Simon Schmid

  • Hybrid Space

    Hybrid Space

    Over the years, the Ars Electronica Futurelab has done a lot of research on various forms of reality and their forms of presence or interaction. In the wake of the pandemic forcing us all into virtual video spaces, the Lab is dedicating its 25th anniversary to collective exploration of the intersections and boundaries between different…

  • Ori*botics

    Ori*botics

    the art and science of robotic origami

    ORI*BOTICS, the art and science of robotic origami, is a follow-on research project that continues the investigation of origami, technology and nature. It extends on our novel methods for designing and making strong, flexible and highly irregular origami from textiles and 3D printing, namely Fold Printing and Fold Mapping.

  • Magellan Robot

    Magellan Robot

    On the 6th of March 1521 a small fleet of Spanish ships under the command of the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reached the Island of Guam in the Pacific. They were greeted by curious natives, the Chamorro. Some of them came aboard and started to look around. They began to evaluate the many useful items…

  • OutReach

    OutReach

    Telepresence is a great tool that gives people the ability to be in far away places without having to travel. Telepresence robots like Double Robot are great tools for communication. However, they usually lack ways to interact physically with their environment. This reduces the autonomy and freedom of movement of robot users. This way, telepresence…

  • Future Ink

    Future Ink

    Life Ink / Bio Ink / AI Ink / Space Ink

    The Future Ink Project is a collaborative research project between Wacom and Ars Electronica Futurelab to explore the future of creativity from all aspects of ink. As the world’s leader in pen tablets, interactive pen displays, and digital interface technologies, Wacom brings people and technology closer together through natural, intuitive interface solutions. Through the joint…

  • Open Futurelab 2020

    Open Futurelab 2020

    The Open Futurelab already planned for 2020 was redesigned into a major experiment due to the Covid pandemic – intended to create a hybrid interaction space that confronted the difficulties of social distance as well as the opportunities presented by telepresence. For not only the lab itself, but the entire festival was challenged by the…

  • Open Futurelab 2019

    Open Futurelab 2019

    The festival site at POSTCITY in Linz was used as a stage for Open Futurelab until 2019. Created with the Japanese public broadcasting company NHK, Media Platz was a prototype of an open media plaza consisting of cardboard and high-resolution screens, which was used as a forum for public debate. Various panel discussions took place…

  • Swarm Arena @Miraikan

    Swarm Arena @Miraikan

    In the beginning, there was a shared research interest: How can swarm-based technology be embedded in everyday media use and what new possibilities of communication or artistic expression does it offer as a visual medium? The Japanese telecommunications company NTT and the Ars Electronica Futurelab have been investigating these questions since 2017 and have repeatedly…

  • swarmOS

    swarmOS

    swarmOS is a 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.

  • Swarm Arena

    Swarm Arena

    Swarm Arena is the latest outcome of joint research efforts by the Ars Electronica Futurelab and Japanese telecommunications giant NTT. The collaboration started in 2017 with the aim to work on using unmanned aerial or ground vehicles (UAVs and UGVs) as a means of communication.

  • Open Futurelab 2018

    Open Futurelab 2018

    Following an extended period of integrating contributions from the Ars Electronica Futurelab at various festival settings, the 2018 Open Futurelab initiative in the POSTCITY was intended to create a key interface for the lab’s creative international network.

  • Drone100: Spaxels over Linz

    Drone100: Spaxels over Linz

    Partnering with Intel â„¢ on the Drone 100 project paid off tremendously for the Spaxels crew in terms of technical impetus and media coverage. Following this momentous achievement and with the next Ars Electronica Festival coming up, it was high time to demonstrate just how far this undertaking had come at the very spot where…