Breaking Currents

IDA
Kalvebod Brygge 31
Copenhagen V, 1560
Denmark

Carl Bärstad

Curiosity-fueled learning and creative thinking are becoming the most important traits to thrive in the 21st century. Yet we have a school system that numbs curiosity and kills creativity. Carl tells us how he reclaimed his own curiosity by “hacking himself” and how he is now using this insight to make technology more fun, engaging and accessible in the 21st century “classroom” through his projects Hackerspace in a box and Kids Hack Day. Twitter handle: @carlbarstad

Morten Bülow

How do you turn ideas into reality? The development and increased accessibility of digital fabrication tools has made the path from idea to physical reality much shorter. Through a review of the fabHouse project Morten Bülow tells the story about the realization of Denmark’s first Fab Lab. A story about how far you can get with dedicated people, an innovative mindset and a lot of effort. Morten Bülow is a Danish architect specialized in digital design and fabrication. He is the founding architect of Kombo Building Systems.

Jens Dyvik

Jens Dyvik is a designer specialized in global collaboration and local manufacturing. He works with emotional connections between people and products, and aims to create services and products that help make those connections meaningful. In April 2013 he concluded a two-year research world tour, where he worked at open collaborative workspaces in all corners of the world. Jens dreams to make a living from an open and sharing design approach. His research into open design and personal manufacturing is aiming to realize this dream. He is currently establishing a Fab Lab in Oslo, which he will run next to his designstudio.

Jakob Eg Larsen

Over the last couple of years self-tracking has gained increased interest with the availability of smartphones and low-cost wearable sensors. The increasing quantities of data that we can capture about human behavior and interactions are key to future improvements in health and well-being. Jakob Eg Larsen, Ph.D, is an Associate Professor at the Technical University of Denmark, where he is working in the Cognitive Systems Section. His research interests include human-computer interaction, mobile and wearable computing and sensing, and personal informatics. Twitter handle: @jakobeglarsen

Peter Bøggild

Graphite, which we all know as a soft, black and dull material, is made up of independent, atomically thin sheets of graphene. Since graphene was first “discovered” a decade ago, we have learned that this material has extreme and peculiar properties with a staggering potential for new technologies. Researchers today are gearing up for this ultimate exploration of ‘flatland’, but how do we deal with a material that defies all conventions of how a material behaves? In his talk Peter will argue why this is such a big challenge, and why we absolutely have to try to overcome it.

Nikolaj Møbius

N7331227 is a retired industrial robot brought back to life by artists. Reverse engineered and given a new job in his old age, the robot reveals his personality. He shows us that industrial robots, previously thought to ask no questions and do their job precisely, and efficiently, actually have a unique and diverse personality hiding inside, but it requires some love and tinkering to find. Nikolaj “Dzl” Møbius is an engineer, inventor and artist, currently working as a Technology Guru at Roskilde University. He has combined his expertise on many projects involving radio, electronics, high voltage, sound, and of course, robots. Twitter handle: @GeekPhysical