On May 18, 2021, the Berlin Open Lab (BOL) will host its first symposium from 9:30am - 1:30pm, showcasing the Lab's projects and people. The interactive event will take place online via BigBlueButton and is open to everyone.
Design researcher Prof. Dr. Gesche Joost (UdK), Prof. Dr. Stefan Weinzierl from the TU's Department of Audio Communication, Christoph Gengnagel from the Hybrid Platform and Tonia Welter from the BOL will kick off an exciting morning. Berit Greinke, Junior Professor of Wearable Computing (UdK), Saqib Aziz from the Institute of Architecture and Urbanism (UdK) and Tonia Welter will moderate through the day.
The BOL currently hosts about 45 people from a wide range of disciplines working together on very contrasting projects on design with digital means:
A small first taste of the content could already be had during the hybrid performance "Dancing at the Edge of the World", which took place last month. While this project dealt with wearables, sound generation, smart textiles and AI, the project "SmarDis (Smart Material Interface)" investigates how personal data from the fields of communication, health or living could be visualized on a smart material display. The project "fibel.digital" - is a new type of medium that accompanies elementary school students in early stages, diagnosing difficulties and helping teachers to better support children. In the research project "Privacy Icons", on the other hand, icons are being developed to make the complexity of data processing and the associated risks intuitively understandable.
The other projects, that have not yet been outlined here, are also multifaceted and move between topics ranging from AI to ethics, from dance to music to acoustics, from machine learning to the digitalization of human learning. The projects work with VR/AR/MR, 3D printing, roboter arms, wearables, and smart textiles. They critically question our making and shaping by taking trans./feminist, post-anthropocentric approaches.
The projects will be presented in 5 slots of 20 minutes each and a 10-minute Q&A starting at 10am. Listeners are explicitly invited to participate via the audio track and to contribute their questions and suggestions. A corresponding instruction can be found directly trough the BigBlueButton - Tool.
– Rosa