FoAM - research

Resilients

maja — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:44:14 +0000

Resilients are people of all ages preparing for uncertain futures, by experimenting with resilient forms living & working as a form of artistic practice. The Resilients project collects, creates, shares & supports these emergent practices, while grounding them in historic cultural roots.

Resilients’ core activities are five case studies, public experiments with materials, media & technologies in the context of endangered crafts, urban gardening, sustainable forestry, contemporary pilgrimage & future preparedness. A programme of residencies, apprenticeships, workshops, gatherings and publications will allow a wide involvement of practitioners and enthusiasts across Europe and beyond.

Resilients' Philosophy

For humans to thrive in uncertain, turbulent times, resilience is an essential tactic. We can never be certain about the kind of cultures that could materialise in the future, but we can speculate about how could they look. The Resilients project experiments with possible futures by applying whole systems thinking to the integration of cultural traditions with emerging arts, sciences, design & technology. Through unexpected alliances between these fields, speculation becomes rooted in the real world. For a resilient culture to arise, a stable support infrastructure is required – open systems, cultural laboratories & knowledge pools. Resilients are committed to building this infrastructure, through a pilot project leading towards the formation of a Guild of Resilients.

A resilient system is both fexible & robust. It is continuously engaged in the delicate balancing act of growing & evolving, adapting to change & discarding unsustainable elements. Change is a never-ending process, growing less predictable as our habitats, societies, economic & technological systems increase complexity & become more interdependent. To respond to unpredictability, we can look at improving human ability to face & embrace change, whether perceived as positive, negative or neutral (e.g. birth of a child, environmental crisis, or moving house). By integrating different approaches to developing resilience, we can strengthen the 'immune system' of a culture as a whole.

In progress: http://lib.fo.am/resilients

Project partners: FoAM (BE), Central Saint Martins’ Textile Futures (UK), nadine (BE), Performing Pictures (SE), Projekt Atol (SI) and Time’s Up (AT).

With the support of the Culture Programme (2007 - 2013) of the European Union and the Flemish Authorities.

Augmented Ecology meetup #04

theun — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:50:00 +0000

Start: 2011-03-17 19:30 GMT+2

End: 2011-03-17 20:30 GMT+2

Cross species social networks,

The forth AE-meetup takes closer look at the question: Which social media platforms will animals and plants be using? And the possibility of using modern game interfaces like Kinect for cross species interaction or animal studies.

http://www.meetup.com/augmentedecology/events/16552509/

IforAE

theun — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:34:46 +0000

The Institute for Augmented Ecology is a temporary office within FoAM that investigates some issues that have been simmering within groWorld. Its an exploration of the field of AE before it actually gets to be defined and/or narrowed down by convention. For now it looks like a one year research-period starting Jan 2011 focussed on how the tagosphere is connecting to the biosphere.

This research looks:

* to temporarily expand the focus on HPI and move beyond flora.
* to identify or sketch new perspectives, roles, opportunities and risks of AE and trans-species networks.
* work within a broad perspective which is transdisciplinary, transmedial and multisensory.
* to bring this discussion to a specialist and general audience and make unholy alliances.
* to look at how media and trans-species networks can help people become active stakeholders in the quality of their local ecosytem.

These aims will be refined further along the way.

FOODPRINTS

lina — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:17:34 +0000

FOODPRINTS;
A biologically-centered toolkit for a resilient Stockholm

2010 has been declared ‘The year of International biodiversity’, and also a year in which Stockholm is ‘Europe’s green capital’. With these two celebrations, ‘Foodprints’ explores how the discipline of biomimicry can promote urban food resilience and opportunities for biodiversity to flourish in urban developments. There is an inherent relationship between the city and how food arrives on our plates. We want to investigate how to create ‘resilient’ cities that mimic nature’s ecosystems, where all the elements are interactive, abundant in feed-back loops, responsive, engaging, conducive to life, and always looking to reach the best use of resources. Our goal will be to bring forward a food culture, inspired by these ecosystems, through creation of a biologically-centered toolkit which we will apply on the urban visions for Norra Djurgarden area of Stockholm. Through creating such a tool, the project aims to be long term, continuous and inviting, applicable to other future schemes.

We will thread together both scientific, futuristic, artistic and sensory perspectives to review our urban ecology and the way we feed ourselves. Food will become our communication device, and we will present our explorations in a ‘maltid’ designed around the senses and experience. We hope that ‘reaction to the meal’ and proposals, can inspire invited guests involved in the development plans for the Norra Djurgarden scheme, to create food system resilience as part of the sustainable planning process. In turn, ‘Foodprints’ will collaborate with a variety of disciplines in a very creative process; science and biology with the built envi- ronment and experiential design, creating a multi-disciplinary cocktail of collaborations and introducing this strong ‘community’ of solutions to the city.

More information:
www.innovativkultur.se

This project is kindly made possible through Innovativ Kultur, City of Stockholm. The funding call focused on bio-inspired projects.

