are very imaginative and we want to see
how we take this to the next step, as well
as our love of games and movies. As we grew
up watching all of these evolve over time, we wanted
to be part of it and we started thinking about
how we could make these dreams happen then. So that's
where we came, and we wanted to build on top
(04:02):
of what already exists to make sure we had a fun,
exciting and safe place for everyone to play.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
How do you envision emotionally intelligent AI changing the way
that players build relationships with non player characters NPCs as
they are often referred to.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Well, we see it really evolving the interaction. It becomes
less task oriented, you know, checking in with the tavern
to make sure I have a new quest to more
checking in to see how they're doing, or have them
check in on us. It makes it much more immersive
and interactive because you can come in and you never
really know what to expect. Right now you go in,
I expect a test to come out of it. But
(04:41):
if I go in now with an emotionally intelligent and
evolving NPC, I could actually just have a general conversation
that makes my day better.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Well, we've often seen, most recently, the way in which
players or individuals can emotionally interact with AI, which is fascinating.
I mean they are even AI boyfriends and girlfriends. Do
you envision things like that happening within the gaming sphere?
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
The beauty of giving builders the tools to make very
creative characters and solutions is you have every use case
that can be imagined. We envision that people will grow
and evolve with their games if they start making a
connection once again, going to that bartender at the tavern,
you know, they might become my trusted friend who I
go there to talk to about everything with before I
(05:29):
go on a mission or start building my next town.
Those types of relationships will continuously evolve and people will
find how that fits in their life.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Films like The Matrix have long explored the idea of
sentient digital characters capable of forming emotional bonds. I wonder
if you can see companies emotionally intelligent AI as a
step towards that kind of storytelling in gaming.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Well, the hope is yes, we are. That is what
we're building towards, maybe not as dystopian as it is
portrayed in the Matrix, by definitely looking at having our
systems evolved with us over time and creating that relationship
and that connection. We want to evolve the call and
response type of input we have right now with all
the AI agents to a much more conversational or friend
(06:15):
or partner that you have with you at all times,
so you can bring it into your life, you can
see how it works, and you can have it adapt
to your changing environments.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
How do you think that blurs the line between traditional
gameplay and interactive cinema.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Oh, it's going to continuously blur that line, but there'll
always be a line when you look between those two mediums.
It's all about the mental cognition. I'm willing to input
into my entertainment needs. You know, we look at from
movie to a game. It's I want to sit down
and watch something that will entertain me with little to
no effort on my end. Two, I want to actually
(06:51):
be engaged. I want to direct my character. I want
to evolve my own entertainment. And you have that interactive gaming.
It's that middle zone. It's where I'm okay, I'm making
a couple decisions to choose where my adventure takes me,
but I still want to be told a story. I
still want to be entertained versus directing and leading my
entertainment experience.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Give us some examples of how you are utilizing AI
in this way that we've been discussing in the work
that you're doing in the games that you're creating.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
First and foremost, Kaiko is a platform, so we enable
builders to build on top of it and use it
to evolve their games. So we're working with game development
platforms and studios who build their own trying to advise
them on how best implement it. So, just to clarify,
we're not building them ourselves, but we are working to
empower all the builders in the world to have the
same experience. And one of the ways. We've seen some
(07:42):
evolutions and we're really excited to see them go further.
And it plays on my love. I'm a I like
builder games, sim games, you know, Civilizations was my thing.
But looking at evolving certain winning or criteria mechanisms that
involve your emotional tunement and how you want to respond
and build friendships, build relationships. So right now, if you
(08:02):
look at those types of games, you always have either
on politics or an economic rating that allows you to
grow your influence through nonviolent means. Now, if you can
turn that into a whole system that you can be
graded upon. So I gave a great speech, I'm a
good orator, therefore I get extra points. I'm good at
convincing people. I know how to complete negotiations versus clicking
(08:23):
a schedule thing. All of that can now become scoring mechanisms,
which is an exciting and new vantage point. No game
judges your speech ability, your ability to convince others. Nothing
is really convincing people that you're trustworthy. You know, if
the game now thinks I'm trustworthy and knows it because
of my emotional patterns and how I've been interacting and
(08:45):
the activities I've done in the past that builds my
status within that game, and it's a new criteria that
we can build off of.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You are creating the tools that allow game creators to
utilize this kind of emotionally intelligent and evolving characters in games.
Has this been applied? Are we seeing it now or
are we in the very early stages of development?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
We're not in the early stages, but we haven't launched.
We will be launching in about two months time. But
we have some critical partners that will be going live
with right out of the gate. Some are in the
gaming industry, some are across or more generic building platforms.
So you will see evidence of it very shortly as
we continue to iterate and build on top of our
other fabulous partners.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
And when you talk about gaming, and obviously there are
some applications beyond gaming, and I wonder if you can
speak to some of the potential applications of your tools
in other areas.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Yes, So the beauty of the emotional intelligence it spans
all industries in all areas, so it can make everything
a bit better if you have a bit more of
a human response. We're seeing some of the best traction
within a lot of corporate applications which are looking to
create that sort of partner with you, someone who's going
to work alongside with you with your general tasks and
day to day activities. Someone you can just be like, hey,
you know, how's it going. Please do this for me
(10:04):
and then I'll respond. And also it might actually give
you a nice sort of water cooler type conversation experience.
A lot of the evidence shows that creates productivity and
things like that. But we're also seeing it in a
lot of the medical and mental wellness spaces where we
want to create much more conversational AI agents and interactions
that don't direct you just to an answer when really
(10:26):
you need to understand how they're feeling, how they're going
into it. You know, we've noticed a lot of negative
responses to AI where it's like, hey, I'm feeling depressed
and I'm having suicidal thoughts and the AI will give
you great here's your top ten ways to do it.
