Do objects sometimes dream about themselves? What if we could enter their dreams? Virtual reality? Connected objects? On the occasion of the Milan International Furniture Fair 2016, from 12th to 17th April at the Spazio Orso 16, ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne presents a collection of interactive experiments developed by Bachelor Media and Interaction Design students.
Ever since they appeared, we have been worshipping the objects around us while being extremely demanding of them. What if the roles were reversed for once? Instead of asking objects to make us dream, why don’t we consider their own dreams? Premonitory dreams that anticipate a possible future of objects?
In this exhibition presented by the Bachelor Media & Interaction Design students of ECAL, a series of objects offers visitors a rather unsettling experience. In order to uncover its subtleties they will have to learn to adjust to the objects on display so as to perceive each piece’s personality.
In a certain way, this project as a whole leads us to question the future of familiar objects. How does our relationship to them changes as they become capable of making a statement about their own existence, interact by using onboard sensors and grow increasingly connected to our communication networks? Do I see my toothbrush differently knowing that it records each movement in my mouth and therefore displays a form of consciousness?
As part of the experiments developed for this exhibition, the students created two families of objects. The first integrates a virtual reality principle which allows you to literally look inside the objects, to immerse yourself for a time into a parallel reality which objects let you glimpse at. The second is made up of objects whose basic function is augmented or transformed through activity sensors. This is their way of making us reflect on the future of so-called smart or connected objects.
The objects on display, whose function is but fiction, tell their own story, encouraging us to see and use them differently. In a playful manner, they lead us to rethink some of our distrust in the face of change and as regards, their future.
Credits :
Project Tutors : Alain Bellet, Cyril Diagne, Vincent Jacquier, Pauline Saglio & SIGMASIX
Assistants : Romain Cazier, Laura Perrenoud & Tibor Udvari
Prototype Workshop :Jonathan Bloch, Sandro Bolzoni, Fabio Della Casa, Jérémy Faivre, Kevin Gouriou, Anthony Guex & Pascal Ospelt
Scenography : Sébastien Cluzel
Exhibition : Antoine Vauthey
12–17.04.2016
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