Contact Project Leaders:
Anna Maria Orru
Johan Zetterquist
E: info@scene-thinking.com

HapStar

dave — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:31:40 +0000

About

Haplotype Networks and Minimum Spanning Networks are commonly used for representing associations between sequences. HapStar is a tool for viewing both types of networks, and is designed to directly use the output data generated from Arlequin. HapStar is unique in that it automatically lays out the network for optimal visualisation, and provides the option to calculate a Minimum Spanning Network from a list of alternative connections. HapStar provides a user-friendly interface, and publication-ready figures can be exported simply.

Installing

HapStar works on Windows, Linux or OSX and requires python to be installed on your computer - which you can find here.

Download the current version:

hapstar-0.6.zip (Windows)
hapstar-0.6.tar.gz (Linux/OSX)

To run, simply extract the zip or tar archive and double click on "hapstar.py". Under OSX operating systems, ctrl click and select "open with" and choose "python launcher".

Source Code

HapStar is released under the GPLv3 licence. The source is availible in the FoAM git repository.

Publications

Teacher AGF. Griffiths DJ (2010) HapStar: automated haplotype network layout and visualization. Molecular Ecology Resources, online.

The pre-print version is available here.

Funding: European Union FP7 ERA-NET program, BiodivERsA

The Future of the Lab

nik — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:15:44 +0000

Start: 2009-11-30 13:15 GMT+2

End: 2009-12-02 13:15 GMT+2

"The Future of the Lab will provide opportunities for discussion and engagement with a diverse range of professionals on three layers: expert meetings for invited international guests from art and technology labs across Europe and beyond, as well as a number of Dutch labs; an afternoon bringing in local, regional and national participants from a diversity of sectors; and a programme for the general public on Monday, November 30. In collaboration with the participants of The Future of the Lab, BALTAN will also identify key topics for a follow-up expert meeting as well as some urgent areas of research to focus on in 2010."

http://www.baltanlaboratories.org/?p=1291

qfwfq

nik — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:32:25 +0000

"…the ubiquitous Qfwfq, is emblematic of unity amidst the heteroglossic variety of possibilities offered by expanded degrees of perception made possible by scientific devices. In one story, Qfwfq is a dinosaur, but in other stories he is also a fish, a small mammal, a subatomic particle eternally plummeting through the void. Qfwfqs constantly shifting position in the universe, despite his consistent first-person narration, suggests the extent to which his form accommodates his point of view. In “The Aquatic Uncle,” which precedes the story of the last dinosaur, Qfwfq, here featured as some sort of protoamphibian, venerates the reptilian and eschews his ichthyoid “roots”. In Cosmicomics, Qfwfq encompasses all points of view except for non-existence. As a result, his various incarnations cannot be contrasted: they are all linked to one another. While Qfwfq venerates the reptilian and consciously attempts to conceal his water-bound past, in “The Dinosaurs,” none of the mammals recognize that Qfwfq,a dinosaur, is actually a dinosaur."

in “Defining irrealism: scientific development and allegorical possibility” by Dean Swinford

http://lib.fo.am/project_qfwfq
http://www.qfwfq.info/

sutChwon

nik — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:48:57 +0000

SutChwon (or Subject to Change without notice) is a continuous inquiry into software protocols and systems for remote collaboration, design and performance. It is a supporting initiative that develops through, with and as a part of other FoAM activities.

In the increasing number of trans-local collaborative projects, much of the design, development and distribution tasks are communicated through local and global networks. These networks consist of a variety of systems or entities and of interfaces which allow these systems to communicate to the human-readable reality. The problems typically arise when the separate entities (such as devices, systems, protocols and data-formats) attempt communicating to each other and communicating with humans about what exactly has gone wrong and what they do not understand.

With SutChwon, we scavenge technologies and build frameworks for the construction of flexible systems for communicating, collaborating and creating from a distance. These systems act as interconnecting layers between several autonomous computational entities and should allow a smoother communication between platforms, protocols, data-formats and interfaces. In the future, these systems should improve their ability to adapt to new and unknown computational environments and unpredictable situations.

http://lib.fo.am/sutchwon_notes

200811 [re:gather] algorithmic botany

maja — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:13:38 +0000

Start: 2008-11-28 17:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2008-11-28 19:00 Europe/Brussels

Research Gathering November 2008

Demos & discussions about botanical visualisation & plant games. Accompanied by a spread of edible botany.

With FoAM & Tale of Tales

This research gathering is a part of the Cimatics festival:

http://www.cimatics.com/festival2008/festival/performances/regatherfoam....

gRig's All Hallow's Eve

maja — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:03:43 +0000

Start: 2008-10-31 21:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2008-11-01 00:00 Europe/Brussels

From Cyberpunk to Cyberbotany: After the Research Gathering with Angelo Vermeulen, FoAM and the Guild for Reality Integrators and Generators invite you to cultivate the vegetal side of your mind... From dystopia to heterotopia, from human-machine to human-plant interactions, a post-cyberpunk eve for retro-techno-pagans, archaic revivalists, lab-witches, eco-nomads, pre & post millenial cultists. gRiggers are preparing an evening of ethnobotanical food and drinks, with viriditas and thalience diffused through the air, culminating in a (pre)futuristic celebration of the All Hallow's Eve.

