ARS ELECTRONICA FUTURELAB
photo: Markus Schneeberger
We strive to create works that reveal the transformative force that emerges when art, technology, and society converge. Our goal is to use these works as a catalyst for future innovation and societal change.
The Ars Electronica Futurelab is an artistic R&D laboratory and atelier. Together with worldwide partners, we aim to humanize technologies and inspire the public. We therefore create tangible future prototypes and experiences: interactive installations, immersive artworks, technical solution approaches, workshops, experiments, and more. As a catalyst and compass, the Ars Electronica Futurelab serves as a mirror for the diverse futures that await us.
Signature Works
Developed by the Futurelab, Deep Space 8K is one of the world’s most exciting digital experience spaces with 33 million pixels, stereoscopic 3D and a high-performance tracking system.
Exploration of the famous cathedral of Notre-Dame in stereoscopic 3D: from impressive architecture to historical representations and larger-than-life details.
Playful artistic intervention on the pillars of the Parliament building in Vienna: An invitation to everyone to express themselves, reflect, and take a stand on democracy.
New interdisciplinary field that incorporates artistic perspectives on data science – aiming to revitalize local culture and tackle problems such as depopulation and an ageing society.
Multiple award-winning innovation that merges MRI and CTR data of real patients into photorealistic 3D images: viewed larger than life in Deep Spaces as razor-sharp objects from all angles.
Capturing brainwaves and body signals in real-time to create a new form of ink, called Life Ink, expressing our creative moments in a completely new form.
Interactive AI-based music composition system where human users and the AI system discover the potential of a musical idea in a collaborative way.
The invention of drone shows and swarm art performances: Futurelab premiered the world’s first large-scale outdoor formation drone flight and has expanded the concept continuously since then.
AI, robotics, programming, and more: This mobile learning platform for primary schools in rural areas offers children a hands-on learning experience.
Curation of the first fall semester program of Austria’s new university IT:U to shape pioneering higher education, including support for Fellows and students by the Futurelab team.
What happens to our experience of space when we fold sound? The research into fundamental artistic methods for origami and robotics follows our central theme of Fold Sensing.
Tangible exhibits for the Ars Electronica Center that allow visitors to explore how neural networks see, learn and interpret data – demystifying the concepts of artificial intelligence.
Immersive audio and visual experience in Deep Space 8K, created through the interaction between artificial intelligence and biological entities.
Interactive visitor guidance system that incorporates a stream of global data as a statement to set up a dialog between nature and culture — that is, human beings and architecture.
Work that proposes a form of “newspaper of the future,” exemplified by exploring the global impacts of the Russian war on Ukraine in Deep Space 8K.
Card game for intergenerational as well as innovators workshops where dialogue is fostered with collaborative storytelling of future narratives.
Social participation project focusing on “character” in the age of networks, resulting in a huge galaxy of personalized characters to communicate and take social actions.
Powerful operating system to control large-scale swarms of UAVs (flying drones) as well as UGVs (drones that drive on the ground), invented and constantly expanded by the Ars Electronica Futurelab.
FH Hagenberg students working together with the Ars Electronica Futurelab on semester projects in which they creatively explore their approaches to interactive and generative arts.
Creative catalyst that enables the audience to participate in social brainstorming and play with their imagination by generatign a sticker cut-out in the shape of their shadow.
We Focus on
The Ars Electronica Futurelab transcends conventional thinking by blending artistic exploration with practical problem-solving. We find innovative solutions to open a dialog with society on diverse future scenarios. Our transdisciplinary team works with mixed reality and interactive technologies, data visualization and media architecture, creative artificial intelligence and microorganisms, robotics, swarm intelligence, and more. As part of Ars Electronica, we are embedded in a strong artistic network with great public interest and unique accessibility. The pillars of our work mirror the Ars Electronica motto Art, Technology, Society.
We aim to inspire – using artistic methods and techniques to question and give meaning to new technologies.
Integral to the lab’s activities are creative problem-solving in research and development, as well as prototyping.
As a proud part of Ars Electronica, the Futurelab creates experiences and education programs that open a societal dialog on technological developments.
Inspiration
At the Ars Electronica Futurelab, we draw inspiration from combining artistic methods with open innovation and scientific exploration as well as from our many collaborations. The lab members work in interconnected fields of Art Science Research with various partners from business, culture, research, and education. The manifold manifestations of this interdisciplinary work in turn serve as inspiration for a broad audience, fellow artists, and the public as well as commercial institutions. Applying our very own Art Thinking method, thought-provoking artworks and creative questions propel us forward: to devise future prototypes with impact and one-of-a-kind experiences that open the discussion to the public.
Futures Fluency, immersive VR experiences, experiments with robotics and diverse living beings, and creative AI are among the lab’s research fields.
The Futurelab’s Art Thinking method uses artistic questions to break new ground and develop fresh concepts for any kind of future question.
Our work is rooted in collaborating with diverse partners from the fields of business, culture, research, and education.
Explore
Discover our latest projects as well as highlights throughout the years, have an in-depth look at our work through our “Inside Futurelab” videos and blog, explore papers and publications – or download our code to start a new project! You can also get to know our team members as well as learn about our philosophy and the history of the Ars Electronica Futurelab – spanning more than 25 years already. Enjoy!
Explore the Futurelab’s latest projects and dive into our database of more than 25 years.
Here you find videos, blog posts, papers and publications, patents, research reports, and code to kickstart your project.
Get to know the Futurelab team and our philosophy, and dig into the lab’s history and milestones since its founding in 1996.