It's like, no, that's that's exactly not what we want.
Right Anyone with an ounce of emotional intelligence or human
interaction experience knows that that's not what they want. They
(10:49):
want to follow up question and similar to advice ones
where it's everything solution based. Now it's more conversational based.
I don't want to, you know, if I'm saying I'm sad,
I don't want you to list ten ways I can
feel better. I want you to tell me, ask me
more questions. Why are you said? What's next? Oh? Tell
me about this? Kind of play that role of the
therapist kind of approach to get all the information and
(11:10):
then provide options, because we don't want it to seem
like it's punting you off to a new service. We
want to see that it's there for you, it's engaging,
and then provide you the information you need so you
actually can take it and improve.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
William, the rate in which technology is advancing is exponential.
Not too long ago, not very many people knew what
AI is or was. So it's perhaps a little bit
difficult to look ahead because things change so quickly, even
from day to day. But putting on your future eyeglasses,
(11:42):
looking ahead to the future five or ten years, where
do you think the gaming worlds will look and feel
like if this kind of EQ infused AI becomes standard.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Well, so, the way I see this and I picture
it evolving, I'm going to go back to my good
old movie references because that's the easiest way. It's kind
of somewhere in between Ready Player one and Free Guy.
The experiences are going to evolve with the players. There's
going to be a lot more freedom of choice as
you interact. If I need today, my interaction is I
(12:14):
don actually want to have a conversation versus go on
a racing spree or a first person shooter experience. I
can have that, So I can go in there have
that conversation. The system will also know and start to
be able to adapt based on that conversation. Maybe they'll
present me with a new idea. It'll become much more
customized and individualized based on the user, how they're feeling
today and what their past experiences have resulted in. So
(12:35):
if i'm once again, I'm going to use this bartender example,
because there's across every coach everywhere has one, and I'm
talking to them and it's they realize I've had a
very stressful week. They know I've come in every day
and I've talked about, oh, I'm launching this product. I'm
super stressed. I've been working NonStop and kind of chat
we figure it out, get a little more more acts.
Then they suggest, oh, hey, you know, generally when you're stressed,
(12:57):
you love playing a game with a very upbeat, happy sidekick,
which I've built a relationship over the past my gaming experience.
So now I have a friend and can go game.
It tells me, okay, well, I can now suggest I
feel like a first person shooter or I feel like
a builder type game, and we go there and it
kind of adapts to how what I need right then
and there. That's where we see a lot of these
games coming and evolving into. And it doesn't have to
(13:20):
be the immersive I'm in a VR world. It'll be
touches of that across every modality, because you'll have the
ones where you're fully immersed, You'll have the ones on
my mobile phone while I'm waiting at the bus stop
or something like that. They'll all have certain criterias that
adapt to how I'm feeling and try to present me
with what will evolve that emotion to the next step.
So if I'm sad, hopefully make me happy. If I'm angry,
(13:42):
talk me off that that cliff and make me a
little bit more relaxed. Or if I'm just looking for
a good time and we really kind of just amp
up the energy and get me going.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Well, this is all very fascinating. I can't wait to
see what comes of the kinds of tools that you're
talking about as it evolves not only gaming, but other
areas of our lives. William Santo. If people want more
information about Chico Studios, where do they.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
Go Kaikostudios dot xyz. Williams say, you can reach out
to our communities and join the fun.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for this fascinating conversation.
Can't wait to see what evolves out of the work
that you're doing and perhaps many like you. William Santo,
chief Technology officer at Chico Studios. He is leading the
charge and developing AI agents that don't just think, but feel,
as we talk about developing games of the future. Thank
(14:30):
you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Thank you very much, Lauren, have a wonderful day.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And finally, this interview conducted by one of our summer
work ready students.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
I'm Trinity J Sanya Yeves. When most people think of
the medical field initially, they never connect our or any
creative thought with it. The hospital is typically thought to
be a place of calculation and strict rules. Today, I'm
with Felicitos Tananibe to talk about how art can play
a vital role in healthcare and outs inspired her as
a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania double majoring
(15:03):
in biology and art. So, fellas, when did you know
that you wanted to be a doctor.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
So when I was really young, I remember getting sick
a lot, my sister getting sick a lot, and I
used to ask my dad, how does the body help
you in situations where you know you're really sick. He
was like, some people really have strong immune system, So
it's really curious, Like what is an immune system? And
so I did my little search in front of that.
(15:29):
This is a specific part of the body, or like
system of the body that works together with specific cells
like killer cells, b cells, different part of the body
cells that help build up your immune system so you
can fight against different bacterias. So, like an example I'm
gonna give you right now, let's say you cut yourself.
We have different cells that come together to make sure
(15:49):
that you know they are amending up your body to
avoid any bacterias or like illnesses from entering your body.
So I was like really curious, like, wow, I can't
imagine like a bunch of cells in my body right
now working together to make sure that I'm okay. So
that was when I was like, maybe me and a
doctor wouldn't be that bad because as a doctor, you
learn about the sails and then use that, you know,
(16:12):
textbook knowledge to apply to real life. So not only
is my body working hard to help itself, but as
a doctor, you're also giving people the right medication that
can help them become better. So that was when I
was like, you know what, maybe being a doctor wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Be that bad.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Why did you come to Philadelphia specifically for pursuing your career.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
I used to live back home in Ghana and my
parents were already in Philly, so I had to move.
