History

Our Journey

The Ars Electronica Futurelab was founded after an incubation phase in 1996, together with the opening of the Ars Electronica Center. Intended mainly for developing new interactive exhibits for the museum, it soon expaned it’s outreach to collaborations with artists, academic institutions and industry partners from all over the world. Today, the Futurelab works on topics ranging from AI to Art Thinking, from mixed reality to Living Logic, from drone swarms to futures fluency – all rooted in the lab’s core mission to connect art, technology and society.

Beginnings

Hannes Leopoldseder founded the Ars Electronica Festival in 1979. The innovative idea swiftly gained global recognition, thanks to the invaluable contributions of many individuals. Notably, co-founder Christine Schöpf played a crucial role in elevating the Prix Ars Electronica, established in 1987, to a worldwide platform. It was also she who pushed for the establishment of an in-house research and development unit. In 1995, Gerfried Stocker was appointed as the Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Ars Electronica. He enlisted the support of Horst Hörtner, who was placed as the head of the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Following an incubation period, the Futurelab officially commenced operations with the opening of the Ars Electronica Center in 1996.

Evolution

Following the initial installations in the Ars Electronica Center, such as the CAVE, collaborations with academic institutions and industry were established, leading to renowned international partnerships. The Ars Electronica Futurelab gradually diversified their expertise, exploring a wide range of areas including drone swarms, artificial intelligence, robotics, genetics, shared virtual experiences in Deep Space 8K, poetic representation of complex systems, and Art Thinking as a catalyst for change.

Anniversary

In 2021, the Ars Electronica Futurelab commemorated its 25th anniversary under the motto “Alchemists of the Future”. A special Futurelab Day during the Ars Electronica Festival, an exhibition and new installations in the Ars Electronica Center presented the public with the lab’s diverse body of work, gave insight into it’s history and, of course, glimpes into the future of society.

Also part of the celebration were a special website, a book about the Futurelab as well as a video series, titled “Inside Futurelab: 25th Anniversary Series”, that features insightful discussions by the lab’s researchers and artists about its history and future.

“Alchemists of the Future – Ars Electronica Futurelab – The First 25 Years and Beyond” is the first book ever written specifically about the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Numerous conversations with the transdisciplinary team of Futurelab Members and Futurelab Alumni as well as an international network of mentors, partners and clients from academia, industry and art served as a starting point. Based on this, author Andreas J. Hirsch presents insights into the mindset and methods behind the ability of the Futurelab to act as creative catalysts of future innovation.

Read more about the book in an interview with Andreas J. Hirsch on the Ars Electronica Blog: Alchemists of the Future – The Book

As part of the preparations for the 25th anniversary, seven stories emerged, highlighting essential domains of research, development, and prototyping undertaken by the Ars Electronica Futurelab: Virtual Worlds, Poetic Systems, The Art of Swarms, Humanity and Robotinity, Code for Matter, Artificial Intelligence, and Art Thinking. These stories provide a context for the lab’s work with diverse technologies and their potential implications on our future lives.