Founding Lab

The Founding Lab was a pioneering interdisciplinary initiative dedicated to advancing innovation through collaborative research and project-based learning (PBL). It focused on harnessing AI and XR technologies to tackle critical societal challenges, emphasizing inclusivity, accessibility, and ethical technology design. Through collaboration across fields including Interaction Design, Disability Studies, Artificial Intelligence, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), students and researchers co-developed innovative solutions that redefined the potential of digital environments for diverse user groups.

Timeline:

January-February 2024: Project initiation and interdisciplinary collaboration established
March-April 2024: Intensive prototyping, research development, and mid-term evaluations
May-June 2024: Public demonstrations, showcases, final evaluation, and dissemination at external events
September: Ars Electronica Exhibition

Crip Sensorama

Crip Sensorama reimagines accessibility within HCI – beyond a checklist of solutions by shifting from producing “assistive” XR solutions to – accessible XR experiences alongside disabled artists Eric Desrosiers and Christian Bayerlein. Working in close collaboration with the artists, the project led to the development of a set of mouth gestures to interact and move […]

Virtual Dream Reliving

“Virtual Dream Reliving” by Pinyao Liu integrates generative AI and immersive VR to enhance personal dream exploration and creativity. Users narrate dreams naturally, and AI transforms descriptions into interactive 3D objects within virtual environments. Tested through an autoethnographic study, the system demonstrates how spatial interactivity enriches traditional dreamwork methods, promoting deeper insights and emotional understanding. […]

Do Algorithms Care?

“Do Algorithms Care?” is a collaborative installation by Amanda Bennetts and Johanna Einsiedler, critiquing the commercialization of bio-data in healthcare tech. Through open-source DIY smartwatches and interactive data visualization, the project explores personal data’s predictive potential for well-being. Designed as a pristine tech store experience, it provokes users to rethink their relationship with data control […]

Glitching Optimization in a Few Steps

“Glitching Optimization in a Few Steps,” a lecture-performance by Julie-Michèle Morin, explores robotics through deliberate failures, critiquing neoliberal norms of optimization and productivity. Robots—such as Roborock S8, IGUS Rebel Cobot, Thymio, and Spot—are staged failing humorous and poetic tasks, subverting traditional performance expectations. Drawing on queer theories of failure as activism, the project aims to […]

Mechanical Learning and the Book of Nature

“Mechanical Learning and the Book of Nature” by Nathan Cornish critiques modern perceptions of AI as unprecedented technology by comparing machine learning to Renaissance herbal literature, notably John Gerard’s ‘Great Herbal’ (1597). Through AI-generated reinterpretations of Gerard’s plagiarized botanical imagery and texts, the project reveals parallels between past and present systems of knowledge reproduction, challenging […]

Founding Lab

Partner:

Share:

Founding Lab

Projects

Crip Sensorama

Virtual Dream Reliving

Do Algorithms Care?

Glitching Optimization in a Few Steps

Mechanical Learning and the Book of Nature

Experts

Christian Bayerlein

Nelson Silva

Dr. Alice Jarry

Dr. Christopher Salter

Dr. David Howes

Share: