In many crowded urban places such as train stations, you often find yourself in a weird situation; everyone around you is at your arms’ reach and yet you do not know them.
The Society of Stools[16] is a flock of 16 stools that try to keep a set distance between themselves and other objects or people by moving on their own. Once you step into the exhibit, you will be surrounded by them as they all try to keep their distance from you. During this immersive experience, you can feel as if you are one of them, or just feel isolated since they are not willing to let you get closer.
The Society of Stools[16] is the immersive experience with multiple autonomous stools or “Escaping Chairs,” which try to keep their distance from surrounding objects including people, so as not to be sat on.
Biographies:
Takeshi Oozu attended the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki, Japan, graduating with a Bachelor of Science of Arts in 2015. He is now a Ph.D student in Empowerment Informatics at the University of Tsukuba. Currently, he is creating interacting objects and games featuring things we see every day, in order to gain more knowledge about humanity.
Aki Yamada attended Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Policy Studies. She continued studying at Doshisha University and received her Master of Arts in American Studies, studying at Stanford University for one year as a Freeman Spogli Institute Visiting Researcher. In 2015 she completed her Ph.D in Education at the University of California, Los Angeles. Aki worked as an assistant professor at the Empowerment Informatics program at University of Tsukuba focusing on STEAM education and currently she teaches at Tamagawa University as an assistant professor.