When I was moving to the United States, obviously I
had to live in Philly with them. But when talking
about why I chose to be in Philly for school,
I'll say, because one, it's the place I live. I
live like twenty minutes away from my campus. But also
(16:53):
when I was back home in Ghana, I remember I
used to watch this ad where the Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia paid for a little scholarship for them to come
to the United States, specifically Chopped to come have their
surgery for a hole in a heart. So that was
when I was like, wait, I didn't know we had
like hospitals just dedicated for kids.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
So I was like, wait, actually.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
I want to see this just you know, look at it,
like how is that possible? Because every time I go
to the hospital is filled with like different types of
people from different generations and different.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Stages of life. So I was really curious.
Speaker 6 (17:24):
So when applying to different colleges, I decided to applying
to the University of Pennsylvania because I knew it was
really connected to CHOPP and was like five minutes away
from campus, and luckily I got in and so now
I work at the Children's Hospital under the research department
doing theco sell. So that's really amazing that staying in
Philly and you know that ad that I watched, like
(17:45):
I remember fifth grade, was able to you know come true,
me being not only being able to like, you know,
see child but actually work at the research center.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
So yeah, speaking of the things that you've researched so
far and working out CHOP, what are some things that
you've goneccomplished during the time that you've been here and
during your education at Penn.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
So as I was saying before, I'm a researcher at
CHAP and I'm under the Department of Hermatology, so i
work with doctor Abdumlik on cycle cell drug discovery and
I'm kind of still.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Near to the lab.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
But it's really nice to know that I know people
have cyco cell. I mean, I grew up in Ghana,
I grew up in West Africa, and if you know
anything about circle cell, I really affect people from that
specific population. So first I just had like, you know,
a general.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Sense of it.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
But now working at a lab that dedicates it's work
to helping ukraining drugs to help these people, it's really like,
I'll say, it's one of the biggest accomplishment that I
have right now because I remember freshman year, I was
really looking for like labs that was available when it
comes to cico cell, and he was the one who
was like ready to give open his doors for me.
(18:53):
So ilsay, that's like my biggest accomplishment right now working
at that specific lab. Also, I'm part of like different organizations,
So one is VERBS, which is the first exposure to
biological sciences and we were able to create a project
during our freshman year. The project was one on sickle
cell so I joined that one and it was nice
(19:13):
talking to different people from Philadelphia who have created different
organizations helping those minority groups that have been affected by this.
So yeah, it was nice, you know, learn more about
that information and see people who are dedicating their entire
career to help and that. So so that's like my
biggest accomplishment so far.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Apart from specifically the research that you've done for healthcare,
I know that you have also put aside time for
your art and how it's also done something for your
journey in healthcare. How does that work together for you?
Speaker 6 (19:44):
So I'm going to talk a little bit about how
I started with art and how I applied that to science.
I remember as a child I used to watch Sonic
with my cousins, and one of my cousins he was
really good at drawing from like memory, and so I.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Was like, you know, let me we tried that real quick.
So I tried drawing and he was like, wait, you're
actually really good at it. So I was like, you
know what, maybe I want to do this.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
So in second grade I started drawing from my friends
and my family and friends. Everyone was like, you know what,
maybe she become an artist. But I knew that I
wanted to do science and art. But it was really
difficult trying to find a space where you can combine
these two different fields together. I was just doing each
on its own, like you know, doing science, biology and
(20:29):
also exploring the field of art. But I'm really glad
I came to Penn because I believe Penn is literally
the best place when it comes to combining two fields.
Because I've met people from the art department who were
doing neuroscience and so combining fine art, doing animation, was
also being interested in the brain. It's really interesting because
(20:49):
like how do you apply both those fields together. It's
interesting to me that there are so many different parts
of the medical field where art is being applied. So
for instant plastic surgery, you have to be an artist
to be a plastic surgeon, because you're like changing people's
appearance or like you're fixing different parts of their bodies.
(21:10):
That to me, I was like, way I can apply
art to science and that form perfect. Maybe I should
go into medical illustration. Maybe I should become a surgeon
and also radiology. You're reading all these different scans and
having to diagnose people with that. So how about I
going to interventional radiology. It's cool to know that there
are different doctors and different scientists who are interested in
(21:32):
both the art and bio and are able to use
art skills to you know, apply into the medical field.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
So I want to be exactly like that.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
You've even set aside your pre metric to pursue art.
What is contributed to this decision?
Speaker 6 (21:45):
So first, when I started college, I was really struggling
with trying to choose a major and a minor, and
so I went in with a biomajor and then wanted
to do pre med and minor art. But then I
was like, you know what, I want to double me.
But if you're doing two majors at the same time,
having to write or like present a thesis on your
(22:08):
for senior year plans, the pre med requirements, that's kind
of a lot. I decided to, you know, take a
few premier classes and then drop that for now and
then fully concentrate on.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
My art and bio.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
So I'm glad I did because if I was doing
basically three tracks, I wouldn't be able to study abroad,
and so dropping the pre med really gave me a
chance to, you know, study your broad So I went
to Copenhagen, Denmark and did a DS program, which is
the Danish Institute of Study Abroad, and there I fully
concentrated on art. I took specific courses that was there
(22:41):
to expose me to the art field, such as like
color theory or color media. Also took scientific illustration, so
that was a good combination because I'm doing science and
art together. I went to the Museum of Science in
Denmark and different parts of places where you can apply
both the art and sciences. So I'm kind of glad
I was able to, you know, drop that for now
(23:02):
because you can always do pre med. You don't have
to do it during your undergrad you can do it
post back and all that. So I'm glad I was
able to, you know, drop that for now, concentrate fully
on the science and the art, and then pursue the
pre MEID track later.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
Have your experiences in your medical career contributed to your
belief that art is important in healthcare.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
I'm just on undergrad so I really haven't been into
like the home medical career. I'm just like you know,
doing research, talking to doctors, surgeons and all that. But
this question is really important because I think about that
all the time and I'm like emailing different doctors who
I know have like used their art degree or like
(23:40):
the interesting art to apply to what you're doing right now,
as like surgeons and doctors. One who are spoken to
doctor Brian. He is the founder of Stream Studios at CHAP.
