Image of the Forest
“(...) all intelligence is an abstraction of the present context. Therefore producing an abstraction is the essence of intelligence. But that abstraction is only a snapshot of the organism; it is not the organism itself. All models are wrong, because we build them to perform actions that are not feasible using the original.”
~The Oxford Handbook of Ethics of AI
Authors
Sonia Litwin, MEng
I’m a Biomedical Engineer and Designer. I use computer and neuroscience to deepen the understanding of emotional immersion in human interaction with embodied intelligent systems. My aim is to create artificial agents that are not only intelligent but also sensible and adaptive to the most visceral of human experiences.
My career spans seven countries. With roles in academia, management consulting, automation and medical technology, my trajectory was shaped by the pursuit of engineering research, with the objective of coining a new meaning for "bionic design" — systems that augment, rather than replicate, human abilities.
I'm a founder of a hybrid design and research studio, SLab2.8 which serves as an accelerator for research collaborations with international academic and business partners. My primary role is in coordinating multidisciplinary teams of data, neuro and social scientists to deliver design projects driven by the emerging research in biomedical and computer science.
www.sonialitwin.com
Angela Vujic, PhD
Researcher and graduate of MIT Media Lab. She works at the intersection of computer science, neuroscience and design to develop biosensing technology for mental and emotional health.
Motivated by discoveries linking gut health to mental health, Angela sought to start a new area in her field coined gut-brain computer interfacing (GBCI). She developed and tested a GBCI that could enable individuals to sense and modulate their gut state, with the goal of connecting it to their mental wellbeing.
Previously, she completed her bachelor’s in computer science at Georgia Tech and was part of the GT BrainLab. She invented MoodLens, a novel fiber optic display integrated in EEG glasses, built to help individuals with severe paralysis express emotion via eye contact.
Angela is a NSF GRFP fellow. She has presented internationally, first-authored prestigious peer-reviewed publications, and won multiple awards for her work.
Team
Campbell Orme: Interaction Designer, Meta Reality Labs, London, UKDietmar Offenhuber, PhD: Associate Professor and Chair of the department of Art + Design, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Iulia Ionescu, PhD: Programme Director Creative Computing & Robotics ⊹ Artist & Technologist, University of the Arts London, London, UK
Technical Development
Ars Electronica Founding Lab 2024
The Founding Lab is realized as a Public Partnership between Ars Electronica Linz GmbH & Co KG and the Institute of Digital Sciences Austria and financed through funds from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research.
https://ars.electronica.art/university/en/