News

• Visiting Professor, EAISI (Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute) at TU/e (Eindhoven University of Technology) (May 2024)
• Invited talk for the “Democratization of Soft Robotics through Embodied Intelligence” workshop, RoboSoft’24 (April 14 2024)
• Funding granted for the “Sonification to Increase Trust and UX in Human-Robot Interaction” project conducted in collaboration with ROPCA and Universal Robots by Danish Sound Cluster (Dec. 2023)
• Explorative Network Grant (DKK 792.000) awarded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark for the “Robot Touch” network which I will be leading (2024-2026) (Dec. 2023)
• Paper presentation and participation in virtual exhibition at re:SOURCE 2023 The 10th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology (Sept. 13-16 2023)
• Invited talk at “Sound in Robotics” webinar held by Danish Sound Cluster (May 23 2023)
• Paper presentation at ISEA’23 (May 17 2023)
• Interview and feature article on SDU’s webpage (April 28 2023)
• !brute_force: Soft Resilience (video) (Maja Smrekar & Jonas Jørgensen) is exhibited as part of the showcase exhibition of the Network of Art and Cultural Research Centers  Towards a Humane Technology at Cankarjev dom (Ljubljana, Slovenia). (April 24-May 4 2023)
• !brute_force: Soft Resilience (Maja Smrekar & Jonas Jørgensen) will be exhibited at Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU) (Zagreb) (April 4-30 2023)
• A couple of publications have recently come out: “Comparing How Soft Robotic Tentacles and an Equivalent Traditional Robot are Described” (HRI’23), “Frictional Anisotropic Locomotion and Adaptive Neural Control for a Soft Crawling Robot” (Soft Robotics journal), “Exploiting Friction Anisotropy for Soft Robot Locomotion” (CLAWAR’23)
• New webpage for our soft robotics lab: www.softrobotics.dk
• SONŌ (Mads Bering Christiansen & Jonas Jørgensen) will be exhibited at Digital Tech Summit and I will contribute a talk to the panel on “Sonic Interactions” (Oct. 25-26 2022)
• Our work !brute_force: Soft Resilience (Maja Smrekar & Jonas Jørgensen) will have its premiere at this year’s Ars Electronica Festival (Sept. 7-11 2022) and subsequently travel to IZIS Festival (Sept. 25 – Oct. 15 2022)
• SONŌ (Mads Bering Christiansen & Jonas Jørgensen) will be exhibited at Chronus Art Center as part of the “Biomedia” exhibition (Oct. 2022 – Feb. 2023)
• We won the best poster award at the HCII 2022 conference (June 26 2022)
• COLLIDING EPISTEMES: Art, Science, Anthropocenes will soon open at Cluj Cultural Centre (July 7 2022-) featuring !Cartesian Shell (2021) (Maja Smrekar & Jonas Jørgensen)
• Five new publications have come out:“Towards a Soft Science of Soft Robots: A Call for A Place for Aesthetics in Soft Robotics Research” (ACM THRI journal), “Signalling Emotions with a Breathing Soft Robot” & “WISARD: Weight Informing Soft Artificial Robotic Dermis” (RoboSoft’22), “Exploring the Interaction Kinesics of a Soft Social Robot” (HCII’22), “Inducing Changes in Breathing Patterns Using a Soft Robot”(HRI’22)
• Participating in exhibition COLLIDING EPISTEMES: Art, Science, Anthropocenes at BOZAR in collaboration with Maja Smrekar (May 6 – June 19 2022)
• Invited talk at Ars Electronica Futurelab (April 28 2022)
• Participating in exhibition COLLIDING EPISTEMES: Art, Science, Anthropocenes at Centre for Contemporary Art Laznia in collaboration with Maja Smrekar (Feb. 4 – April 3 2022)
• Invited talk at University of California Santa Barbara. By invitation from Marko Peljhan. (Jan. 24 2022)
• New journal article “The Sounds of Softness. Designing Sound for Human-Soft Robot Interaction” published in Frontiers in Robotics and AI (Oct. 12 2021)
•  !Cartesian Shell  (2021) with Maja Smkrekar is exhibited at this year’s Ars Electronica Festival (Sept. 8-12 2021)
• New elective course “Introduction to Soft Robotics” taught with colleagues from the Center for Soft Robotics, Ahmad Rafsanjani and Xiaofeng Xiong, has commenced (Sept. 1 2021)
• New journal article “Is a Soft Robot More “Natural”? Exploring the Perception of Soft Robotics in Human–Robot Interaction” published in International Journal of Social Robotics (Feb. 9 2021)
• Invited talk  “Soft Robot Aesthetics:Notes on Reshaping Soft Robotics into a Soft Science” at ENSAD lab (by invitation from Samuel Bianchini) (Jan. 12 2021)
• A couple of new publications have come out recently: “Soft Robotics and Posthuman Entities” (Journ. for Artistic Research), “TeMoG – an Accessible Tool for Creating Custom Soft Robotics Parts” (EAI ArtsIT 2020), and “Adaptive Neural CPG-Based Control for a Soft Robotic Tentacle” (ICONIP 2020) (Jan. 4, 2021)
• Participating in EU’s STUDIOTOPIA program in collaboration with Maja Smrekar and hosted by Ars Electronica Linz GmbH & Co KG