I spoke to him about, you know, being an art
major during his undergrad degree and now being an E
and T surgeon, which is ear nose through surgeon. I
(24:01):
was asking him questions about you know, being an illustrator,
an art student who is now you know, in the
medical field, and he said that artist really important when
it comes to medicine. First background, he is a medical illustrator.
So he went to he did his undergrad did an
art degree I believe, and then went to pursue medical
illustration at Johns Hopkins and it's now a chap doing surgery.
(24:24):
So he took that by you know, his experience applying
that medical illustration studies to becoming a surgeon and in
all like you know, the advice he told me and
how he applies it, what I took from it was
that illustration really is important when it comes to surgery
because as an artist, you see colors and structures differently
from everyone when it comes to like perspective, all color theory,
(24:48):
or the human anatomy. For instance, I take figure drawing classes.
The way I see the human body is differently from
just like anyone who's not an artist. So being an
artist and being in the OAR, you're able to apply
what you've learned in like different forms of structures of
how like a next should look. Now not only have
you studied that in medicine, but you've also studied the
(25:09):
way it should look in art. So you're seeing how
the body should be differently from everyone. So not only
are you a doctor, but you're also an artist applying
what you've learned through color media, through illustration, three D animation,
all that into science. So I think it's really important to,
you know, use that part of art in science.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Also.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
I remember seeing this doctor on TikTok. Basically what he
does is that he was I think he's a radiologist.
After all the surgery or after kids have been you know,
taking care of other r he makes art of them
and then present that art to them after their surgery,
and I was like, wait, that's actually really cool, just
(25:51):
you know, doing art and giving it to kids. Kids
love art. I'm not medicine a kid who hates art.
So I'm like, what if I do that? What if I,
you know, apply what doctor Brian said, you know, doing
the medical illustration, use that specific illustration, you know, like
the color, theory, the structure and all that in my surgery,
and then after that surgery is over, I can make
(26:13):
different animations or drawings of the people I operate on.
So I think it's really important to include, you know,
your art into science because people see art differently. You're
able to apply it using like, you know, the surgery
part and all that, and also you know, giving it
to people as kids.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Kids love art, adults love art. Art is basically anything
you want.
Speaker 6 (26:34):
So I just think you can apply art in science
different ways you want, and I want to apply it
in these two different ways.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
So what are your goals for your currently growing medical
and art careers? Do they intersect?
Speaker 6 (26:48):
As we were talking before, I did not finish my
pre med requirements. So right now, yes, I plan on
doing both. Wy I'm going to take after my undergrad
is over, I'm going to do it post back to
fulfill my premier requirements while you know, doing research on
the side, doing clinical hours and all that. And then
after that, I'm going to apply to go to university
(27:11):
again for my master's in medical illustration. And while I
was doing that, I'll be sending for the MCAT and
getting ready for med school. So yes, I'll be using
both my art and my science together and hopefully I
become an interventional radiologist or a plastic surgeon. So basically
I want to apply my art and science in specific
fields or like specific specialty such as like plastic surgery,
(27:35):
interventional radiology, or just radiology by itself. And also hopefully
when I'm like sixty or seventy, I can have my
own art studio where I donate the money to children
who are interested in life.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
So we've come to the end of our delightful conversation.
But I have one last question. Where can people find
you and your research?
Speaker 6 (27:54):
So right now I'm just making art. I am on Instagram.
My name is art by Fellas F E.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
L I S.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
And here I just like post my figure drawn some
photos I take during my free time and hopefully one
day I'm going to start making more illustrations and art
of human anatomy.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
So yeah, that's where you can find me.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
All right, bye, fellas, thank you for coming, Thank you
for having me.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in keyword Community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app yey Words Philadelphia
Community podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow, and I stand for service to
our community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
(28:41):
You've been listening to what's going on, and thank you
Good morning, and welcome to What's going on? A show
about making a difference in our lives and our communities.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow. Today we'll hear an interview conducted
by one of our summer work Ready students, Trinity Nievez,
who speaks with a rising senior at the University of
Pennsylvania about the importance of art in healthcare, and we
explore how AI is shaping the future of gaming. But
(00:22):
first we check in with a visionary behind a new
innovative sports and social club. We are joined by David Goudstadt,
a visionary hospitality and real estate executive who's reshaping the
way we think about urban recreation. As founder and principle
of Ballers, David is bringing a bold new concept to life,
a hospitality forward social sports brand that blends premium sports, design, dining,
(00:47):
and community. With a track record that includes founding the
Fittler Club and helping to launch Equinox Hotels, David's innovative
approach is rooted in two decades of global experience. He's
also a Proud Fellow, a Princeton grad, and a triathlete
who's just as passionate about building a community as he
is about breaking a sweat. So, thank you so much
(01:09):
for joining us here today. So, David, tell us, how
would you describe Ballers and its mission?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Sure, thank you for having me. Ballers is really born
from my love of sport and our passion to bring
people together around the shared love of sport. And when
you look at what we've done historically, everything we've done
has been around community and hospitality. So this is just
an extension of what I've done for the last close
to thirty years of my career, which is how do
you leverage the aspects of hospitality that we love most
(01:37):
bring people together around a shared love of something, and
in this instance it will be sport.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So tell us more specifically about what Ballers does.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So, Ballers is a social sports venue. There's a club
component to it, but anyone from the public can come
and experience what we have to offer. We'll have pickleball
courts padel, there's a turf playing field which will be
primarily use for soccer, but can be used for any
type of event on a field, We've got two squash courts.
