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Patrik Hübner

Chimes
Chimes is an interactive, audio-reactive experience that translates the sound of a room into digital wind, setting in motion an exploration of space, music and time. The installation invites the viewer to surrender to the interplay of spatial sound, touch, air, movement and noise and to discover ever new facets in a constantly changing environment.

Kino

MIT Media Lab, Stanford University
This work explores a dynamic future where the accessories we wear are no longer static, but are instead mobile, living objects on the body. Engineered with the functionality of 18 robotics, this “living” jewelry roams on unmodified clothing, changing location and reconfiguring appearance according to social context and enabling multitude presentations of self. With the addition of sensor devices, they transition into active devices which can react to environmental conditions. They can also be paired with existing mobile devices to become personalized on-body assistants to help complete tasks. Attached to garments, they generate shape-changing clothing and kinetic pattern designs–creating a new, dynamic fashion.
It is our vision that in the future, these robots will be miniaturized to the extent that they can be seamlessly integrated into existing practices of body ornamentation. With the addition of kinetic capabilities, traditionally static jewelry and accessories will start displaying life-like qualities, learning, shifting, and reconfiguring to the needs and preferences of the wearer, also assisting in fluid presentation of self. We envision a new class of future wearables that possess hybrid qualities of the living and the crafted, creating a new on-body ecology for human-wearable symbiosis.

Mark Ramos & Ziyang Wu

Networked Ecosystem
In Networked Ecosystem, natural phenomena have been replaced by digital and artificial systems as forces that drive development: Electricity/battery = sustenance, WIFI signals = nutrition, Lidar data = fire/heat. Data Organisms populate this digital ecosystem as native life forms in the form of bots, AI’s, and avatars. Visitors to this networked landscape develop new kinds of digital senses to experience data as environmental changes, and interact with the simulated world and each other in an ever-changing online environment.

ANDY LOMAS

Morphogenetic Creations
Created by a mathematician, digital artist and Emmy award winning supervisor of computer generated effects – Andy Lomas, Morphogenetic Creations is a collection of works that explore the nature of complex forms that can be produced by digital simulation of growth systems. These pieces start with a simple initial form which is incrementally developed over time by adding iterative layers of complexity to the structure.The aim is to create structures emergently: exploring generic similarities between many different forms in nature rather than recreating any particular organism. In the process he is exploring universal archetypal forms that can come from growth processes rather than top-down externally engineered design.Programmed using C++ with CUDA, the series use a system of growth by deposition: small particles of matter are repeatedly deposited onto a growing structure to build incrementally over time. Rules are used to determine how new particles are created, and how they move before being deposited. Small changes to these rules can have dramatic effects on the final structure, in effect changing the environment in which the form is grown. To create these works, Andy uses the GPU as a compute device rather than as a display device. All the data is held in memory on the GPU and various kernel functions are called to do things like apply forces to the cells, make cells split, and to render the cells using ray-tracing. The simulations and rendering for each of the different animated structures within this piece take about 12 hours to run, Andy explains. By the end of the simulations there are over 50,000,000 cells in each structure.The Cellular Forms use a more biological model, representing a simplified system of cellular growth. Structures are created out of interconnected cells, with rules for the forces between cells, as well as rules for how cells accumulate internal nutrients. When the nutrient level in a cell exceeds a given threshold the cell splits into two, with both the parent and daughter cells reconnecting to their immediate neighbours. Many different complex organic structures are seen to arise from subtle variations on these rules, creating forms with strong reminiscences of plants, corals, internal organs and micro-organisms.

Phillip K Smith

Open Sky
Using giant sheets of mirror-polish stainless steel, Smith’s structure reflects the ever-changing sky. He describes that ‘Open Sky’ is “inspired by the constant shifts in light, color, and form that are presented in the natural and built environment.” The piece is designed to get visitors at the design week to interact with the natural environment and to spark a sense of adventure.

João Martinho Moura

WIDE/SIDE
WIDE/SIDE is an interactive installation in which shapes, images, and sounds are joined and interdependent. A visually engaging block, captivating in its monochromatic conception and minimalist lines, serves as a projection screen and teems with conglomerations of lines and shapes. As a result the installation is always changing and acquiring countless different forms.
The individual forms of the projections in reality are based on the surrounding environment, responding to the movements and gestures of the viewers. Visitors and passersby therefore themselves become part of the work and define its appearance.

