Press kit 20/03/2015 - Mobile World Capital Barcelona

Mobile World Centre
Exhibition
Connected Beings
2 March – 30 June
Connected Beings, or How Technology Makes Us
Better
Connected Beings is the Mobile World Centre's new thematic series centring
on connected life and the value of shared information. The event, curated by
Mobile World Capital Barcelona, exposes citizens to a vision of a connected
world and shows them how technology is already a tool capable of positively
impacting our lives and surroundings.
Through a permanent exhibition of interactive installations and a parallel
programme of activities, Connected Beings invites you to reflect on technology
as an element transforming our social model and shows how in today's society
it is increasingly adapted to meet the needs of people and communities. This
new situation empowers the individual, allowing him to create and construct
new communities, form part of participative processes, and share his
knowledge. In this way people become the co-creators and protagonists of this
major evolution and, thanks to connectivity, the transformation of the private,
public, social and digital spheres is placed in his hands.
Connected Beings is a free exhibit for the general public that may be visited
until the end of June.
Six interactive installations
Connected Beings features a central exhibition made up of six installations
that immerse the visitor in the field of technological transformation:
1. Connecting the Dots (Xavi Tribó – Glassworks Barcelona): A
visual installation that illustrates the conveyance of digital information
and connectivity's complex structure. The installation dissects, and
represents – in a magnified way – the actions in which digital
elements get ready to make a singular machine-to-machine journey,
actions that are repeated trillions of times each day between
connected devices all over the planet. This work represents the data
life cycle: from their gestation to their compression and final
transmission.
2. Iotorama (Alpha Ville): An interactive web-based application that
demonstrates, in an entertaining way, what the Internet of Things is,
and questions how we are designing the world of tomorrow. Through
six screens and a web-based experiment the visitor explores a
system of geometric shapes that orbit around the screen, constantly
evolving. The objects (represented by circles) can be connected to
data sources (triangles) and with the function for which they were
designed (squares). The aim is for visitors, by touching and playing
with these objects, to understand the key areas of the Internet of
Things and discover how to improve people's lives by combining data
and technology.
Through videos and documentaries, the visitor discovers the
cornerstones of IoT (people, process, data and things) and the key
areas in which it is applied, like urban and natural environment,
houses, mind and body, social life, culture and creation, among
others.
3. Connected materials (The Curious Link – Institut de Ciència de
Materials de Barcelona (CSIC) – La Salle Campus BarcelonaUniversitat Ramon Llull): A multi-part installation that puts together
design and technology and shows how the individual can create thank to connectivity- an environment in which everyday objects
interact with people:
a. The Sounds of the City: By touching the different parts of a
map of Barcelona the visitor experiences the sounds of
different areas around the city. The sign is printed using
conductive ink, which makes it possible to design electrical
circuits on paper. An electrical current with millions of electrons
passes through the ink. The resistance the ink offers to the
passage of these electrons changes when it is felt, thereby
yielding direct interaction between image and sound, activated
when one touches the sign's surface.
b. Music in the Air: This installation allows you to create music
with a multicoloured harp by placing your hands near the
surface. The instrument features nanosensors developed at
the Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, employing
nanotechnology techniques to detect variations between the
ambient temperature and your hand, thereby activating
different sounds.
c. Colour-Changing Curtain (Sensingtex): A luminescent
curtain designed with a fibre optic fabric lit up with an LED light
source. By means of an application for tablets or smartphones
the visitor can modify the colour of the curtain, transforming the
room's lighting atmosphere.
4. Connected City (Invenio, Learn by doing): a 2 x 4-metre interactive
model of Barcelona built out of LEGO blocks. The installation includes
some of Barcelona's most representative buildings, constructed
exclusively for Connected Beings.
The Connected City features connectivity and acoustic and power
consumption sensors characteristic of a smart city. The installation
shows how technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) improve urban
services and the quality of life for the inhabitants of any city. With
more than half of the world's population living in urban centres, cities
must become places that improve quality of life for their people and
communities.
This interactive model also offers information, in real time, on services
like transport, when waste receptacles need to be emptied, available
parking spaces, and more.
5. Jardí.net (The Curious Link/The Green Effect/City of Barcelona):
An installation designed and produced ad hoc for Connected Beings
featuring an indoor garden equipped with sensors and devices that
allow the plants to live and grow autonomously. Through Arduino
boards - a free hardware platform - connected to terrariums, the
humidity and light levels necessary to sustain the plants are detected.
