Researching Digital Object Making Technologies

In the 21st century the ever growing virtualization of our environment and the transition of our material culture from the material form to the digital form is a huge challenge for the design arts which are based on craft traditions. These design arts, which are responsible for the design of our material environment, are under constant transformation all across Europe. The effects of the 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), the altered production and marketing methods (Internet of Things), the new technologies, and the innovative materials (Smart Materials), require a radically new design methodology.

The new type approaches (New Craft) can only become credible if they can react and respond to the challenges of our century. One of the most pressing of these challenges is to create a two-way interoperability between the material and the virtual world.

• The “Add to Cart Jewelery” program focuses on the designing of digitally personalizable jewelry which can be mutliplied with additive and subtractive technologies and be sold online.
• The “3D Print … What’s it good for?” course is about research into the future of 3D printing technology, about designing experimental applications, services and products that can be made with a home 3D printer.
• The “Wearable Technologies” project aims to design objects and cultural signals that have progressive value both aesthetically and in content, using the Arduino OpenSource electronic platforms.