We'll have golf simulators as well as a short game
(02:07):
practice area, and then we have an extensive gym, locker room,
and recovery areas that will include things like infrared saunas,
cold plunges. And then on the hospitality side, we've actually
got two bars and a full restaurant.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
You've got a little bit of everything, don't you.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It's a lot. We like it.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Where are you located.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
We're located in Fishtown in a building called the Battery.
It's actually the historic power plant of Philadelphia and it's
a truly iconic structure.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Where can listeners go to learn more about Ballers in
any upcoming openings or events.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We have a very active Instagram page which is Ballers
Social Sports, which is our handle, and then we've got
a website which is ballersdashus dot com. First in best
to Philly and then export it.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Well, I like to thank you so much, thank you.
Today we're diving into the future of emotionally intelligent gaming
with William Santo, chief Technology Officer at Chico Studios. With
over twenty years of experience at major tech players like
Amazon and BlackBerry. William is leading the charge and developing
(03:13):
AI agents that don't just think, but feel. At Kaiko Studios,
the mission is to merge emotional intelligence with artificial intelligence
to create game characters that are deeply responsive, emotionally aware,
and capable of evolving in real time. It's the next
big leap towards immersive, human centered gaming experiences. So what
(03:34):
inspired Kaikos Studios to explore the intersection of emotional intelligence
and artificial intelligence in gaming.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Well, it's a combination of a bunch of things. It
starts with how do we evolve our imagination. All of
us founders are very imaginative and we want to see
how we take this to the next step, as well
as our love of games and movies. As we grew
up watching all of these evolve over time, we wanted
to be part of it and we started thinking about
how we could make these dreams happen then. So that's
where we came, and we wanted to build on top
(04:02):
of what already exists to make sure we had a fun,
exciting and safe place for everyone to play.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
How do you envision emotionally intelligent AI changing the way
that players build relationships with non player characters NPCs as
they are often referred to.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
Well, we see it really evolving the interaction. It becomes
less task oriented, you know, checking in with the tavern
to make sure I have a new quest to more
checking in to see how they're doing, or have them
check in on us. It makes it much more immersive
and interactive because you can come in and you never
really know what to expect. Right now you go in,
I expect a test to come out of it. But
(04:41):
if I go in now with an emotionally intelligent and
evolving NPC, I could actually just have a general conversation
that makes my day better.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Well, we've often seen, most recently, the way in which
players or individuals can emotionally interact with AI, which is fascinating.
I mean they are even AI boyfriends and girlfriends. Do
you envision things like that happening within the gaming sphere?
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
The beauty of giving builders the tools to make very
creative characters and solutions is you have every use case
that can be imagined. We envision that people will grow
and evolve with their games if they start making a
connection once again, going to that bartender at the tavern,
you know, they might become my trusted friend who I
go there to talk to about everything with before I
(05:29):
go on a mission or start building my next town.
Those types of relationships will continuously evolve and people will
find how that fits in their life.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Films like The Matrix have long explored the idea of
sentient digital characters capable of forming emotional bonds. I wonder
if you can see companies emotionally intelligent AI as a
step towards that kind of storytelling in gaming.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Well, the hope is yes, we are. That is what
we're building towards, maybe not as dystopian as it is
portrayed in the Matrix, by definitely looking at having our
systems evolved with us over time and creating that relationship
and that connection. We want to evolve the call and
response type of input we have right now with all
the AI agents to a much more conversational or friend
(06:15):
or partner that you have with you at all times,
so you can bring it into your life, you can
see how it works, and you can have it adapt
to your changing environments.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
How do you think that blurs the line between traditional
gameplay and interactive cinema.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Oh, it's going to continuously blur that line, but there'll
always be a line when you look between those two mediums.
It's all about the mental cognition. I'm willing to input
into my entertainment needs. You know, we look at from
movie to a game. It's I want to sit down
and watch something that will entertain me with little to
no effort on my end. Two, I want to actually
(06:51):
be engaged. I want to direct my character. I want
to evolve my own entertainment. And you have that interactive gaming.
It's that middle zone. It's where I'm okay, I'm making
a couple decisions to choose where my adventure takes me,
but I still want to be told a story. I
still want to be entertained versus directing and leading my
entertainment experience.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Give us some examples of how you are utilizing AI
in this way that we've been discussing in the work
that you're doing in the games that you're creating.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
First and foremost, Kaiko is a platform, so we enable
builders to build on top of it and use it
to evolve their games. So we're working with game development
platforms and studios who build their own trying to advise
them on how best implement it. So, just to clarify,
we're not building them ourselves, but we are working to
empower all the builders in the world to have the
same experience. And one of the ways. We've seen some
(07:42):
evolutions and we're really excited to see them go further.
And it plays on my love. I'm a I like
builder games, sim games, you know, Civilizations was my thing.
But looking at evolving certain winning or criteria mechanisms that
involve your emotional tunement and how you want to respond
and build friendships, build relationships. So right now, if you
(08:02):
look at those types of games, you always have either
on politics or an economic rating that allows you to
grow your influence through nonviolent means. Now, if you can
turn that into a whole system that you can be
graded upon. So I gave a great speech, I'm a
good orator, therefore I get extra points. I'm good at
convincing people. I know how to complete negotiations versus clicking
(08:23):
a schedule thing. All of that can now become scoring mechanisms,
which is an exciting and new vantage point. No game
judges your speech ability, your ability to convince others. Nothing
is really convincing people that you're trustworthy. You know, if
the game now thinks I'm trustworthy and knows it because
of my emotional patterns and how I've been interacting and
(08:45):
the activities I've done in the past that builds my
status within that game, and it's a new criteria that
we can build off of.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You are creating the tools that allow game creators to
utilize this kind of emotionally intelligent and evolving characters in games.
