New Views of Humankind
Chat on the phone with an android and pet a robotic baby seal. Clone a tobacco plant, isolate your own DNA, or snap a photo of your retina. You can do all this and lots more in the MainGallery of the Ars Electronica Center Linz!
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, UP CLOSE & PERSONAL
The featured installation, “New Views of Humankind,” is something truly extraordinary. This exhibit consists of four domains—laboratories, if you will: RoboLab, where you’ll learn all about machines, robots and androids, the ones among us now and those that will be arriving shortly; BrainLab, which makes you aware of how you perceive your surroundings and all that your brain leads you to believe as you do so; BioLab, the place to go for hands-on experience with state-of-the-art microscopes amidst cloned plants; and the FabLab that lets you take the fabrication technology of tomorrow out for a spin today!
PLAYFULLY EXPLORE WHAT’S NEW
No matter which direction your curiosity takes you, you’ll get your hands on stuff you’ve never encountered, and you’ll see some things you’ve most assuredly never seen before. Experience how exciting and even thrilling, how promising but also how risky, science and R&D can be.
BEHOLD NEW VIEWS OF HUMANKIND
Just because all our labs are outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, that doesn’t mean that experts are the only ones who’ll feel comfortable. Nearly everything on display here can be operated by anyone. There are no prerequisites; check your inhibitions at the door. It’s all up to you—enjoy a fun, hand’s-on, learning-by-doing approach to innovation!
Exhibits
Hugvie
“Hugvie” turns a long-distance call with someone you’re close to into a very local call. When you’re on the phone, the cuddly, pillow-shaped robot gets across an intensely physical feeling of the immediate and, in the truest sense of the word, corporeal presence of the other person.
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Tabby from CREATUREs
“Tabby from CREATUREs” is a cuddly, fluffy fur lamp that almost seems like a real pet. It’s a must-have for leading-edge living rooms.
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Animated Lamp V/a. g. r. a.
As soon as it’s turned on, “Animated Lamp” leaps into action—it doesn’t just emit light; this designer piece starts to move.
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Strandbeest
Driven only by wind energy, the polypods march across the dunes in the Netherlands. You can try out the models by Theo Jansen yourself.
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NAUTILOS, Near-Autonomous InjectabLe Optofluidic System
NAUTILOS is a revolutionary project with tremendous future promise: a mini-submarine that patrols our bloodstream on the lookout for pathogens and cancer cells.
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Retina Implantat
The retina implant is the visual prosthesis of the future. It’s designed to help the blind get their sight back.
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Cochlea Implantat
Cochlear implants are the first replacement of a human sense, the sense of hearing.
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CardioWest C-70 TAH
The CardioWest C-70 TAH is a complete artificial heart that can be temporarily transplanted into patients with total heart failure.
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EndoCapsule
EndoCapsule makes endoscopy totally pain-free. The patient swallows a tiny capsule equipped with a camera that transmits live pictures from inside his/her body.
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Da Vinci System
The da Vinci surgical robot can perform highly complex operations with consummate precision. The device is remote-controlled by a human surgeon.
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Thigh prosthesis made of leather
A century ago, prostheses were crafted of wood, steel and leather. A comparison with their contemporary counterparts reveals the impressive pace of technological development.
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Thought-controlled prosthesis
Otto Bock manufactures state-of-the-art prostheses—robotic systems that are attached to the wearer’s muscles and nerves so they can be controlled by thoughts.
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Fluid Dress
The designer dress of the future consists of interwoven transparent tubes that a computer-controlled pump can fill with variously colored fluids.
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Blob Motility
Blob is an ambitious project blazing an innovative trail into the future of design. The mission: develop a display out of a liquid material that can assume any given form.
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Transparent Specimen
The Japanese artist Iori Tomita creates for his series “The new world of transparent specimen” of marine animals “fantastic-alien” preparations.
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Saccade Based Display
Only while standing in front of the LED – pillars and performing a specific eye movment – a so called saccade – images of human eyes become visible.
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Inside/Out
The retina has long been underrated. Is its job strictly to forward information to the brain? The latest studies say: No, it does much more!
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Brainatlas
The human brain is one of our most complicated and most vital organs. It’s also among our body’s biggest puzzles.
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Holoman
Step in front of the mirror and discover the fascination of the human body! Human anatomy has always fascinated artists no less than physicians. Anatomical representations from different historical epochs let us see how knowledge of the body has changed over the course of time. “Holoman” is a modern magical mirror that gives us a [...]
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At first Sight
Decision-making processes in the brain are lightening fast and often proceed unconsciously. Explaining how this works is the aim of several different research fields—from the neurosciences to artificial intelligence all the way to psychology.
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Optical Illusions
There are certain things we can rely on: the sky is blue, the world is three-dimensional, and the further away an object is, the smaller it gets. Do you truly believe that?
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Brain Computer Interface
The brain-computer interface conveys information directly from the brain to the computer. Serving as the interface is usually an EEG cap placed on the subject’s head. Electrodes implanted directly into the brain enable, for example, severely physically handicapped persons to use a computer and to communicate more easily.
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