48 hours | This happened..

Inspace, 1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB
Monday 25th January 2010, 6.30-9.30pm.

This happened is a series of events focusing on the stories behind interaction design. Having ideas is easier than making them happen. Each event delves into projects that exist today, how their concepts and production process can help inform future work.

Professor Andy Miah is Chair of Ethics and Emerging Technologies at the University of the West of Scotland, Fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, USA and Fellow at FACT, the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, UK. He will discuss new media activism and the design politics of the Olympic Games. He'll soon head to Vancouver to continue his research at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

John Harris is a composer, artistic director of the Red Note Ensemble, and director of the Seven Things record label. Seven Things happened to John (or maybe John happened to Seven Things). Their story is going to be offered as a cautionary tale to keep all aspiring and self-motivated musicians awake at night.

~ in the fields was founded in 2005 in Edinburgh. Their current interests focus on 'borrowed time' and memorialisation – initiated by a residency at the Highland Hospice. They will talk about 'ink', an installation of five colourless clear glass bulbs – each partly filled with blue ink. Illuminated handwritten inscriptions become visible on a spinning armature thanks to the phenomenon of persistence of vision.

Jon Oberlander is a cognitive scientist based in the School of Informatics at Edinburgh, investigating how to get computers to talk like you and me. Inspace is a new living lab for experimentation and public engagement, exploring the cultural significance of informatics and new media practice. The project has taken five years from original concept to initial implementation, and will certainly continue to evolve.