One in six Americans has a smart speaker in their home. The Dutch version of Google Home will enter Dutch households at the end of this year. In addition, more and more ordinary household devices (your vacuum cleaner, fridge, thermostat) are becoming ‘smart’. These devices make life easier, but they also simultaneously record, exchange and send all our data to large companies. Do these devices simply carry out our wishes, or do they also have an influence on our behaviour, relationships and identities? And: what role can they play in stories?
VPRO Medialab has researched these questions over the past year. The result is a special multimedia project, Home Smart Home, that will be launched during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. It consists of the following components:
Home Smart Home
How will smart devices impact our lives?
What is the influence of smart home devices on our personal lives? VPRO Medialab launches the multimedia project Home Smart Home during Dutch Design Week 2018 in Eindhoven.
about home smart home
Home Smart Home shorts: three short films MAYA, RITA and ALEX
VPRO Medialab wants to make the possible consequences of living with smart devices palpable for the wider public. It therefore asked young filmmakers to visualise possible scenarios in three short films.
MAYA (Nils and Anouk Vleugels)
Tom’s digital assistant knows before he does that his girlfriend is going to dump him. She starts taking measures to ease the blow, but do they help or work against him?
RITA (Elly Scheele and Ivo van Aart)
Refugee Amina learns to speak Dutch using her RITA device, which improves her language and pronunciation, but Amina rebels when it becomes apparent that it not only influences her language but also her way of thinking and her life.
ALEX (Levi Verspeek and Roman Strijbos)
In the 1970s, Peter receives the first primitive version of the home assistant ALEX. ALEX keeps a close eye on his boss and sends on data without him knowing. When something serious happens to Peter, the ALEX is faced with a moral dilemma?
Home Smart Home Experience: interactive audio experience ELLIS
The individual, interactive audio experience ELLIS takes you into a world where care has to be earned. In the role of a SomeBuddy volunteer, you can get to know Ellis, who is in the early stages of dementia, and who is able to continue living independently thanks to the use of smart devices at home. But can an automated system really deliver care? How essential is human contact for a high quality of life in our old age? ELLIS is a VPRO Medialab production in collaboration with theatre maker Daan Colijn and oneseconds collective.
ELLIS is an individual experience. There is space for just 6 people per hour.
Admission is free, but booking is required via vpro.nl/medialab.
20-28 October 2018, daily 11:00 - 17:30
Albert Van Abbehuis, Bilderdijklaan 19, Eindhoven
Home Smart Home Night: film and debate evening
The short films will be presented at the Home Smart Home Night during Dutch Design Week. This event will take place in the Effenaar, and after each film an expert will discuss the scenario sketched in the film: will this soon be possible, and it is even desirable? Themes covered during the Night are the trust in technology, the prejudices relating to smart devices and the option of being able to completely disconnect form the digital world. The experts and speakers are Wijnand IJsselsteijn (TUe), Elise Talgorn (Philips), columnist Hasna El Maroudi and philosopher Hans Schnitzler. Closing Alexa performance by Steye Hallema. Moderator: Veerle Devreese
Wednesday 24 October 2018, 19:30 – 22:00
Effenaar, Dommelstraat 2, Eindhoven
Tickets: €10,- via https://bit.ly/hshnight
Home Smart Home Exhibition: CONNECT and DISCONNECT
In collaboration with the Albert van Abbehuis, VPRO Medialab presents an exhibition about a life with or without smart devices. In the CONNECT room is a selection of the existing smart home devices. The public can also converse with a digital home assistant. In the DISCONNECT room we present works by several artists (including Sarah van Sonsbeeck and Robin Alysha Clemens) who explore the possibilities of protecting yourself against the omnipresent technology, or even escaping it altogether. Included in the exhibition are also three short Home Smart Home films: MAYA, ALEX and RITA. Admission free.
20-28 October 2018, daily 11:00 - 18:00
Albert Van Abbehuis, Bilderdijklaan 19, Eindhoven