Roman Hill

As above
As Above is a short film exploring the tight link between the microscopic world and immensity of the universe. Illustrating our universe’s never ending dance of destruction and creation, in which life can emerge. As Above was made of one single shot filmed on the 8mm2 (0.3 square inch) surface of a chemical reaction. The environment in which we live, is at the constant mercy of the ever changing flow of planets, stars and galaxies As well as the composition of the microscopic world. “As Above” is an invitation to contemplate the beauty of this perpetual movement of which we are part of… And perhaps invite the viewer to reflect on his position in the universe and the preciosity of life.

Michael Najjar

Terraforming
The video work “terraforming” focusses on the transformation of a natural environment through energy input. The underpinning idea is that of three phase system change. This begins with the stage of equilibrium where a system is in a certain balance and not changing at all. In the next stage an evolving system enters a state of motion and change where it moves away from equilibrium. The third and final stage is the phase of transformation in which the original system becomes something else. The key element in this transformation process is the sun. This process is called terraforming, whereby a hostile environment, i.e. a planet that is too cold, too hot, or has an unbreathable atmosphere, can be altered to make it suitable for human life. Such a process is not merely a futuristic scenario but represents exactly what is happening on Earth at this moment as the process of atmospheric change brought about by increasing CO2 emissions heats up our planet and speeds up the process of climate change.
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AADRL

Project Orb[i]s
Orbis is a proposal for a Prototypical System, which is highly adaptive in nature, and creates an urban infrastructure that responds and caters to the changing needs and conditions within the city, by augmenting the everyday experiences and activities. Orb(i)s is a behavioral assembly that establishes the possibilities of a dynamic environment not limited to a building plan; rather, it is autonomous, adaptable, dynamic and self-assembling based on real-time data culminating in a constantly reconfiguring ecology. The sensing abilities of the system make it self-aware and encourage any decision-making, while its self-assembling quality arises from a unit-to-unit communication that leads to a higher order of organizations and structures.

Behnaz Farahi

Synapse
Synapse is a 3D-printed helmet which moves and illuminates according to brain activity[…] The main intention of this project is to explore the possibilities of multi-material 3D printing in order to produce a shape-changing structure around the body as a second skin. Additionally, the project seeks to explore direct control of the movement with neural commands from the brain so that we can effectively control the environment around us through our thoughts. The environment therefore becomes an extension of our bodies. This project aims to play with the intimacy of our bodies and the environment to the point that the distinction between them becomes blurred, as both have ‘become’ a single entity. The helmet motion is controlled by the Eletroencephalography (EEG) of the brain. A Neurosky’s EEG chip and Mindflex headset have been modified and redesigned in order to create a seamless blend between technology and design.

IAAC Team

Soft Skin
‘Soft Skin’ is a research project developed by Lubna Alayeli, Nina Jotanovic, Ceren Temel, and Farah Alayeli from the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia. The work investigates the possibilities of using air inflation in architecture as an active response to changing environmental parameters. The ‘skin’ is composed of a specially developed composite made of thin layers of flexible silicone and elastic fabric. The material system consists of dozens of inflatable cells combined in larger groups. As parameters change — light and wind in this instance — the cells can inflate or deflate in real time. By acting in real time, it is able to reduce wind vibrations and wind drag, and control light infiltration.

ROB MULHOLLAND

روب مولهولاند
罗布穆赫兰
롭 멀홀랜드
ロブマルホランド
Роб Малхолланд

Rob studied at Edinburgh College of Art and graduated with a BA [Hon ] degree in 1986[…] His work explores the human relationship with the wider environment. His approach is not judgmental, more reflective and questioning about the ever-changing world around us. The human desire to leave a trace of ones-self for future generations has always intrigued him. It’s a driving force to create and leave a semblance of our-selves as individuals and as a society. The reflective figures ask us to look again and consider the symbiotic relationship we have with our natural and man-made environment.

YING GAO

Living pod
file festival
Light, shape variations and mimicry meet in Living Pod. In front of the false twin pieces, the user can slowly set garment A in motion using a light source. Garment B then imitates piece A in an exaggerated and unbalanced fashion, changing structure through miniature electric motors activated by light sensors that are sown through the garment. Using flat-pattern cutting techniques, Ying Gao was able to give the process fluidity and flexibility. In addition to the mechanical movements of the garments, Living Pods underlines two fundamental aspects of today’s fashion system: confrontation and imitation. The garment plays a mediating role between man and his environment. By using light, Living Pod is similar to project Walking City, which uses air to make the pieces look like they are breathing.