Thanks to applied mobile technology, the water and light settings for
their maintenance can be efficiently adjusted. The structure was
designed by The Curious Link, the natural installation was made by
The Green Effect and its technological side was the work of the IMI
(City of Barcelona).
The installation is inspired by the Smart Hort project, implemented by
the City of Barcelona at the Escola Rel (school), with the intention to
extend it to other schools in the city.
6. Facing Connectivity (HerraizSoto & Co): An installation formed by
the interactive busts of three visionaries –Genís Roca, CEO and cofounder of the RocaSalvatella consulting company, Josep Perelló,
Doctor of Physics and Adjunct Professor at the Department of
Fundamental Physics of the University of Barcelona and Nuria Oliver,
scientific director of Telefónica R+D- and a girl –represented by
Ariadna Mascort and Rojina Maymi, secondary school students at the
Escola Virolai in Barcelona-. All of them share with visitors their ideas
of an interconnected and ultraconnected world, along with their
theories on the impact that IoT and connectivity will have on the
future of people and cities.
The “presence” of these specialists is possible thanks to the recording
of their faces and subsequent projection on the busts. At the end of
the route the visitor can tape himself and create his own bust.
Each bust is complemented with and artistic interpretation that
represents visually the message given by the three visionaries and
the girl. Specifically:
- Poliedro Cloud, Lo Siento (2015) -Genís Roca- Caroussel, daq + Desilence (2015) - Ariadna Mascort and Rojina
Maymi- La ciutat transparent, Clara Nubiola (2015) –Josep Perelló- Waves, Pablo Barquín and Anna Diaz Ortuño -Nuria Oliver-
Parallel programming
Connected Beings offers a line-up of parallel activities for all ages. All the
workshops encourage interaction with different technologies and allow people
to experience the IoT's potential first hand.
“The Lost Treasure”
Organised in collaboration with Invenio (Learn by doing)
“The Lost Treasure” is a 1 hour
family workshop centring on the
interaction between people and
cities.
Each session presents participants
with a challenge: getting a treasure
on a game board. The attendees
must work as a team to do this by
creating and programming their own
robot, with motors and sensors.
The
workshop
promotes
the
development
of
communication
skills, teamwork, problem-solving,
creativity, information technologies, and innovation.
“The Lost Treasure” will be held at the Mobile World Centre on the Saturdays of
25 April, 16 and 23 May and every day three different sessions – 12h, 16h and
17.30h- will take place.
Must be at least 7 years old.
“Jardi.net Connects Your Plants”
Organised in collaboration with the Institut Municipal d’Informàtica- Habitat Urbà
and la Direcció d’Innovació, Societat del Coneixement i Arquitectures TIC
Jardi.net Connects Your Plants is an activity to learn the basic principles to
program a system in order to construct a connected garden using Arduino. This
workshop's goal is to teach participants to integrate this technology into urban
gardens and orchards so as to optimise resources and energy (water, light, etc.)
based on plants' needs.
This activity will be held at the Mobile World Centre on 24 April, 15 May and 12
June - three sessions per day and it is aimed at amateur horticulture and
technology people.
Mobile World Centre
Mobile World Centre is a public/private initiative created by Mobile World
Capital Barcelona (MWCB) and Telefónica to educate citizens about the
potential of mobile telephone technologies and the Internet. It is a forum for
people to discover how mobile transformation has revolutionized
communication channels, the management of our day-to-day lives, and the
social and business spheres.
The Centre is open to citizens, features a permanent exhibition space, and
offers a line-up of activities related to current events and projects focused on
the social, cultural, technological and economic transformation driven by mobile
technology. The Centre is also a source of information and publicity for other
Mobile World Capital Barcelona initiatives.
The ground floor of the Mobile World Centre is Movistar's flagship store in
Barcelona. The first floor houses the interactive exhibition on the world of
mobile technology, organised by Mobile World Capital Barcelona - Connected
Beings (March-June 2015). On the second floor the auditorium is an on-going
venue for events, talks and presentations related to the sector.
Located in the centre of Barcelona - c/ Fontanella, 2, on the corner with Portal
de l' Angel - the Mobile World Centre is open to visitors, free of charge, from
Monday to Saturday, non-stop from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm.
Mobile World Capital Barcelona
Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCB) aims to promote the use of mobile
technology to improve citizens' quality of life and create a new industrial
model based on entrepreneurship and innovation.