Additional magic will be summoned by Tale of Tales at 9pm GMT/UTC when Michaël Samyn & Auriea Harvey will be performing the first of their two ABIOGENESIS parties in the Endless Forrest.

Lowdjo will mix some of his specially concocted tunes, dedicated to all hallows near and far.

[re:gather]

nik — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:01:01 +0000

[re:gather] are monthly research gatherings at FoAM in Brussels. They are designed for FoAM’s collaborators and researchers in residence to present and discuss their work in progress, in an informal and inspiring setting. The gatherings are also open to researchers who are not involved with FoAM, but are working in similar fields. The research presentations tend to be short and visual, allowing enough time for questions and conversations. Some researchers opt for demonstrations, or take the opportunity to test prototypes and collect comments from their peers. The gatherings last for an afternoon, usually starting with lunch and ending with a sumptuous dinner and drinks.

If you are interested in participating in our research gatherings, send a message to info [at] fo.am with a subject ‘re:gather’.

Research residencies

_pix — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:44:01 +0000

As a part of FoAM’s research programme, we offer yearly residencies to artists, designers and researchers, whose interests, or methods fall in-between the gaps of academic research programmes. The residencies are meant for artists who are able to work independently, while being open to suggestions from their peers. Our motivation for this programme came from a perceived need of artists and designers for concentrated research and experimentation, without the pressures of production.

Research

_pix — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:10:15 +0000

Designers are becoming ethnographers, while media artists and change managers research similar interactive technologies. All of these people have a hand in a common context, the present-day world and its continually changing conditions. Although their visions and approaches are often very diverse, they all share the same curiosity, a wish to dig deeper under the skin of day-to-day reality. It is this curiosity that is the starting point for becoming a researcher at FoAM. Most of our researchers tend to be 'generalists', rather than 'specialists'. Research at FoAM is conducted through collaborative projects and research residences. Collaborative research projects tend to be larger in scope, usually involving several partner organisations and working towards outcomes with a potentially strong social, environmental, or technological impact. FoAM also offers residencies for transdisciplinary researchers, whose work is associated with FoAM's yearly published research topics. Most of the research occurs within FoAM's laboratory. However, field work is strongly encouraged in order to learn from other practitioners, conduct surveys, or test the (interim) results in real-life situations. Researchers come together to present and discuss their progress during monthly research gatherings, allowing everyone to keep up to date, ask questions, propose suggestions and find unexpected connections.

LIREC

nik — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 14:48:42 +0000

LIREC aims to establish a multi-faceted theory of artificial long-term companions (including memory, emotions, cognition, communication, learning, etc.), embody this theory in robust and innovative technology and experimentally verify both the theory and technology in real social environments.

Whether as robots, social toys or graphical and mobile synthetic characters, interactive and sociable technology is advancing rapidly. However, the social, psychological and cognitive foundations and consequences of such technological artefacts entering our daily lives - at work, or in the home - are less well understood. The technology is commonly based on evaluation of short-term interactions or even first encounters, and limited to one specific embodiment. Research shows that the novelty effect, which may attract interest in the first encounter, quickly runs out and that people’s preferences and attitudes towards the system change.

Successful technology can only be delivered on the basis of strong scientific foundations, and with partners in psychology, ethology, human-computer interaction, human-robot interaction, robotics and graphical characters, LIREC will advance understanding of the concepts of embodiment, autobiographic memory and social interactions in the context of companions where the ‘mind’ might migrate to differently embodied ‘bodies’.

Experimental human-human and human-animal studies and longitudinal evaluation of the developed technology in social settings will support the development and delivery of mechanisms for verbal and non-verbal social interaction and communication; an autobiographic emotionally-tagged memory; mechanisms for detecting and responding sensitively to the user’s affective state, motives and intentions; an autonomous cognitive-affective architecture and support for migrating companions. These will be combined in case-studies of long-life companions that will take social technology to a new state-of-the-art.

http://lirec.org/

groworld /sys

_pix — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:49:33 +0000

'sys' stands for systems in groworld. In this strand, we focus on the role of that technology can play in developing the greener side of our cultures. sys aims to move away from making complicated machines towards growing complex systems.

sys projects: metabolicity

The foundation of sys is our interest in learning from plants, to help us move from a society of consumers to a society of producers. Biomimicry is one of the important inroads to reach this goal. As is working with nanotechnology on a scale where machines can be grown rather than constructed. The most direct way is to try to communicate with plants. Extrapolating from the field of human-computer-interaction, we are interested in developing interfaces for human-plant-interaction (HPI). With some assistance from ethnobotany and patabotany, among other things 'sys' researches electrochemical interfaces that can enable communication with the 'planetary other'. Within 'sys', the speculative field of HPI explores the nature of surfaces and processes required to facilitate mutually beneficial interaction between humans and plants.