Designskolen Kolding’s Institute for Industrial Design and Interactive
Media is at the forefront of developing new approaches to ethical,
social and aesthetic issues. By allowing a broad definition of both art
and design to act upon our working practice we are able to incorporate
user observation, interaction and poetic insight as drivers of the design
process.
How to disappear was one of a number of projects that examined how
the British and Danish states deal with surveillance issues. It was chosen
to be exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in the
exhibition Safe: Design takes on Risk and comprises a humourous and
relevant kit that informs the user on the kinds of surveillance one is
already subject to and how to avoid them, if so desired.
How can the comfort of a hug be transferred to a robot? Though it may
sound far-fetched this is one of a number of interfaces the institute is
currently working on for invasive medical technologies in conjunction
with Robocluster and Vejle Hospital. The Roblood project looks at ways
robotic technologies can take blood from patients in a medical environment
as well as what improvements can be made within the existing
system.
Life-like is a digital toy concept that belongs to a new branch of products
that simulate the process of evolution. A small interactive aquarium
is home to a flock of virtual arthropods that hunt each other down in a
competition for the survival of the fittest. You can put you hand into the
simulation and influence the process by artificial selection or you can
let it evolve on its own. Genetic algorithms have been around since the
1970’s, yet there have been no commercial breakthroughs in the field
of evolutionary toys. |