Has this been applied? Are we seeing it now or
are we in the very early stages of development?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
We're not in the early stages, but we haven't launched.
We will be launching in about two months time. But
we have some critical partners that will be going live
with right out of the gate. Some are in the
gaming industry, some are across or more generic building platforms.
So you will see evidence of it very shortly as
we continue to iterate and build on top of our
other fabulous partners.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
And when you talk about gaming, and obviously there are
some applications beyond gaming, and I wonder if you can
speak to some of the potential applications of your tools
in other areas.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Yes, So the beauty of the emotional intelligence it spans
all industries in all areas, so it can make everything
a bit better if you have a bit more of
a human response. We're seeing some of the best traction
within a lot of corporate applications which are looking to
create that sort of partner with you, someone who's going
to work alongside with you with your general tasks and
day to day activities. Someone you can just be like, hey,
you know, how's it going. Please do this for me
(10:04):
and then I'll respond. And also it might actually give
you a nice sort of water cooler type conversation experience.
A lot of the evidence shows that creates productivity and
things like that. But we're also seeing it in a
lot of the medical and mental wellness spaces where we
want to create much more conversational AI agents and interactions
that don't direct you just to an answer when really
(10:26):
you need to understand how they're feeling, how they're going
into it. You know, we've noticed a lot of negative
responses to AI where it's like, hey, I'm feeling depressed
and I'm having suicidal thoughts and the AI will give
you great here's your top ten ways to do it.
It's like, no, that's that's exactly not what we want.
Right Anyone with an ounce of emotional intelligence or human
interaction experience knows that that's not what they want. They
(10:49):
want to follow up question and similar to advice ones
where it's everything solution based. Now it's more conversational based.
I don't want to, you know, if I'm saying I'm sad,
I don't want you to list ten ways I can
feel better. I want you to tell me, ask me
more questions. Why are you said? What's next? Oh? Tell
me about this? Kind of play that role of the
therapist kind of approach to get all the information and
(11:10):
then provide options, because we don't want it to seem
like it's punting you off to a new service. We
want to see that it's there for you, it's engaging,
and then provide you the information you need so you
actually can take it and improve.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
William, the rate in which technology is advancing is exponential.
Not too long ago, not very many people knew what
AI is or was. So it's perhaps a little bit
difficult to look ahead because things change so quickly, even
from day to day. But putting on your future eyeglasses,
(11:42):
looking ahead to the future five or ten years, where
do you think the gaming worlds will look and feel
like if this kind of EQ infused AI becomes standard.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
Well, so, the way I see this and I picture
it evolving, I'm going to go back to my good
old movie references because that's the easiest way. It's kind
of somewhere in between Ready Player one and Free Guy.
The experiences are going to evolve with the players. There's
going to be a lot more freedom of choice as
you interact. If I need today, my interaction is I
(12:14):
don actually want to have a conversation versus go on
a racing spree or a first person shooter experience. I
can have that, So I can go in there have
that conversation. The system will also know and start to
be able to adapt based on that conversation. Maybe they'll
present me with a new idea. It'll become much more
customized and individualized based on the user, how they're feeling
today and what their past experiences have resulted in. So
(12:35):
if i'm once again, I'm going to use this bartender example,
because there's across every coach everywhere has one, and I'm
talking to them and it's they realize I've had a
very stressful week. They know I've come in every day
and I've talked about, oh, I'm launching this product. I'm
super stressed. I've been working NonStop and kind of chat
we figure it out, get a little more more acts.
Then they suggest, oh, hey, you know, generally when you're stressed,
(12:57):
you love playing a game with a very upbeat, happy sidekick,
which I've built a relationship over the past my gaming experience.
So now I have a friend and can go game.
It tells me, okay, well, I can now suggest I
feel like a first person shooter or I feel like
a builder type game, and we go there and it
kind of adapts to how what I need right then
and there. That's where we see a lot of these
games coming and evolving into. And it doesn't have to
(13:20):
be the immersive I'm in a VR world. It'll be
touches of that across every modality, because you'll have the
ones where you're fully immersed, You'll have the ones on
my mobile phone while I'm waiting at the bus stop
or something like that. They'll all have certain criterias that
adapt to how I'm feeling and try to present me
with what will evolve that emotion to the next step.
So if I'm sad, hopefully make me happy. If I'm angry,
(13:42):
talk me off that that cliff and make me a
little bit more relaxed. Or if I'm just looking for
a good time and we really kind of just amp
up the energy and get me going.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Well, this is all very fascinating. I can't wait to
see what comes of the kinds of tools that you're
talking about as it evolves not only gaming, but other
areas of our lives. William Santo. If people want more
information about Chico Studios, where do they.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
Go Kaikostudios dot xyz. Williams say, you can reach out
to our communities and join the fun.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for this fascinating conversation.
Can't wait to see what evolves out of the work
that you're doing and perhaps many like you. William Santo,
chief Technology officer at Chico Studios. He is leading the
charge and developing AI agents that don't just think, but feel,
as we talk about developing games of the future. Thank
(14:30):
you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Thank you very much, Lauren, have a wonderful day.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
And finally, this interview conducted by one of our summer
work ready students.
Speaker 5 (14:41):
I'm Trinity J Sanya Yeves. When most people think of
the medical field initially, they never connect our or any
creative thought with it. The hospital is typically thought to
be a place of calculation and strict rules. Today, I'm
with Felicitos Tananibe to talk about how art can play
a vital role in healthcare and outs inspired her as
a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania double majoring
(15:03):
in biology and art. So, fellas, when did you know
that you wanted to be a doctor.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
So when I was really young, I remember getting sick
a lot, my sister getting sick a lot, and I
used to ask my dad, how does the body help
you in situations where you know you're really sick. He
was like, some people really have strong immune system, So
it's really curious, Like what is an immune system? And
so I did my little search in front of that.
