Michael Mose Biskjær, MA, has recently joined DUL as a PhD fellow. Since graduating from Aarhus University, Michael has taught a number of academic courses and has worked on a recently completed innovation research project at Aarhus School of Business. In a collaboration with The LEGO Group, this project has developed the first-ever model for lead user-based entrepreneurship.

Michael’s PhD research centres on improving the understanding of collaborative, creative processes within the realm of digital media. Both classic and current avant-garde movements have developed and refined innovative and effective intervention techniques – such as obstructions, imperatives, arbitrariness etc. – to ignite and stimulate creative processes.

Tags: people | user-driven innovation

Christina Jakobsen is a PhD student at the department of Computer Science, Aarhus University, and is joining DUL for cooperation. With a background in Information Studies and Design and Design processes from Aarhus University, she is returning to familiar ground.
Her PhD project is entitled "User driven innovation as a strategy in building processes". The main case study of the PhD is the building process of MEDIASPACE the future main library at Aarhus harbor, in which DUL is also involved. The aim of the project is to explore the opportunities and challenges of co-designing technology, future practice and a future physical building in the context of a building process.

Tags: new urban areas | people | user-driven innovation

Exploring experience communication in consumer culture

Based at the Centre for Corporate Communication at Aarhus Business School/ Aarhus University, Erik Sloth is a PhD student and researcher with the Digital Urban Living project.
His specific research field is experience communication. With regard to the formulation of the objectives and research questions of this part of the DUL project, he will address the following two questions:

1) What characterizes the hypermodern citizen, and how is it possible to interact with him/her, taking into consideration his/her digital urban living?
2) How is the hyper-modern citizen constituted within digital urban living across civic communication, hyper-local news, digital art, branding, learning, and community building?

Tags: business | experience communication | people

Seminar on the city, art and media technologies

The ability of digital media to add an extra layer to the cityscape characterizes the experience of the city as mobile phones, cameras, media facades and other interfaces diffuses into the urban scenery. In the urban interface we find lexical indexes linked to maps, links to other places and images of what used to be at a specific location, surveillance devices, etc. The seminar focuses on how and in what ways we can experience the city’s layers and the simultaneous view of (past, lost, virtual, future) information and a specific location – through artistic installations, urban games or architectural strategies.

Tags: aesthetics | architecture | cultural heritage | digital aesthetics | events | interface aesthetics | urbanity

Together with the Nordic Research Network "The Culture of Ubiquitous Information", and Digital Aesthetics Research Center, Digital Urban Living will be hosting the research seminar "Interweaving technologies: the aesthetics of digital urban living" on 21-23 April 2010.

The seminar is a work-in-progress seminar and the length of the final papers is relatively short (see CfP on the above link). Contributions can thus be made in the spirit of a position paper, where you present a hypothesis, a project or a specific position on a topic related to the seminar theme with the purpose of contributing to and maybe initiating a broader discussion amongst peers when we meet.

The seminar is aimed at the members of the Nordic Network, but contributions from researchers from outside of the network are greatly welcomed. So don't hesitate to contact us and please feel free redistribute this call.

Deadline for abstracts is 18 Feb, but we will be able to extend your deadline if you express your interest in participating right away.

Tags: aarhus | conference | digital aesthetics | events

Geoff Cox has recently joined the DUL project as a Postdoc Researcher in Digital Aesthetics, on secondment from University of Plymouth (UK) where he is a Reader in Art and Technology and part of KURATOR/Art and Social Technologies Research group. He also contributes to Transart Institute, Berlin/New York (DE/US), and works as Associate Curator of Online Projects, Arnolfini (a contemporary art centre in Bristol, UK).

Tags: digital aesthetics | people