The Open Futurelab awaits visitors with a hands-on exhibition area in POSTCITY, and Futurelab projects can also be experienced in the Ars Electronica Center. On the main square in Linz, missimo is ready to be tried out: a project for children aged eight to ten that offers many experiments on topics such as AI, robotics and programming and will be visiting schools throughout Austria by truck starting in the fall.

The exhibition area of the Open Futurelab presents, for example, Future Teams: imagining a future where humans and diverse beings from microorganisms to plants, robots and AI work together as a team. In prototype demonstrations and the visitor experience, three buddy bots with different languages – sight, smell and hearing – are being presented. Two of the projects featured at the Open Futurelab are born out of the internal Futurelab Ideas Expedition: With Bridge 2040, visitors can experience our brand new card game to bridge generations and find new inspiration for the futures to be. The second project is Deep Sync, an innovative application for the Ars Electronica Center’s immersive experience space Deep Space 8K that can also be tested at the Open Futurelab. With each person’s heartbeat sonified and visualized, Deep Sync provides a unique opportunity for self-exploration and group experiences, opening up questions about empathy and human synchronization.

Anatomy of Nudging, the first installation of the project Collective Transformation Lab, invites festival visitors to accept a challenge in which they “nudge” strangers with the help of NudgeAI to carry out a task. The goal is to step out of one’s comfort zone, to gain a sense of achievement for it and to earn collective points in the process. Visitors will also be able to experience music in a new way with Oribotic Instruments that consist of layered electronics and textiles. Ori Shelter is also part of the Open Futurelab: It combines origami with social innovation and digital fabrication to create affordable habitats for extreme situations. As part of the Data Art & Science Project, visitors can watch five different artistic explorations that combine data art and data science. These artistic visions will also be part of the live Futurelab Night Performances. Faust VR can also be seen there, bringing the work of theater magician Max Reinhardt to new life. Objection by Tom Bogaert, this year’s Artist in Residence, will be shown in the Säulenhalle at POSTCITY’s basement.