What we do

We at the Ars Electronica Futurelab help you overcome the boundaries of thinking within your organization and your field. We find solutions to practical problems, but we work most effectively through open innovation: The lab serves as a catalyst and compass, a mirror for the future. Together we find out whether your problem is the right one for the future of your company and society. You will work through this process together with a wide range of Futurelab experts, from artists to researchers and programmers.

What you get

At the end of the journey, there is not a static solution – not a map, but a compass. A compass that will enable you to navigate this ever-changing world in the future. In the face of challenges as the climate crisis and digital transformation, a new philosophy is needed to move into the future strengthened, in a positive and creative way. We support you in this with an unconventional approach, creative collisions and decades of experience.

How we work

The first step is getting to know each other and exploring the questions with which you approach the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Phase Zero serves as a preliminary conceptualization phase. Together, we find out what the project entails and what expectations are to be met with the result. We work out how best to represent the anticipation: Whether in a series of prototypes, experiments, installations or communication approaches – the focus is on the vision we have worked out together and how it can be communicated in a “tangible” way. In addition, we discuss practical considerations: How much time is available and what are the budgetary possibilities? In the next step, we jointly outline the direction in which the issue could develop in the future and what aspects are important in this context – based on our “Art Thinking” approach for broadly exploring future issues. You’ll also benefit from Ars Electronica’s extensive network: wherever it makes sense, we’ll work collaboratively with partners from research, technology, art and culture on the project’s challenges.

Outcome

In multi-stage phases, our transdisciplinary team moves forward with artistic, technological and even social issues – focussing on the previously generated vision. Resulting in always unique, new developments such as artificial intelligence for drones or self-driving cars, the visualization of complex data, mixed reality applications, visionary applications for a company’s existing hardware and software, participatory art installations as well as experiments in genetic research, with microorganisms and plants. Always following the goal of providing exemplary insights into the future that are suitable to engage in a discourse with a broad public – and not just an expert audience.

Funding

Important for large companies as well as SMEs: As part of Ars Electronica, the Futurelab is listed as a non-university research institution with the FFG (Austrian Research Promotion Agency). Joint research projects can therefore receive at least partial public funding. We are also continuously implementing various projects funded by EU institutions with partners from business, art and culture. Since 2022, the Ars Electronica Futurelab is also part of AI5production, a project funded by the Austrian Ministry of Economics and the EU Commission that supports manufacturing companies in Austria with free customized feasibility studies on the topics of industrial assistance systems as well as digital design and AI for industry 5.0.

Artists

We at the Ars Electronica Futurelab are always excited to work with artistic minds from different disciplines. In order to cooperate, the expenses of the artist itself as well as the lab’s involvement have to be covered from a production/research budget since the laboratory itself cannot sustain residencies. Another way for artists to collaborate is through the wide variety of Open Calls by the Ars Electronica and its partners that offer great opportunities for artists worldwide. For the latest information, check out the Ars Electronica Open Calls website!

Ready for innovation?