SAP Pavilion – Experience Big Data
The Ars Electronica Futurelab’s New Exhibition at SAP Headquarters in Walldorf, Germany
press release “SAP Pavilion – Experience Big Data” / PDF
(Linz/Walldorf, February 17, 2014) Following up on its “Celebrate 40 Years of the Future” exhibition that premiered in May 2012, the Ars Electronica Futurelab is now staging its next show on the corporate campus of Europe’s largest software provider. “Experience Big Data” is an interactive exhibition that kicked off last Friday at the SAP Pavilion in Walldorf. Prior to the gala opening ceremony, Oliver Bierhoff, co-trainer of the German National Football Team, stopped by to test the interactive installations.
Experience Big Data – An Interactive Exhibition
20 pinwheels mounted on the ceiling make up the reception committee arrayed just inside the exhibition’s entrance. In contrast to conventional examples of this technology, these aren’t driven by currents of wind but rather by data flows fed in by visitors on site and online at www.sap.com or by various Tweets. With this pinwheels, the Ars Electronica Futurelab cites Hiroshi Ishii’s Pinwheels from the year 2000.
Big Data Wall
Once visitors stream past the pinwheels, they confront the Big Data Wall. Before the backdrop of global networking and the accompanying burgeoning of the quantities of data humankind sends out into the world on a daily basis, this wall tells the story of SAP. At two interactive tables, visitors can access in-depth information about all contents.
Big Data Panorama
Next up is the 10-meter-wide Big Data Panorama. Here, the big picture consists of two gigapixel images of Tokyo and New York, each of which is, in turn, made up 3.7 million individual shots. Visitors can use a multi-touch interface and a laser tracking system to explore these images and access stories elaborating on various aspects of Big Data. All of these stories are hidden as graphic elements in the two gigapixel images. So is a whole series of SAP posters, embedded behind each of which is additional information.
Magic Mirror
The exhibition’s final installation is the Magic Mirror. In contrast to the Big Data Panorama, it isn’t oriented on a world full of data; instead, it maintains a tight focuses on one individual. The Magic Mirror is a large-format glassy surface that displays the reflection of the person in front of it and lavishly enhances that image with data particles and information.
Think Tank and Innovation Engine: The Ars Electronica Futurelab
The Ars Electronica Futurelab has been exploring the future at the nexus of art, technology and society since 1996. The laboratory’s staff includes experts in a wide array of fields. The way they carry out assignments is characterized, above all, by transdisciplinarity and international networking. The essence of this approach is ongoing collaboration with artists and scientists worldwide as well as the regular presence of artists-in-residence in Linz. The spectrum of services the Ars Electronica Futurelab delivers is based on expertise and sills developed over many years in such fields as radical innovation, media art, architecture, design, interactive exhibitions, virtual reality and real-time graphics. The lab is a division of Ars Electronica Linz GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the City of Linz.
Photo:
Experience Big Data / Ars Electronica Futurelab / Printversion Sammlung Ars Electronica Futurelab
Photo:
Experience Big Data / Ars Electronica Futurelab / Printversion Sammlung Ars Electronica Futurelab
Photo:
Experience Big Data / Ars Electronica Futurelab / Printversion / Sammlung Ars Electronica Futurelab