It also seeks to create the optimal conditions so that companies and the agents
carry out this transformation in a way that it has an impact on the area. It is a
tool that should serve as an engine driving the development and
internationalization of the business ecosystems in Barcelona, Catalonia and
Spain.
MWCB actively promotes the use of mobile technology to improve citizens'
quality of life and to promote a new economic model based on innovation and
digital and mobile entrepreneurship. To this end it supports transformation in
strategic sectors for corporate, industrial and citizen development through four
programmes:
 Entrepreneurship and Innovation
 mHealth
 mSchools
 Smart Living (retail and tourism)
MWCB also boasts the Mobile World Centre, a landmark facility for the different
communities and citizen-based initiatives related to mobile technology.
CONNECTED BEINGS
How tech makes us better
Project director and Content Curator:
Pep Salazar
Coordination and Content Curator Support:
Cira Pérez
Graphic Design:
TBWA
Translations:
Debbie Smirthwaite
Maria Riera
Powered by:
In cooperation with:
INSTALLATIONS:
CONNECTING THE DOTS, (2015)
Author:
Xavi Tribó, Xavi’s Lab - Glassworks
Barcelona
Concept Development:
Xavi Tribó and Marcos da Gama
Graphic Design:
Javier Verdugo
Production:
Martí Domínguez and Clàudia
Barbal
Technological Development:
Xavi Tribó and Modest Rodríguez
IOTORAMA, (2015)
Conceptualisation:
Alpha-ville
Creative Direction and
Production:
Alpha-ville (Estela Oliva and
Carmen Salas)
Disseny creatiu:
Jonas Eltes
Technological Development and
Coding:
Fluuuid (Silvio Paganini and William
Mapan)
Sound Design:
Giganta
Technical Support:
Miguel Gozalbo
CONNECTED MATERIALS
THE SOUNDS OF THE CITY, (2015) / MUSIC ON THE AIR, (2015) / CURTAIN
OF COLOURS, (2015)
Conceptualisation:
The Curious Link (Sílvia Escursell
and Pol Pascual)
Technological Development:
Seamless Interaction Team,
Research Group on Media
Technologies at La Salle Campus
Barcelona, Universitat Ramon Llull:
David Miralles, principal researcher
Marc Antonijoan, researcher
Maria Villuendas, Bachelor's
degree in Multimedia Engineering
student
Marc Dabad, Master in Multimedia
Creation student
Maria Alejandra García Corretjer,
PhD student
Institute of Materials Science of
Barcelona (ICMAB), Consejo
Superior de Investigaciones
Científicas:
Jaume Veciana, principal
researcher
Victor Lebedev, researcher
Vladimir Laukhin, researcher
Cesar Diez, project manager
Curtain Design and Production:
Sensing.tex
CIUTAT CONNECTADA, (2015)
Conceptualisation, Design and
Production:
Invenio (Learn by doing)
Ricard Huguet, Mercè Cepeda,
Oliver Martinez, Esteve Farrés,
Eudald Carré, Miki Villanueva,
Berta Martín, Irene Recio, David
Rovira and Josep Esteban.
JARDI.NET, (2015)
Structure Design:
The Curious Link (Sílvia Escursell
and Pol Pascual)
Plants Design:
Green Effect Paisatgistes (Anna
Terricabras and Asier Ibero)
Informatics Development:
Eduard Martín, Xavier Pi and José
Luis Rubiés.
Institut Municipal d’InformàticaHabitat Urbà.
Direcció d’Innovació, Societat del
Coneixement i Arquitectures TIC.
FACING CONNECTIVITY, (2015)
Conceptualisation:
Herraiz Soto & Co
Design and Technical
Development:
Desilence
Interviews:
Dani Arguimbau (periodista)
Genís Roca, CEO and cofounder of the
RocaSalvatella consulting
company.
Ariadna Mascort,
secondary school students
at the Escola Virolai
(Barcelona)
Rojina Maymi, secondary
school students at the
Escola Virolai (Barcelona)
Josep Perelló, Doctor of
Physics specialising in
Citizen Ciences
Núria Oliver, scientific
director of Telefónica R+D
Artistic Installations:
Waves, (2015)
Pablo Barquín and Anna
Diaz Ortuño
La Ciutat Transparent,
(2015)
Clara Nubiola
Caroussel, (2015)
daq and Desilence
Poliedro Cloud, (2015)
Lo Siento