Design Informatics at the Festival
Work by Design Informatics is showcased at the new Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival, 4-28 August 2016.
The Centre for Design Informatics is a joint initiative by the Schools of Informatics and Design, University of Edinburgh.
Work by researchers and students will be presented in a specially commissioned Pavilion outside the Assembly Rooms, George Street, 11am-6pm, throughout the Festival.
In addition, Edinburgh International Festival will draw on University expertise in a spectacular launch event, Deep Time, in which digital animation and music will transform Edinburgh Castle, 10.30pm Sunday 7 August. This follows last year’s brilliant Harmonium Project, in which Design Informatics researchers fed data, generated by singers from the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, into arresting visualisations projected onto the Usher Hall by 59 Productions.
Living with data Pavilion
The Design Informatics exhibition, Living with Data, is displayed in a Pavilion produced by Biomorphis architects. It features a range of products and experiences which look to the future:
- Living with living things: Explores what it means to live and design for a world where things have a life of their own. Anais Moisy, Larissa Pschetz, Shi Hui Tan (Edinburgh Genome Foundry and Design Informatics).
- I Chose to be Watched: Living in the virtual world of social media. Shi Hui Tan (Advanced MSc Design Informatics).
- Totely: A smart bag that helps consumers make more ethical decisions. Philip Budny (MSc Design Informatics).
- Happily ever after: Record a short-term ‘marriage’ in the Blockchain, the encryption technology of the digital currency bitcoin. Web app prototype developed in collaboration with James Stewart, Max Dovey and Corina Angheloiu. Workshop and concept by Chris Speed, Larissa Pschetz, Dave Murray-Rust, Hadi Mehroupya and Bettina Nissen. Code by Hadi Mehroupya.
- BitBarista: An Internet of Things device that exchanges Bitcoin for coffee. Rory Gianni, Ella Tallyn, Mark Kobine (Design Informatics).
- A Story. A Friend. A chair that encourages storytelling. Vanessa Hanschke (MSc Design Informatics).
- Less is more: Focus on the quality of your clothes not the quantity, with the help of a smart wardrobe. Yicheng (Charlotte) Zhang (Advanced MSc Design Informatics).
- Truth or Belief: Scan a barcode that represents your values and displays them through augmented reality. Shun-Yi Chang (MFA Design Informatics).
- Personal Data Bazaar: The future of the personal data marketplace. Masa Morishita (MFA Design Informatics).
Jane Macdonald, Research Projects Coordinator, Design Informatics, says:
“The Pavilion structure itself was designed by Pierre Forissier from Biomorphis architects using computer algorithms. The products and experiences in the exhibition invite you to live a little further into the future, looking at the theme of living with data. Each day we will have a nano-tech talk from each of the artists.
“Come and get married for five minutes with our smart contracting app, have a cuppa from the bitcoin coffee machine and try out intelligent furniture.”
Other University attractions
Talbot Rice Gallery is presenting the Jess Johnson: Eclectrc Panoptic exhibition as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. It includes a virtual reality animation Ixian Gate which uses an Oculus Rift headset to turn Johnson’s drawings into an immersive three-dimensional world.
University staff and students are also involved in a concert of music by Pierre Boulez and will be supporting New Media Scotland's Atmosphere series of enhanced film screenings.
Useful links
Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival (EDEF)
EDEF Art installations: Design Informatics Pavilion
Edinburgh College of Art summer programme
Edinburgh International Festival
New Media Scotland's Atmosphere films