Laboratory of Media Studies

Dr Karolina Brylska and Professor Marek Kochan took part in an event from the POLIN Discussions series at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

The panel discussion sought to answer questions that remain ever relevant - not only in the world of media: What makes some people capable of captivating crowds? Why do we listen to some speakers with bated breath, while others, despite saying the same thing, simply disappear into the noise?

The event took place on 19 February 2026 at the POLIN Museum.

The year 2025 was another intense period of work for us, filled with conferences, research projects, and new challenges. It was a time for implementing specific activities, testing solutions in practice, and systematically developing our research.

Last year, we worked on grant-funded research projects, developed international collaborations, and actively participated in scientific events in Poland and abroad. Simultaneously, publications - scientific articles, books, and reports - were produced as a result of these activities.

This period was also marked by teamwork - daily collaboration between researchers, analysts, and specialists who combined methodological, technological, and organizational expertise. This enabled us to conduct several initiatives simultaneously, maintain high research quality, and efficiently achieve our goals.

The year 2025 also brought new technological implementations that significantly improved our research and organizational work. We developed and integrated tools for data analysis, process automation, and research in digital environments, including solutions supporting remote measurements, biometric analysis, and teamwork. These implementations have allowed us to increase the scale of our projects, improve data quality, and shorten research completion times.

We invite you to read a brief summary of last year's most important initiatives and achievements.

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Stephen Curry and Luka Dončić – two NBA icons, two generations, one global phenomenon.

Why are they dominating jersey sales right now? What truly shapes star power today: talent, market size, marketing, or personality?

In the article published on TVP Sport, insights are shared by Tomasz Gackowski, Professor at the University of Warsaw and head of LBM UW, who explores how modern sports legends are created at the intersection of media, storytelling, and popular culture.

Full interview (in Polish):https://tinyurl.com/curry-doncic

Between February 5–7, 2026, the ACDSA 2026 – International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Computer, Data Sciences and Applications took place in Boracay, Philippines, under the patronage of IEEE, where Adam Balcerzak, member of LBM UW presented the paper: “From Code to Cognition: Implementing a Puzzle-Based Game Framework for Biometric Analysis”.

Based on the conference paper, a journal article by Adam Balcerzak, Marcin Łączyński, Aline Hufschmitt, and Tomasz Gackowski will be published in IEEE Xplore.

The project is the result of fruitful collaboration with École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, which led to the development of a puzzle-based escape room game built in Unreal Engine 5. This enabled the creation of a controlled research environment for analyzing cognitive load, visual attention, and emotional responses during problem-solving. The experiment combined gameplay telemetry with eye-tracking, GSR, and facial expression analysis using the Affectiva algorithm, synchronized through iMotions. Results showed that time pressure and stressors intensified negative emotions, while surprise and joy were associated with stronger task focus. One of the project’s objectives was also to demonstrate that game-based environments can serve as replicable and precise tools for cognitive and affective research.