Film, Video & New Media and the Upgrade! Chicago present: Danielle Wilde: Swing that Thing, a presentation on body-worn devices for performance and play :: February 9, 2010; 6:00 pm :: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, MacLean building, Room 1307, 13th floor, 112 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago.

Australian artist and scholar Danielle Wilde will elaborate an emergent definition of poetic body-worn devices for performance and play, that encourage people to move in unusual ways; and a series of non-augmented devices that explore how we might conceive of and develop technologies that we can’t yet imagine. By extending the body, mechanically, gesturally and sensorially we can encourage people to move in extra-normal ways, so view and experience their bodies from perhaps hitherto unknown perspectives. Continue reading

CIANT | International Centre for Art and New Technologies presents Informace na tělo / Wearable Information: Mahir M. Yavuz & Ebru Kurbak :: December 18-21, 2009; Opening + Presentation: December 18; 7:00 pm :: Fotograf Studio, Školská 28, Praha 1.

The concept of information visualization is not brand new, yet today it is a trending topic not only in the fields of art and design but also in social sciences, journalism and governmental strategies. Day by day, tools for data creation is improving, online social networks are gathering more people and the amount of digital data is rapidly increasing. In the recent years, this emerging field began to provide us many different visual outputs in various forms. But, is it possible to think of information visualization in casual forms in our daily life, or even as a source of fashion design? This exhibition presents two projects involved in information visualisation on daily wearables. Continue reading

Test_Lab: Intimate Interfaces — Create electronic circuitry on bare skin, enter a digital network by wearing a veil, see through clothing without X-Ray vision. Test and debate some truly new forms of techno-intimacy in this edition of Test_Lab! :: December 10, 2009; 8:00 - 11:00 pm :: V_2, Eendrachtsstraat 10, Rotterdam + and streamed live.

Featuring: Studio Roosegaarde and Maartje Dijkstra (NL) | Karen Lancel and Hermen Maat (NL) | Bare Conductive: Isabel Lizardi and Matt Johnson (UK) | Lucy McRae (NL) | Opening: Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi (IT)

An intimate relationship consists of a private world shared by an individual and his/her significant other(s). According to sociologist David Cheal, this private world is defined by its need to be continuously maintained. Continue reading

Happiness Hat (2009) by Lauren McCarthy: A wearable conditioning device that detects if you’re smiling and provides pain feedback if you’re not. Frowning creates intense pain but a full smile leaves you pain free! The first in a series of Tools for Improved Social Inter-Acting.

An enclosed bend sensor attaches to the cheek and measures smile size, a servo motor moves a metal spike into the head inversely proportional to the degree of smile. Through repeated use of this conditioning device you can train your brain to smile all the time. The device runs on Arduino.

A smile is a simple action that has the power to make you and everyone around you feel better. Just using the muscles to smile can make you feel happier. Seeing someone else smiling triggers mirror neurons in your own brain, causing you to unconsciously smile yourself. Continue reading

Put your online friends in your pocket and … in your jacket! Based on our online communication style with social networks such as facebook and the research on remote physical communication, you can now be anonymously/friends-only massaged. Brainchild of Keywon Chung, Carnaven Chiu, Xiao Xiao, Peggy Pei-Yu Chi and Hiroshi Ishii, Stress OutSourced (SOS) is a peer-to-peer network that allows anonymous users to send each other therapeutic massages to relieve stress. By applying the emerging concept of crowdsourcing to haptic therapy, SOS brings physical and affective dimensions to our already networked lifestyle while preserving the privacy of its members. SOS is an exploration and illustration of a new field of haptic social networking. [Posted by Cati Vaucelle @ Architectradure] Read more about the project here [PDF]

Tele_Trust_Test_Lab — Karen Lancel & Hermen Maat :: June 11, 2009; 8:30 pm :: Theatrum Anatomicum, Waag Society, Nieuwmarkt 4, Amsterdam.

Karen Lancel and Hermen Maat will present their performance-installation Tele_Trust. The public will participate in the installation and at the same time a Tele_Trust data-veil will roam the Amsterdam public space being in constant connection with the event at the Theatrum. Both the artists will extensively test and tell the meaning and function of Tele_Trust. The evening will start with an introduction to the work by Eric Kluitenberg, author of Delusive Spaces and head of the media department of De Balie, Amsterdam. Continue reading

Upgrade! Eindhoven: Michelle Teran & Danielle Roberts & Anja Hertenberger :: May 31, 2009; 3:00 -5:00 pm 15:00 – 17:00 :: MAD emergent art center, Smalle Haven 2- 14, (next to Heuvel Galerie), Eindhoven.

Michelle Teran (Canada) explores the interplay between social and media networks within urban environments, She uses performative action, many times involving public participation, to articulate the relation of media to the body and architecture by staging urban interventions such as tours, walks, outdoor projections, participatory installations and happenings. Michelle presents a selection of her work. Continue reading

Wearable Technology — Fashion, Function, Raising Awareness :: May 13-17, 2009 :: Edith Russ Site for Media Art, Katharinenstraße 23, D-26121 Oldenburg, Germany.

In cooperation with the Netherlands Institute for Media Art (NIMk) in Amsterdam the Edith-Russ-Site for Media Art presents the exhibition Wearable Technology - Fashion, Function, Raising Awareness NIMk aims to contribute to the distribution and debate of art and design in the field of wearable technology. Wearable technology is an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of design, fashion, science and technology, bringing together users, researchers, practitioners, designers, and manufacturers from the fields of wearable computing, smart clothing, ubiquitous computing, human-computer interaction, fashion design, textile and fiber science, among others.

I-Machine Festival — Robots - Performance - Fashion - Film :: May 9 -17, 2009 :: Opening: May 8; 8:00 pm with performance: Paul Granjon, „Low Tech Songs“ :: Edith Russ Site for Media Art, Katharinenstraße 23, D-26121 Oldenburg, Germany.

I-Machine will focus on robot research and portable electronics, known as wearable technology. This will be a special event with two clearly defined goals: presenting technology-based art works and through them raising the consciousness of Oldenburgers for the manifold possibilities associated with technology and creativity. Consequently, the festival will centre on the idea of knowledge transfer (through presentations, exhibitions and play workshops). Continue reading

DIY Wearable Technology Workshop by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson (aka KOBAKANT) :: May 16-17, 2009 :: V2_, Eendrachtsstraat 10, Rotterdam, the Netherlands :: Call for Participation — Deadline for Applications: May 3.

V2_Lab will organize a wearable technology workshop with an emphasis on DIY techniques and performing arts. The aim of the workshop is to provide participants with hands-on experience on DIY wearable technology. The outcome of the workshop will be working prototypes, which will be demonstrated by means of a short performance during Test_Lab. The participants will partake in hands-on sessions that involve both conceptual as well aesthetic development. Developers from both V2_Lab and KOBAKANT are available for assistance throughout the workshop. Continue reading