How real can virtual reality really be and what can you experience in it? Will we print our food with the 3-D printer in the future? And what possibilities are there to explore the activities of our brain, and how do we use these results? Look with us in the human body, find out what scientists are doing today, and meet artworks with current technological developments. You can do all this and lots more in the MainGallery of the Ars Electronica Center Linz!

New Views of Humankind Overview Plan

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

The featured installation, “New Views of Humankind,” is something truly extraordinary. This exhibit consists of four domains—laboratories, if you will: BrainLab, which makes you aware of how you perceive your surroundings and all that your brain leads you to believe as you do so; BioLab, the place to go for hands-on experience with state-of-the-art microscopes amidst cloned plants; FabLabthat lets you take the fabrication technology of tomorrow out for a spin today; and the new VRLab, where you can immerse yourself in fictional worlds with so-called VR-glasses and learn more about the history of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality.

PLAYFULLY EXPLORE WHAT’S NEW

No matter which direction your curiosity takes you, you’ll get your hands on stuff you’ve never encountered, and you’ll see some things you’ve most assuredly never seen before. Experience how exciting and even thrilling, how promising but also how risky, science and R&D can be.

BEHOLD NEW VIEWS OF HUMANKIND

Just because all our labs are outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, that doesn’t mean that experts are the only ones who’ll feel comfortable. Nearly everything on display here can be operated by anyone. There are no prerequisites; check your inhibitions at the door. It’s all up to you—enjoy a fun, hand’s-on, learning-by-doing approach to innovation!

Agent Unicorn

How can design and new technology be used to improve mental health therapy? Anouk Wipprecht’s 3D-printed headsets, which take the form of unicorn horns, are designed for children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

At first Sight

Decision-making processes in the brain are lightening fast and often proceed unconsciously. Explaining how this works is the aim of several different research fields—from the neurosciences to artificial intelligence all the way to psychology.

Brain Computer Interface

The brain-computer interface conveys information directly from the brain to the computer. Serving as the interface is usually an EEG cap placed on the subject’s head. Electrodes implanted directly into the brain enable, for example, severely physically handicapped persons to use a computer and to communicate more easily.

Brainatlas

The human brain is one of our most complicated and most vital organs. It's also among our body's biggest puzzles.

fMRT

Functional Magnetic resonance tomography delivers images of the brain’s functions and activities.

Mixed Reality with Microsoft HoloLens

Microsoft HoloLens is a mixed reality headset that blends the digital world into the real one. Digital contents appear like holograms amidst a real-world setting.

Holoman

Step in front of the mirror and discover the fascination of the human body! Human anatomy has always fascinated artists no less than physicians. Anatomical representations from different historical epochs let us see how knowledge of the body has changed over the course of time.

Homo Digitalis: What’s the Digital Revolution Doing to Us?

How long will we actually still be human and what does the exponential growth of progress have in store for us next? Have we already begun to morph into a new species, Homo Digitalis?

HYPER-REALITY

HYPER-REALITY is a concept film, presenting a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media.

Infabity

The HARATECH Company’s My Twiin Bodyscanner performs a 3-D scan of a person’s entire body within only a few seconds. Then, its software automatically converts the body scan data into a 3-D model and thus creates a personal virtual 3-D avatar.

Inside/Out

The retina has long been underrated. Is its job strictly to forward information to the brain? The latest studies say: No, it does much more!

LOGIN

This installation invites visitors to physically experience the login process, which normally isn’t visible. The transition from physical to digital states is manifested by an experience in which the perception of one’s body melds with its representation in the form of data.

MasterWorks

In this virtual reality application, you travel to various historically significant locations around the world and discover the fate of the ancient capital of Thailand, the mysteries of a pre-Incan temple in the Peruvian Andes, the astonishing Native American cliff dwellings of Colorado and the monumental stone carvings of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

Optical Illusions

There are certain things we can rely on: the sky is blue, the world is three-dimensional, and the further away an object is, the smaller it gets. Do you truly believe that?

Paro

“Paro” is a cute baby seal robot that responds when it hears its name, can recognize 50 different voices, and reacts when you touch it…

Project INEO

INEO is a virtual reality experience designed especially with the interests and needs of non-tech-savvy seniors in mind. The whole experience—beginning with the choice of scenery—was developed in cooperation with members of the Pensioners Club of the City of Vienna.

Saccade Based Display

Only while standing in front of the LED – pillars and performing a specific eye movment – a so called saccade – images of human eyes become visible.

SEE-KID

SEE++ is a high-performance computer program that makes it possible to simulate our eyes’ complex sequences of movements. With it, operations on the eye muscles can be planned.

Speaker Dress

Speaker Dress, the latest in Anouk Wipprecht’s ongoing series of interactive articles of clothing, augments the wearer’s body with sonic features. Speaker Dress transforms the body into a mobile hi-fi system that is also capable of composing and producing music autonomously.

The House of Medusa

In 2000, fragments of Roman mural paintings were discovered and recovered during an archaeological emergency excavation prior to the construction of a car park in Enns. Enter the virtual house of Medusa in this VR application.

The Lacuna Shifts

Alice in Wonderland inspired the artists’ collective named DEPART to create this Virtual Reality application that immerses users into a world behind the looking glass in which nothing is the way it seems.

Visucam

Look yourself in the eyes and take a picture of your retina.

Virtual Reality with Vive and Oculus Rift

Vive, one of the first commercially available Virtual Reality systems, has made quite a name for itself among a variety of solutions that have recently hit the market. It enables users to experience games and other digital content as if you were right inside them. Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset that was developed by Oculus VR and has been on the market since early 2016.