On the 5th of February 2024, pro² held an online workshop entitled ‘Exploring the Challenges of Prototyping Interactive Devices with Emerging Technologies and Materials’. As the name suggests, this event was an opportunity to bring together academic and industry experts to discuss common challenges as well as potential solutions. The event was organised by pro² steering group members Anne Roudaut and Jason Alexander.
The workshop opened with insightful talks from panellists who shared their own experiences prototyping devices using emerging materials and technology. Speakers included:
– Marianna Obrist, Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Founder of OW Smell Made Digital and Professor of Multisensory Interfaces at University College London
– Marc Teyssier, Principal Investigator & Creative Technologist at Pôle Léonard de Vinci
– Paul Worgan, Lecturer in Mechatronics at the University of the West of England
– John Rudin, Founder at Folium Optics, Epinal Ltd, and Iremia Technology Ltd
Following these talks, workshop participants separated into breakout rooms for group discussions on challenges and solutions. A wide range of interests and industries were represented among the attendees, including robotics, the arts, small-to-medium sized enterprises, manufacturers, and researchers in fields like Human Computer Interaction. The ideas, feedback and proposals that emerged from these conversations will be invaluable to us as we plan our next steps. They will be summarised in a publication and will be used to shape a future pro² funding call.
Many thanks to all who attended, especially to our panellists for their expertise and to our attendees for engaging in open, inspiring discussions with us. We encourage anyone who’d like to stay up to date with future pro² activities to register for free as a network member and to follow us on our social media channels:
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