NOTE: Distance Lab became part of the Glasgow School of Art Innovation School in October 2010. This is a snapshot of the Lab's web site around July 2010 for historical reference.
Students from local schools participating in a Distance Lab
workshop built Loopins - innovative DIY soft toys that combine
textiles with simple electronics. Invented at Distance Lab, the eyes
of the toy light up when its ears touch together. The workshop was
held as part of the Fresh Horizons day organised by Going Nova, which
published a report
and photo
gallery of the event on their web site.
The theme of Distance Lab's fourth major Open Studio event
was Slow Technology,
an extension of notions from the "slow food" movement into the
design of new technologies. Instead of speed and efficiency, slow
technology emphasises the quality, locality, and humanity of the
total experience.
The special guest speaker at the event was Glorianna Davenport,
head of the Media Fabrics group at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) Media Lab. She framed her work within the "slow"
theme, setting out a vision for "slow stories", a new class of stories
enabled by the agility of computer networks and their associated
technologies.
Distance Lab researchers Costas Bissas and Tomoko
Hayashi described neuromantic, a exploratory
project that aims to encourage rural modern life through the use of
new technologies without altering the authenticity of the environment,
local uniqueness and resources.
The event included "open studio" time during which attendees
could view project prototypes and interact directly with Distance Lab
researchers.
The event was followed by an evening gathering at a local seafood
pub where interesting discussions continued. The following morning, a
number of guests from the event gathered at the Lab to share their
work and experience in informal and interactive presentations.
Distance Lab's innovative "boxing over a distance" game, Remote Impact, was
among 11 new titles shortlisted for the European
Innovative Games Award 2008. Other titles shortlisted
included Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and Nintendo's Wii
Fit. A total of 77 games were nominated for the award from
throughout the European Union.
Distance Lab researcher Elena Corchero has been selected as a
finalist in the British Council's UK
Young Fashion Entrepreneur Awards 2009. As part of the award
she will be touring India, along with the five other finalists, to
meet with industry leaders and learn about India's vibrant fashion
industry. The winner will be announced at a presentation to be held
during February's London Fashion Week.
The UK Young Fashion Entrepreneur Award is one of nine awards for
young creative entrepreneurs developed by the British Council with
support from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the
Arts) and the cultural leadership programme. Over 30 fashion
innovators were nominated for this year's award. Judges evaluate each
candidate on their entrepreneurial ability, leadership skills, market
awareness, originality of ideas and international outlook.
Distance Lab's Chief Executive and Research Director, Stefan
Agamanolis, gave an invited talk entitled "Dueling with Distance" at PICNIC 08,
Amsterdam's leading annual international event highlighting creativity
and innovation, particularly in media, entertainment and technology.
He also spoke and participated in a debate in the Hot100
session for up-and-coming creative media talent of the Netherlands.
He also gave a talk at the Mastermundo
2008 Creative Conference in The Hague on 27 September.
Elena Corchero presented her Solar Vintage
collection, including a number of new jewellery pieces created in
collaboration with Richard Wilson and Hilary Grant, at a solo
exhibition at the G de Joyas
Gallery in Barcelona.
13 September 2008
Distance Lab wins £5000 Alt-w Production Award
Distance Lab has won a £5000 Alt-w Production
Award for Mutsugoto, an experimental
body-drawing communicator intended for partners who are separated by
distance. The project was created by Tomoko Hayashi, Stefan
Agamanolis, and Matthew Karau. The award will support further
development of Mutsugoto leading up to several exhibition
engagements in the next year. The distribution of Alt-w awards is
managed by New Media
Scotland and funded by Scottish Screen and the
Scottish Arts Council.
11 - 15 August 2008
Distance Lab projects presented at
SIGGRAPH
Two Distance Lab projects, Mutsugoto and Remote Impact, were
accepted and presented as posters in Los Angeles at the ACM SIGGRAPH 2008
Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques.
Distance Lab ran a High Five workshop as part of
the CMU
Portugal Madeira Summer Academy in HCI at the Madeira
Tecnopolo on the island of Madeira in Portugal. In addition to high
fives, participants also created networked computer interfaces for
squeezing hands, making puppets dance, and blowing out birthday
candles over a distance.
Costas Bissas and Stefan Agamanolis gave a
presentation about Distance Lab at the International Cittaslow Assembly in Orvieto, Italy. Leaders from "slow" cities and towns
around the world heard about the Lab's research endeavours in "slow
technology" and "slow communication", and how they could transform a
visitor's experience of a town and improve quality of life for
residents. Representatives from CittaSlow UK were also
present.
24 June 2008
Remote Impact presented at CREATE 2008
Design Showcase in London
Distance Lab's "boxing over a distance"
project, Remote Impact,
was accepted to and presented at the CREATE 2008 Design Showcase at
the British Computer Society in London.
1 - 8 June 2008
Distance Lab collaborates with MIT to exhibit Urban Pixels for the first time
Susanne Seitinger and Danny Perry
from the MIT Media Lab collaborated with Richard Wilson of
Distance Lab to present the first ever public exhibition of Urban Pixels, a system of
programmable lighting units that can be used to create new effects
that blur the boundary between urban lighting and display. The pixels
were installed on a facade at the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.
Theatre-goers and passers-by were able to interact with the display by
sending texts with their mobile phones or by waving a flashlight on
the facade.
An article entitled "Inside
Distance Lab" authored by Steven McKenzie appeared online on
the BBC today. The article covers a number of recent projects
including Solar Vintage
and Remote Impact. The
article includes a great video of Stefan Agamanolis fighting
Costas Bissas in Remote Impact.
Machined Craft and Haute Tech
featured as themes at the third major Open Studio event at
Distance Lab.
Keynote speakers included Peter Schmitt and Di
Mainstone. Schmitt, a PhD candidate in the Smart Cities group at
the MIT Media Lab, discussed his work which is pushing the limits of
digital fabrication techniques for applications ranging from car
design to artistic production. Mainstone, a fashion designer from
London, presented a selection of her work in the field of interactive
fashion.
The event included "open studio" time during which attendees
could view project prototypes and interact directly with Distance Lab
researchers.
29 May 2008
Elena Corchero designs solar crown for
Barcelona jewellery competition
A new and improved version of our latest
"Sports over a Distance" prototype Remote Impact was
showcased today in the exhibition at NESTA's Innovation Edge
conference at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Featured speakers at
the event included Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Prime Minister Gordon Brown
and activist/rock-star Bob Geldolf.
One of the dresses from Elena Corchero's Solar Vintage collection
was featured in an exhibition entitled Technothreads at the
Science Gallery in Dublin,
Ireland. Click below for video highlights from the exhibition...
Florian 'Floyd' Mueller delivered a
presentation about Remote
Impact in the Interactivity track at the ACM CHI 2008 Conference on Human
Factors in Computing Systems in Florence. During the
Interactivity exhibition, conference attendees could punch and kick a
miniature version of the Remote Impact interface. Read the extended
abstract as it appeared in the conference proceedings.
6 April 2008
Exertion Interfaces workshop at Florence conference
Solar Vintage
selected for Boston cyberfashion event
Solar
Vintage was featured in SEAMLESS 2008, a
fashion event featuring innovative and experimental works in
computational apparel design, interactive clothing, and
technology-based fashion.
