Speakers line-up:

Lieven Menschaert and Ludivine Lechat (BE) on Valence, Joannes Vandermeulen (BE) on bpost, Ella Keijzer (NL) on Fietslabyrint and Arjan Scherpenisse en Eelco Wagenaar on PING.

Pertinent data can be found on the event page.

This is a special edition for us for several reasons:

• One is that we are kindly hosted by Tweetakt Festival, for whom Kars has curated a number of games that are on display at the festival pavilion, minutes walk from our venue. Several of this edition’s talks will be about those.
• The other reason is that we have decided to stop organizing This happened in Utrecht. So this will be our final edition. It’s been a wonderful ride, we hope you’ll join us to close it off in style. (Stay tuned for news on the future of This happened in Amsterdam.)

Adriaan de Jongh on Fingle as our first confirmed speaker, more will be announced soon. Check the event page for further details.

Well we got there in the end our first event is on and we are all excited, we have some great speakers and a superb venue. We think this could be the start of something special.

This Happened Bristol is a series of events focusing on the stories behind interaction design. This first event is on the 20th of March at the Milk Thistle, the doors open at 18.30pm. We have a limited number of tickets so please do book early; http://thishappenedbrs-march20-2012.eventbrite.com/

Speakers

The event will bring together 4 speakers:  robotics researcher Adam Spiers, Sam Hoey of architectural/art practice Jason Bruges, Music technologist Sarah Nicholls and Michelin-starred chef Josh Eggleton of the Pony and Trap.

It is about interaction design, with a focus on work that uses a new approach or explores a new process. It is about the process of design & development, from the very beginning of a project to the end.

Presenters can only talk about one project that has already happened, there will be no portfolio showing.

Adam Spiers

Robotic flowers in the dark

‘The Question’ was an interactive and immersive pitch-black theatre experience designed to provide a similar, unusual reality for blind and sighted audiences. As part of this, I was asked to design an intuitive personal navigation device that would encourage audience exploration and provide reassurance, while only communicating only through the sense of touch.

http://www.thequestion.org.uk/

Sam Hoey

Mimosa – Mimicking Plant Behaviour

How Jason Bruges Studio brought technology to life in this interactive installation.

Originally commissioned for Superstudio Milan 2010, Mimosa is a captivating interactive installation featuring Philips Lumiblade OLEDs.  The piece was inspired by the Mimosa family of plants, which respond kinetically as a result of being touched.

The studio used the slim form and warm light qualities of the OLEDs to create a responsive surface of delicate light petals.  Groups of 5 OLEDs form mechatronic flowers which open and close, dim and glow in response to the viewers movement above the surface.

The presentation will chart the project process from initial briefing and conception through prototyping, testing and development to the installation in Milan and subsequent developments…

http://www.jasonbruges.com/

Sarah Nicolls

Interacting with the piano – ways to expand and re-form the performance environment

Sarah Nicolls is a classically-trained pianist with years of performing experience as a soloist in contemporary music.  Gradually moving into electronics and collaborative composition, she began in 2005 to seek out systems with which to expand the pianists’ performance environment.  In this talk she will discuss two projects undertaken during this time: a piece created using body-worn sensors that detect muscle tension and her Inside-Out piano, built to answer a major structural limitation of the traditional piano.  Giving the perspective of the performer, she hopes to reveal the motivation, discoveries and remaining questions in each case.

http://www.sarahnicolls.com/

Josh Eggleton

Coming soon….

www.theponyandtrap.co.uk/

Tickets

Get your tickets (they are only £5): http://thishappenedbrs-march20-2012.eventbrite.com

If you are wondering where your money is going don’t worry we aren’t off to Antigua, it helps us cover the costs of things like travel for the lovely people who come along to speak to you for free and other expenses. We never make a profit it only ever goes back in to putting on more great stuff for you to come to.

The Milk Thistle are kindly providing the venue for free. Please thank them by buying a drink. We recommend the cocktails.

Keep in Touch

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/thishappenedbrs

Venue

The Milk Thistle
Quay Head House, Colston Avenue, Bristol BS1 1EB
Map: http://goo.gl/BqJ6v
http://www.milkthistlebristol.com/

Speakers confirmed so far: Tim Knapen (BE) on Godmode and Pieke Bergmans & LUSTlab (NL) on Res Sapiens. More speakers to be announced soon.

Pertinent data can be found on the event page.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bernie DeKoven talks about playing well together on Vimeo