ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL 2016出展報告
2016年9月8日（木）〜12日（月）にかけて、オーストリア・リンツで開催されたARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL 2016に、エンパワーメント情報学プログラム（EMP）の履修生6名（1年次 髙嶋 倫太郎さん、2年次 佐々木 海さん、3年次 加納 青李さん、BRUMLEY Johnさん、BOEM Albertoさん、LOBO Joanaさん）が、授業「エンパワーメントプロジェクト研究」にて、今年の4月から学生同士でチームを組み取り組んできた研究成果を出展しました。
From the 8th to the 12th of September 2016 we took part at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria. In this period we had the opportunity to show the results of the Project-Based Research class to a wide range of visitors, ranging from internationally renowned artists and researchers to normal citizens in the main venue of the festival, the so-called Post City.
The Ars Electronica Festival is one of the oldest venue in the world (the first edition was helded in 1979) where art, technology and society meets in order to redifine their roles and reflect on themeselves through exhibitions, talks, performances and workshops. This year’s theme was “Radical Atoms, and the alchemists of our time”. Even if it sounds obscure, it was a very interesting attempt to explore a new territory where bits and atoms, cells and algorithms, the digital and the physical are somehow blurring their historical bonduaries. Along with a very impressive group of artworks, this year the festival was hosting a series of ‘Artist’s Lab’, where different research groups working between science and art were presenting their works and outcomes.
In April 2016 we started the class called “Project Based Research”. The aim of this class was to develop a research project through a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach. Two groups of students with different research interests, age and nationalities have been formed. Together with students Sasaki Kai and Kano Shori we have created “Vital+Morph”, a prototype of a novel shape-changing interface for real-time data physicalization. During the five days of the festival we received more then 6oo visits in our booth. The feedbacks and the dicussion we have received from every single visitor have been really interesting and helpful in order to improve our work in the near future.
“Vital+Morph”を出展した佐々木さん、加納さん、Boemさん
Along with the many events of this year festival, we have attended the “Campus Educators Forum”, a new platform for the discussion and exchange of perspectives between different university program leaders. During this series of talks Iwata-sensei have introduced Empowerment Informatics and his research activity.
In conclusion the experience was very intense, demanding but vey rewarding!
我々のグループの出展作品は”Vital+Morph”です。本作品は患者の生体情報と物体の形状変化を活用し、病院内の患者との相互作用・存在知覚を支援するインタフェースとなります。これは相互作用を支援する形状共有型デバイスと、患者の生体信号を身体化する形状変化型デバイスから構成されていて、前者は形状を相互に共有し、後者は患者の生体情報に基づき形状を変化させるものとなります。
本作品はエンパワーメント情報学プログラムの授業の一つである”エンパワーメントプロジェクト研究”の活動として今年4月から数カ月で製作したプロトタイプであり、我々のコンセプトやモチベーションを十分来場者へ伝えることができるか不安でした。実際に会場で展示を行い、来場者から様々な感想を頂戴致しましたが，ご高齢の方々や家族連れの方々を中心として“現在そして今後の高齢化社会にとって有益な作品である”等、多くの快い感想を頂くことができ、まずは一安心とともに今後のさらなる活動に意欲が湧いてきております。
The concept presented by our group this year at Ars Electronica Festival focused on a jacket and fitness unit for converting exercise and biosignals into air haptics: the PitterPataPata system. We aimed to create a novel form of haptic actuation by bringing air-powered haptic actuation close to the body. By incorporating biosignals (ECG) and exercising speed as the drivers for actuation, we were interested in how effectively this form of actuation would increase awareness of a wearer’s own internal biological rhythm. The ultimate goal was to give the visitor an unique understanding of what is defined as inside and outside of his/her own body while performing a very common activity like exercising on a bicycle. The internal rhythm’s changes occurring while exercising are reflected on the jacket by gradual variations of jacket’s shapes along specific regions of the body, as well as different activation sequences for localized haptic feeling on the skin.
The name of the project, PitterPataPata, was born from combining the English word for a heart beating fast, pitter-patter, with the Japanese onomatopoeia for flapping or waving, pata pata. Furthermore, this project had the collaboration of a student from the Design department regarding the jacket design and fabrication, making it an even more interdisciplinary project.
During the five days of the festival, we presented our work as a Sports Club theme-based installation. On a sign-up desk, visitors could make their own Sports Club membership card by using their own ‘breath fingerprint’. On the exercise station, they could put on the jacket and ride a modified bicycle, providing them a dynamic visual, sound and haptic experience. More than 220 visitors had the opportunity to actually try out the jacket. From children to seniors, a lot of interesting feedback was received regarding the PitterPataPata system.
Although very intensive and physically tiring, the overall experience was very rewarding. Our team being able to show PitterPataPata at such a relevant exhibition was a positive achievement for the Project Based Research class.
岩田プログラムリーダーと“Pitter Patta Patta”を出展したBrumleyさん、Loboさん、髙嶋さん