Wednesday 12 September 2007 -- 12 noon - 5 pm
Horizon Scotland -- Forres, Scotland
Free of charge, spaces limited (see below)

Interested in what's going on at Distance Lab? At our "Open Studio" events we show you how we're pushing the limits of technology and design to overcome the disadvantages of distance. We also expose you to some of the most innovative research ideas and personalities from other parts of the world.

This second Open Studio event follows a similar pattern to our first oversubscribed event in June. The day will include invited presentations by two cutting-edge investigators:

Smart Cities

Susanne Seitinger is a PhD candidate in the Smart Cities group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab in the USA. She will be talking about her latest project, a system of programmable solar-powered lighting units called "Urban Pixels" that can be used to create new effects in the city that blur the boundary between urban lighting and display. She will also touch on other projects at MIT investigating how digital media and networking technologies can be incorporated into the design of urban spaces and mediate our relationships with cities. In addition to a Masters from the Media Lab, Susanne holds a Masters in City Planning from MIT and a Bachelors degree in Architecture from Princeton University.

Sports over a Distance

Florian 'Floyd' Mueller is a PhD candidate in Interaction Design at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He will present his work in the areas of "Exertion Interfaces" and "Sports over a Distance" in which participants in different parts of the world can play a physically exhausting sport together. Such interfaces may better support social bonding and the building of trust over a distance than conventional online experiences, and Floyd has been spending the summer at Distance Lab working on a new prototype in this research area. Earlier, Floyd led the research group "Connecting People" at CSIRO in Australia. He holds a Masters in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT and a 4-year degree in Digital Media from FH Furtwangen, Germany.

A light lunch and presentations will be followed by open studio time during which you can visit our lab space, check out our equipment, talk to our researchers, and see our latest project demonstrations.

Outline agenda:

12:00 - Registration opens and light lunch available
13:00 - Presentations begin promptly
15:00 - Coffee break and open time in Distance Lab studio space
17:00 - End

Space is limited and invitations must be requested online...

More information and invitation request form:
http://www.distancelab.org/openstudio002/

Distance Lab general information:
http://www.distancelab.org/

Location Information

This event will be taking place at Horizon Scotland in Forres, Scotland, IV36 2AB. Inverness airport is only 20 miles away, and Aberdeen airport is about 70 miles away. A variety of budget airlines and car hire companies serve these airports. Frequent train and bus service is available to Forres and other nearby towns. Plenty of inexpensive accommodation is available at hotels and B&Bs in Forres and Findhorn (on the Moray coast).