31 March 2017

Japan Creative Centre (JCC)

The Japan Creative Centre (JCC), Embassy of Japan, is pleased to present ‘Playful times, playful computing’, a lecture on interactive media by Dr Yuichi Katsumoto. Humans have an innate desire to play. Since the dawn of history, humans have used their creativity to transform various things such as stones and computers, into objects of play. Dr Yuichiro Katsumoto is someone who delves further into this human activity. As a Japanese gadget creator based in Singapore, he has been constantly inventing new and current electronic toys since 2005. In this lecture, he will discuss more about his works and his design philosophy/methodology through videos and demonstrations. Be sure to join us at JCC for this intriguing talk.

About the Speaker

Dr Yuichiro Katsumoto received his PhD in Media and Governance from Keio University, and currently works for the Interactive and Digital Media Institute, National University of Singapore in R&D for digital devices. He was formerly a Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director of Design at Keio-NUS CUTE Center.

His early work, Amagatana (2006-2009), which was created by focusing on spare time in our daily lives, won the encouragement award at the 10th Japan Media Arts Festival Entertainment Division. It was also exhibited at FILE 2007 Games, Ars Electronica Festival 2007, ACM Multimedia 2007 Art Exhibition, ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 Art Gallery etc.

After moving to Singapore in 2010, he started a project “Phase Transition-ish Apparatus (PTA)” aimed at inventing various types of toys inspired by phase transition phenomena. Ninja Track (2011-2013) is a novel example, which is able to change its shape and flexibility. It won the excellence prize in the 15th Japan Media Arts Festival. The game called ReelBlade, which uses Ninja Track as a game controller, also won the best technological award in Sense of Wonder Night at the Tokyo Game Show in 2015.

In 2013, he started a new project, “Robot Anime Reversal”, and created Dancer-in-a-Box (2013-2015) and Mojigen & Sujigen (2016-).

Details of the Lecture

Date:

Friday, 31 March 2017

Time:

7:00pm - 8:30pm (Registration starts at 6:30pm)

Venue:

Japan Creative Centre (JCC), Embassy of Japan in Singapore
4 Nassim Road Singapore 258372

Admission:

FREE

Register for the Lecture

To register, please email the following details to jcc@sn.mofa.go.jp with the subject Playful things, playful computing:

1. Full Name
2. Number of persons (including yourself)
3. Organisation
4. Mobile Number

Please register early to avoid disappointment. We regret that as there is limited seating, seats will be confirmed only upon receipt of confirmation email from JCC. ALL EVENTS ARE FREE OF CHARGE.

Where is Japan Creative Centre (JCC)?

Is this your first time to Japan Creative Centre? Follow the map below to Japan Creative Centre now.

Getting to Japan Creative Centre
4 Nassim Road Singapore 258372
Tel: +65-6737-0434

By Public Bus:
Bus services: 7, 36, 77, 105, 106, 111, 123, 132, 174, 174E, 502, 502A, 502B (Alight in front of Delfi Orchard)
For latest information on bus routes and fares, please refer to SBS Transit.

By the MRT:
You may also take the MRT to the nearest MRT station, Orchard (NS22).
Train fares, travel times and route maps are available on the SMRT website.

Driving to JCC:
Nearest parking is at Orchard Hotel, Delfi Orchard and Orchard Parade Hotel.