I believe that art, in all of its forms, can change the world.
Not convinced? Check out two exhibits at San Francisco's Swissnex, Think Art - Act Science (through 11/12) and Swiss Game Design Exhibition (through 10/27).
Located on the edge of North Beach, Chinatown & the Financial District, the Yves Behar-designed building alone is worth a visit. Swissnex also has a wide range of free companion events, including one I attended last night, Next Level Health: How Games Improve Health and Healthcare.
The event showcased a number of collaborations between Swiss, Dutch and Canadian art institutions, academic researchers and companies.
My favorite demo was for a game created at the Zurich University of the Arts called GABARELLO v1.0.
The game is designed for children who have experienced lower body motor loss, through birth defects, accidents, etc. Children (or adults) are strapped to a special rehabilitation robot on a treadmill and through the use of sophisticated sensors, make the adorable virtual robot "move" across the various surfaces of a planet. This turns rehab work into a treat!
Other partners in the collaboration include University Children's Hospital Zurich, the Institute for Neuropsychology (University of Zurich) and the Sensory Motor Systems Lab (ETH Zurich).
Successful collabos like these are a roadmap for what we can accomplish together...thanks to Swissnex and all of the presenters for a mega-dose of inspiration.
Thanks for the great review. The intersection of art and technology is very important to us so we hope to see you at one of our future events. To see a list visit: http://swissnexsanfrancisco.org/Ourwork/events
Keep on blogging!
swissnex San Francisco
Posted by: Florencia | October 18, 2011 at 02:04 PM