FabLab Conference an Insight on Merging Art and Technology

KOCHI:
The combination of art and technology can deliver rain, presence of a person can play music and even urban issues could be solved. The technical workshops and panel discussions held as part of the second leg of the third edition of the FabLab Asia Network conference (FAN3) at Mattancherry gave an insight on how merging art and technology can be used in various fields.
Meena Vari, Dean, School of Media, Arts and Sciences, in her presentation elaborated on plugging thoughts and emotions into a machine which can ‘deliver’ rain. Bengaluru-based neuroscientist Sai Krishna conceptualized the project which is a direct physical representation of a complex networking in the brain, depicting thoughts as rain drops, and memory as a tank of water.
Meena Vari also elaborated on a game experience developed by Yadu Rajiv, Vinod K Adharapurapu, where the music plays when anyone drop in. It is a game without an end or a beginning; a play engineered to be organic and continuously growing. Discussion was also held in solving the urban issues. The technology suggests collaborating with experts,  government, academic institutions and  NGOs,  projects could be implemented through collective problem solving.
The first leg of the conference is being held at Mumbai from Jan 12-15 th , 2017. The Kochi event was hosted by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM),Vigyan Ashram and Research Innovation Incubation Design Labs (RiiDL) which focused on digital fabrication and international collaboration.
Panel discussions were held on “Art, Design and Digital Fabrication”, “Revamping education by integrating digital fabrication” and “Creating Sustainable Cities”. The conference also deliberated on developing the startup ecosystem in the state. The event provided a platform for students and s
artups to interact and collaborate with makers from across the world.
The effort to bring together technology and art is aimed at promoting design thinking, in the state. It is expected that it will help technologists design better products that will make life easier.
Artists and technologists have different viewpoints and ways of working and the collaboration helped to get an understanding of the aesthetics involved in design. The conference concluded on Wednesday.