Strijdom van der Merwe

Reaching for the sky
“He works with the materials provided by the chosen site and shapes sculptural forms in relation to the landscape.It is a process of working with the natural world, the elements of which are shaped into geometrical forms that participate with their environment, continually changing until their final destruction.”more

TOYO ITO

تويو ايتو
伊东丰雄
טויו איטו
伊東豊雄
도요 이토
Tower of Winds
During the day the perforated metal panels that cover the Tower of Winds reflect the city image and make the design appear humble and simple. But during the night, it gets lit up in an ever-changing combination of light intensity and colors. Using computer software, the lighting follows the wind speed and noise levels changing the Tower’s appearance accordingly. The Tower of Winds features more than 1300 light bulbs and 42 flood lights and neon rings (on each floor). The small lights change their colors according to the wind’s noise level and the rings change their intensity according to its speed.
Basically, the Tower of the Winds by Toyo Ito is a wind indicator in a constant relationship with the city and the natural environment, a junction between the two. It is placed at the train station area, welcoming the passengers arriving in Yokohama and its functional role is accommodating another natural element. Surprisingly the Tower of Winds houses the water tanks for the air-conditioning system of the underground mall below. The Tower is not a new construction, but a re-designing of an old concrete tower that already existed there since the ‘60s.

EUNHEE JO

New Tangible Interfaces TTI

Interactive surfaces makes everyday objects multi-functional and fun. Reactive technologies have now enabled normal interfaces with new functions and new possibilities. The role of the surface is changing radically, according to how it’s designed and incorporated with objects. My proposal was to re-define the role of the surface in future lifestyle, exploring how surfaces can be an integrated as part of a product or environment.

TTI, (standing for Tangible Textural Interface) is a new sound system that embeds a tactile surface. TTI has flexibility that enables people to physically touch and feel the response through the controls and physical morph of the surface. TTI delivers new aesthetics through integrated flexible surfaces as interface material unlike adapting conventional materials for interfaces such as plastic or glass. Unlike existing 2D interfaces, TTI has a curved 3D surface opening up new possibilities in making flexible forms and shapes within the interface.

TTI consists of 3 main functions, backwards and forwards, volume control and equaliser, having a physical feedback and control interface within one surface. As you control the functions, the left surface physically responds to the controls. Tactile surface also responds to the beat of the music.

ALEXANDRA DEMENTIEVA

Drama House
File Festival
“Drama house” is a house when the simple ring at the doorbell can have unpredictable consequences; event, one is stranger then another and in the same time all, what happens with habitants belongs to everyday life. Sometimes these circumstances are a little bit exaggerated. Spectator stands in front of low fence with a door-gate. There are 8 doorbells on it. The act of ringing provokes an action in an apartment window. Based on chance and the choices that viewers make, the project explores the contemporary trends in the construction of a narrative and the interplay between diverse informative sub-layers effected through the impact of digital, non-linear media. It also questions the very process of story telling and at the same time considers the way of audience reading. It investigates the differences of individual and collective perception. In other words, the sequence and choices that each viewer selects reflect his own perspectives and behavioral patterns, thus makes the viewer much more than an active participant. By interacting with the installation the viewer is engaged in the creative process: re-telling the ever-changing story through the utilization of the primary capability of the digitization: reshaping the information. Therefore, each participant walks away with a unique, slightly different vision, each shaped according to his own choices and directions. Interactive media and the digital environment of the DH and its narrative function through a recognizable metaphor that makes access to the information meaningful: a house as a conceptual society model and an apartment as a private space. This reference transforms the objects and stories in the project into the metaphors and reminds us of the art cultural function: as a site of memory of the social collective imagination and as a site of representation and power.

STANZA

Capacities Life in the Emergent City

“Capacities Life In The Emergent City” captures the changes over time in the environment (city) and represents the changing life and complexity of space as an emergent artwork. Capacities goes beyond simple single user interaction to monitor and survey in real time the whole city and entirely represent the complexities of the real time city as a shifting morphing and complex system. What you see is a sculpture which represents the emergent properties of the environment where the sensor network is situated.

MAURICE BENAYOUN

Морис Бенаюн
莫里斯·贝纳永
Cosmopolis
Overwriting the city

Cosmopolis endeavours to examine urban realities through people’s eyes. It is an artistic, and scientific interpretation of urbanization, making a visit a physical and intellectual experience.
The visitor enters a big, moving panorama of a constantly changing city. Twelve observation binoculars, much like those found at scenic lookout points, allow one to be surrounded 360° by twelve urban environments. Seven Occidental cities and five Asian cities: Paris , Berlin , Barcelona , Chicago , Johannesburg , Cairo , Sao Paulo , Beijing , Shanghai , Chongqing , Chengdu , Hong Kong , can thus be discovered, each from different viewpoints. Bearing no resemblance to the touristy landscapes one may expect to see, these scenes lay out major urban issues simply through a choice of viewpoint: transportation, environment, architecture, energy, health…