TOKYO, JP (August 6, 2020) – Sensingnet, a global design and consulting company specializing in “sensing technology,” in partnership with Tripod Design, a human engineering and design firm, and FICTION Gallery, a NYC-based exhibition and maker space with programming devoted to technology, science, art and design, today shared details about FUTURE LIFE, a global open call seeking submissions of design, art and technology in response to the current pandemic. The goal: To create an archive of the creative community’s response to COVID-19.
FUTURE LIFE encourages designers, artists and inventors from around the world to share their great ideas, design solutions and artistic expression responding to the global pandemic. Offering a way for thinkers and makers to dialogue across disciplinary lines in service to a greater good, FUTURE LIFE provides a platform to imagine what the world might be in the face of our current reality. The project will culminate in exhibitions online and, when possible, a physical exhibition of selected work at FICTION Space, based in Chelsea, New York City. A special print publication will archive the responses for posterity.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has turned life as we know it upside-down and outside-in,” says Satoshi Nakagawa. “This project asks the question, ‘What will we make of our FUTURE LIFE?’ and looks to designers, artists and innovators for the answers. This ambitious effort aims to confront, express, and transform the pandemic with design and technology.”
An international panel of peers – designers, architects, engineers, artists and entrepreneurs – will curate an exhibition online, which will also include an opportunity for the general public to vote for their favorite projects. In addition to the exposure designers and artists will gain from the exhibition and publication, they will also gain access to mentorship, community, and more. In addition, select projects will be shared with a network of engineers and manufacturers who can help individuals or small companies to scale up in order to make their designs more widely available.
Lead organizer, Industrial Designer Tucker Veimeister of OXO Good Grips / Universal Design fame, encourages individuals, collectives and companies; artists, designers, technologists, makers; amateurs or professionals to submit projects online. Says Viemeister, “Experiments and wild guesses about the future are welcome, too!” Submissions will be accepted through September 30th and can be design, art or technology inspired by the current moment or previous work that has become relevant. All entries must be related to the theme FUTURE LIFE.“
Some of the initial submissions to the open call include:
- VentFlow: Submitted by Brazil-based Carlota Braga, this is a low cost ventilator for treating patients with COVID-19 in developing countries; made in 35 days and set for mass production.
- Eight masks: Using reclaimed, recycled and biodegradable materials, UK-based artist Freyja Sewell created a series of masks to underscore the iconic role PPE now plays in our lives.
- Modio, mood radio: NY-based Sihui Wang shares modio,a personal documentary, that records emotions and translates daily experience into a charming melody. As a mood radio, it helps people to form a ritual of keeping a mood journal, in order to better connect with themselves.
- Seattle Sound Chair: Submitted by Washington-based Thomas Duester and Herman Chan Dueste, this modern outdoor lounge furniture for public spaces allows anyone to have a natural private conversation, at a safe distance, without having to use technology or a mask.
- Mobile Water Park: Since 2015, Sao Paulo-based design company (se)cura humana has been promoting life and community via its mobile water park offering.
- Place Seating Cluster: Submitted by Colorado-based Michael McCoy, this airport seating design provides increased personal space for passengers while maximizing seat utilization. This cluster solution is ideal for social distancing measures in public environments.
- Office Safer: Wearable technology, presented by German designers Christina Looshorn, Nina Lehner, and Paulina Kaiser. The bracelet vibrates when the distance is below the minimum and also notes which workspaces are available.
- Temporarily 2019: Bangkok-based artist Viriya Chotpanyavisut shares a series of photographs recording the state of a local public park, underscoring the relationship between man and nature and exploring questions of fragility of the human experience.
- Pocket PPE: New York-based designer Peter Yeadon shares his idea for a temporary PPEs in the form of a mouthguard or nose plugs.
- Corona Cones: Submitted by designers from Bavaria, Germany, these mask accessories allow to amplify sound in order to assist with listening and maintaining conversations.
The FUTURE LIFE team of Peer Advisors includes Satoshi Nakagawa, Engineer and Designer, CEO Tripod Design; Caroline Baumann, Change-maker and Former Director, Cooper Hewitt Design Museum; David Benjamin, Principal, the living, and Associate Professor, Columbia GSAPP; Jonathan Colby, Director of Technology Performance at Verdant Power; Akinyemi Fapohunda, Industrial Designer; Andre Feliciano, Artist; Everardo Jefferson, architect, designer and NYC landmarks commissioner; Yasushi Kobayashi, Engineer, R+D at Sensingnet; Marc Kushner, Co-Founding CEO of Architizer (architecture media company), and Partner at Hollwich Kushner (architecture firm); Bastian Schaefer, Innovation Manager, Airbus; Ilene Shaw, Founding Director, Design Pavilion and Design Talks; Lindsay Smilow, Art Historian and Educator, Brooklyn College and Guggenheim Museum; Doris Sung, Principal DOSU Studio and Associate Professor, U SoCal; Helen Teng, Designer, Wearable Media; Kenji Tokumitsu, CEO Tagboat Inc (largest online art gallery in Japan); Momoko Tomitsuka, Designer, CEO Sensingnet; Tucker Viemeister, Industrial Designer, Viemeister Industries; Peter Yeadon, Industrial Designer, Yeadon Space Agency and Professor, Rhode Island School of Design; and Yuchen Zhang, Designer, Wearable Media and Parsons.
This initiative is supported by FICTION Gallery, Tripod Design and Sensingnet Inc. Learn more at www.futurelife-fiction.com
ABOUT FICTION GALLERY
FICTION Gallery is an exhibition and maker space with programming devoted to science, art + design, and technology. Opened in 2018, the exhibition space for artists, designers and scientists provides a platform to “turn fiction into reality.” By creating opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration in the heart of New York, where diverse creators converge, new designs and methods are generated and expertly presented. FICTION fosters a community with outrageous ideas that just might lead the next generation. fiction-space.com
ABOUT TRIPOD DESIGN LTD
Since its inception in 1987, Tripod Design has incorporated scientific considerations into the design development process. Focusing often on ergonomics and especially on Kansei engineering – the improvement of products and services by translating the customer’s psychological feelings and needs into the domain of product design. Continuously evolving, Tripod’s original predictive Kansei engineering theory became the Expectology theory, and expanded to include a focus on “Sensing” design. Services include: Design Consulting, Product design, Visual design, Space design, Environmental design, and Human resource development. tripoddesign.com/
ABOUT SENSINGNET INC.
Based on the theory of “Sensing” design, Sensingnet creates new designs and technologies through experimentation. Energy harvesting — deriving small amounts of energy directly from the environment and converting it into electric power — is under R&D at Sensingnet for more efficient power management, tapping into energy sources in the natural environment that have never been fully employed. Through collaboration with domestic and overseas research institutions and companies, Sensingnet is in the process of developing AI, computing, and communication technology.