(15:29):
This is a specific part of the body, or like
system of the body that works together with specific cells
like killer cells, b cells, different part of the body
cells that help build up your immune system so you
can fight against different bacterias. So, like an example I'm
gonna give you right now, let's say you cut yourself.
We have different cells that come together to make sure
(15:49):
that you know they are amending up your body to
avoid any bacterias or like illnesses from entering your body.
So I was like really curious, like, wow, I can't
imagine like a bunch of cells in my body right
now working together to make sure that I'm okay. So
that was when I was like, maybe me and a
doctor wouldn't be that bad because as a doctor, you
learn about the sails and then use that, you know,
(16:12):
textbook knowledge to apply to real life. So not only
is my body working hard to help itself, but as
a doctor, you're also giving people the right medication that
can help them become better. So that was when I
was like, you know what, maybe being a doctor wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Be that bad.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Why did you come to Philadelphia specifically for pursuing your career.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
I used to live back home in Ghana and my
parents were already in Philly, so I had to move.
When I was moving to the United States, obviously I
had to live in Philly with them. But when talking
about why I chose to be in Philly for school,
I'll say, because one, it's the place I live. I
live like twenty minutes away from my campus. But also
(16:53):
when I was back home in Ghana, I remember I
used to watch this ad where the Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia paid for a little scholarship for them to come
to the United States, specifically Chopped to come have their
surgery for a hole in a heart. So that was
when I was like, wait, I didn't know we had
like hospitals just dedicated for kids.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
So I was like, wait, actually.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
I want to see this just you know, look at it,
like how is that possible? Because every time I go
to the hospital is filled with like different types of
people from different generations and different.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Stages of life. So I was really curious.
Speaker 6 (17:24):
So when applying to different colleges, I decided to applying
to the University of Pennsylvania because I knew it was
really connected to CHOPP and was like five minutes away
from campus, and luckily I got in and so now
I work at the Children's Hospital under the research department
doing theco sell. So that's really amazing that staying in
Philly and you know that ad that I watched, like
(17:45):
I remember fifth grade, was able to you know come true,
me being not only being able to like, you know,
see child but actually work at the research center.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
So yeah, speaking of the things that you've researched so
far and working out CHOP, what are some things that
you've goneccomplished during the time that you've been here and
during your education at Penn.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
So as I was saying before, I'm a researcher at
CHAP and I'm under the Department of Hermatology, so i
work with doctor Abdumlik on cycle cell drug discovery and
I'm kind of still.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Near to the lab.
Speaker 6 (18:17):
But it's really nice to know that I know people
have cyco cell. I mean, I grew up in Ghana,
I grew up in West Africa, and if you know
anything about circle cell, I really affect people from that
specific population. So first I just had like, you know,
a general.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Sense of it.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
But now working at a lab that dedicates it's work
to helping ukraining drugs to help these people, it's really like,
I'll say, it's one of the biggest accomplishment that I
have right now because I remember freshman year, I was
really looking for like labs that was available when it
comes to cico cell, and he was the one who
was like ready to give open his doors for me.
(18:53):
So ilsay, that's like my biggest accomplishment right now working
at that specific lab. Also, I'm part of like different organizations,
So one is VERBS, which is the first exposure to
biological sciences and we were able to create a project
during our freshman year. The project was one on sickle
cell so I joined that one and it was nice
(19:13):
talking to different people from Philadelphia who have created different
organizations helping those minority groups that have been affected by this.
So yeah, it was nice, you know, learn more about
that information and see people who are dedicating their entire
career to help and that. So so that's like my
biggest accomplishment so far.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Apart from specifically the research that you've done for healthcare,
I know that you have also put aside time for
your art and how it's also done something for your
journey in healthcare. How does that work together for you?
Speaker 6 (19:44):
So I'm going to talk a little bit about how
I started with art and how I applied that to science.
I remember as a child I used to watch Sonic
with my cousins, and one of my cousins he was
really good at drawing from like memory, and so I.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Was like, you know, let me we tried that real quick.
So I tried drawing and he was like, wait, you're
actually really good at it. So I was like, you
know what, maybe I want to do this.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
So in second grade I started drawing from my friends
and my family and friends. Everyone was like, you know what,
maybe she become an artist. But I knew that I
wanted to do science and art. But it was really
difficult trying to find a space where you can combine
these two different fields together. I was just doing each
on its own, like you know, doing science, biology and
(20:29):
also exploring the field of art. But I'm really glad
I came to Penn because I believe Penn is literally
the best place when it comes to combining two fields.
Because I've met people from the art department who were
doing neuroscience and so combining fine art, doing animation, was
also being interested in the brain. It's really interesting because
(20:49):
like how do you apply both those fields together. It's
interesting to me that there are so many different parts
of the medical field where art is being applied. So
for instant plastic surgery, you have to be an artist
to be a plastic surgeon, because you're like changing people's
appearance or like you're fixing different parts of their bodies.
(21:10):
That to me, I was like, way I can apply
art to science and that form perfect. Maybe I should
go into medical illustration. Maybe I should become a surgeon
and also radiology. You're reading all these different scans and
having to diagnose people with that. So how about I
going to interventional radiology. It's cool to know that there
are different doctors and different scientists who are interested in
(21:32):
both the art and bio and are able to use
art skills to you know, apply into the medical field.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
So I want to be exactly like that.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
You've even set aside your pre metric to pursue art.
What is contributed to this decision?
Speaker 6 (21:45):
So first, when I started college, I was really struggling
with trying to choose a major and a minor, and
so I went in with a biomajor and then wanted
to do pre med and minor art. But then I
was like, you know what, I want to double me.
But if you're doing two majors at the same time,
having to write or like present a thesis on your
(22:08):
for senior year plans, the pre med requirements, that's kind
of a lot. I decided to, you know, take a
few premier classes and then drop that for now and
then fully concentrate on.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
My art and bio.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
So I'm glad I did because if I was doing
basically three tracks, I wouldn't be able to study abroad,
and so dropping the pre med really gave me a
chance to, you know, study your broad So I went
to Copenhagen, Denmark and did a DS program, which is
the Danish Institute of Study Abroad, and there I fully
concentrated on art. I took specific courses that was there
(22:41):
to expose me to the art field, such as like
color theory or color media. Also took scientific illustration, so
that was a good combination because I'm doing science and
art together. I went to the Museum of Science in
Denmark and different parts of places where you can apply
both the art and sciences. So I'm kind of glad
I was able to, you know, drop that for now
(23:02):
because you can always do pre med. You don't have
to do it during your undergrad you can do it
post back and all that. So I'm glad I was
able to, you know, drop that for now, concentrate fully
on the science and the art, and then pursue the
pre MEID track later.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
Have your experiences in your medical career contributed to your
belief that art is important in healthcare.
Speaker 6 (23:19):
I'm just on undergrad so I really haven't been into
like the home medical career. I'm just like you know,
doing research, talking to doctors, surgeons and all that. But
this question is really important because I think about that
all the time and I'm like emailing different doctors who
I know have like used their art degree or like
(23:40):
the interesting art to apply to what you're doing right now,
as like surgeons and doctors. One who are spoken to
doctor Brian. He is the founder of Stream Studios at CHAP.
I spoke to him about, you know, being an art
major during his undergrad degree and now being an E
and T surgeon, which is ear nose through surgeon. I
(24:01):
was asking him questions about you know, being an illustrator,
an art student who is now you know, in the
medical field, and he said that artist really important when
it comes to medicine. First background, he is a medical illustrator.
So he went to he did his undergrad did an
art degree I believe, and then went to pursue medical
illustration at Johns Hopkins and it's now a chap doing surgery.
(24:24):
So he took that by you know, his experience applying
that medical illustration studies to becoming a surgeon and in
all like you know, the advice he told me and
how he applies it, what I took from it was
that illustration really is important when it comes to surgery
because as an artist, you see colors and structures differently
from everyone when it comes to like perspective, all color theory,
(24:48):
or the human anatomy. For instance, I take figure drawing classes.
The way I see the human body is differently from
just like anyone who's not an artist. So being an
artist and being in the OAR, you're able to apply
what you've learned in like different forms of structures of
how like a next should look. Now not only have
you studied that in medicine, but you've also studied the
(25:09):
way it should look in art. So you're seeing how
the body should be differently from everyone. So not only
are you a doctor, but you're also an artist applying
what you've learned through color media, through illustration, three D animation,
all that into science. So I think it's really important to,
you know, use that part of art in science.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Also.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
I remember seeing this doctor on TikTok. Basically what he
does is that he was I think he's a radiologist.
After all the surgery or after kids have been you know,
taking care of other r he makes art of them
and then present that art to them after their surgery,
and I was like, wait, that's actually really cool, just
(25:51):
you know, doing art and giving it to kids. Kids
love art. I'm not medicine a kid who hates art.
So I'm like, what if I do that? What if I,
you know, apply what doctor Brian said, you know, doing
the medical illustration, use that specific illustration, you know, like
the color, theory, the structure and all that in my surgery,
and then after that surgery is over, I can make
(26:13):
different animations or drawings of the people I operate on.
So I think it's really important to include, you know,
your art into science because people see art differently. You're
able to apply it using like, you know, the surgery
part and all that, and also you know, giving it
to people as kids.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Kids love art, adults love art. Art is basically anything
you want.
Speaker 6 (26:34):
So I just think you can apply art in science
different ways you want, and I want to apply it
in these two different ways.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
So what are your goals for your currently growing medical
and art careers? Do they intersect?
Speaker 6 (26:48):
As we were talking before, I did not finish my
pre med requirements. So right now, yes, I plan on
doing both. Wy I'm going to take after my undergrad
is over, I'm going to do it post back to
fulfill my premier requirements while you know, doing research on
the side, doing clinical hours and all that. And then
after that, I'm going to apply to go to university
(27:11):
again for my master's in medical illustration. And while I
was doing that, I'll be sending for the MCAT and
getting ready for med school. So yes, I'll be using
both my art and my science together and hopefully I
become an interventional radiologist or a plastic surgeon. So basically
I want to apply my art and science in specific
fields or like specific specialty such as like plastic surgery,
(27:35):
interventional radiology, or just radiology by itself. And also hopefully
when I'm like sixty or seventy, I can have my
own art studio where I donate the money to children
who are interested in life.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
So we've come to the end of our delightful conversation.
But I have one last question. Where can people find
you and your research?
Speaker 6 (27:54):
So right now I'm just making art. I am on Instagram.
My name is art by Fellas F E.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
L I S.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
And here I just like post my figure drawn some
photos I take during my free time and hopefully one
day I'm going to start making more illustrations and art
of human anatomy.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
So yeah, that's where you can find me.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
All right, bye, fellas, thank you for coming, Thank you
for having me.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in keyword Community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app yey Words Philadelphia
Community podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow, and I stand for service to
our community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
(28:41):
You've been listening to what's going on, and thank you
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