FabLab, concept design and project lead for Ars Electronica Futurelab

Interactive exhibition and workshop area within the Ars Electronica Center, it opened as part of the new museum building in 2009. Hands-on experiments, lectures, and gallery covering rapid prototyping and digital manufacture and making it experienceable for visitors.

The Ars Electronica FabLab focused on making computer aided design and fabrication accessible for users and spans from interactive installations for intuitive first experiences to custom designed software for easy access to fabrication tools. Everybody entering the museum is allowed to use the FabLab and its equipment: interactive installations, customized design software, 3D scanner, laser cutter and 3D printer as well as get inspired by the massive amount of projects in the gallery: best practice examples from design, art, and industry and projects built in the lab.

Originating at the MIT, Fablabs have spread all over the world with the goal to provide widespread access to modern means for invention. The AEC builds on this approach, extending the infrastructure with interfaces for children and inexperienced users to provide an intuitive access to digital production within the museum. Design Area, Fabrication Area and Gallery provide extensive possibilities and an overview of current developments.

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Irene Posch, Hideaki Ogawa, Christopher Lindinger, Roland Haring, and Horst Hörtner. 2010. Introducing the FabLab as interactive exhibition space. In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC ’10). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 254-257.