• My new course on “Robotic Art and Soft Robotics” at Univ. of Southern Denmark has started (Sept. 1 2020)
• I have become management committee member representing Denmark in the EU COST action CA18136 “European Forum for Advanced Practices”(May 29 2020)
• The anthology Shifting Interfaces: An Anthology of Presence, Empathy, and Agency in 21st-Century Media Arts edited by Hava Aldouby has just been published by Leuven University Press. I contributed the chapter “From Soft Sculpture to Soft Robotics: Retracing Entropic Aesthetics of the Life-like (May 29 2020)
• “Soft Robot Aesthetics” invited talk (virtual) at NYU Shanghai (April 29 2020) by invitation from assoc. prof. Stavros Didakis, Interactive Media Arts master program
• Late-breaking report, video, and workshop paper published at HRI 2020 (with Mads Bering and Susan Ploetz)
• I am giving a seminar talk on Soft Robot Aesthetics under the SDU Biorobotics Seminar series (Feb . 7 2020)
• Two of my soft robots are featured in the exhibition 来るべき世界：科学技術、AI と人間性 The Shape of Things to Come: Technology, AI and the Human」開催 (Tokyo, Japan) in collaboration with Susan Ploetz (Nov. 16- Dec. 15 2019)
• I have started as Assistant Professor at Univ. of Southern Denmark (Sept. 2019)
• I defended my PhD thesis “Constructing Soft Robot Aesthetics” at the IT University of Copenhagen on Friday June 21 2019 (Thesis committee: Kasper Støy, Petra Gemeinboeck, Matthew Fuller). The thesis is available here
• The Condition is being exhibited in a group show at Science Gallery Dublin, March 14 – June 2, 2019. Here is a short video interview we did about the work.
• The two instruction sets I contributed to the Soft Robotics Toolkit initiated by Harvard researchers are up: Parametric Tool to Generate 3D Printable Actuator Molds and Laser Cut Molds for PneuNet Bending Actuators
• The paper I presented at the Politics of the Machines conference earlier this year has been published in the proceedings (October, 2018)
• Teaching two-day workshop on soft robotics at Aalborg University’s “Art and Technology” bachelor program (September 20-21, 2018)
• Press coverage of our swimming robot that taught itself to swim on the webpage of the IT University of Copenhagen (August 15, 2018)
• Our video for “Evolution of Fin Undulation on a Physical Knifefish-inspired Soft Robot” is featured in the latest newsletter from the IEEE Technical Committee on Soft Robotics (June 13, 2018)
• Conducting a workshop on “Encountering and Enacting Soft Robots” at the Robot Art Forum at ICRA 2018 (May 24, 2018)
• Presenting a paper and chairing “Robots in Art”-track at Politics of the Machines – Art and After EVA-Copenhagen  (15-17 May 2018)
• Video for “Evolution of Fin Undulation on a Physical Knifefish-inspired Soft Robot” featured on IEEE Spectrum Robotics Video Friday  (April 27, 2018)
• Our paper “Evolution of Fin Undulation on a Physical Knifefish-inspired Soft Robot” has been accepted for GECCO ’18 (co-first-authored with Frank Veenstra under supervision by Sebastian Risi) (March 24, 2018) – check out the video
  
• The video I showed at HRI’18 was shortlisted among the top three and is featured in IEEE Spectrum Robotics Video Friday (March 10, 2018) and in the Newsletter of the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Soft Robotics
• “The Condition” (by Laura Beloff and I) has been recommended for the STARTS Prize 2018  (Grand prize of the European Commission honoring Innovation in Technology, Industry and Society stimulated by the Arts) by one of this year’s advisors (February, 2018)
• Presenting a Late-breaking report, video, and demo on human-soft robot interaction at the HRI’18 conference (March 5-8, 2018, Chicago)
• Exhibiting a joint robotic and artificial life installation and doing a public talk as part of the reseach residency Beyond Digital – Towards Biological at Chronus Art Center, Shanghai (December 20-21, 2017)
• Commenting on an electric-eel-inspired soft power source in an article on videnskab.dk (December 13, 2017)
• Peer reviewing for HRI’18 conference (December 2017)
• Paper presentation at RE:TRACE – 7th International Conference for Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology conference in Krems and Vienna (November 23, 2017
• Guest teaching lab on MSc course “How to Make (Almost) Anything”, IT Univ. of Copenhagen (Nov. 2, 2017)
• Showing some soft robots and doing interaction experiments with visitors at Kulturnat at the IT Univ. of Copenhagen on October 13, from 6PM to 11PM.
• Peer reviewing for Journal of Problem Based Learning in Higher Education (Oct. 2017)
• Guest lecture on MSc course “Creative Digital Practice”, IT Univ. of Copenhagen (Sep. 28, 2017)
• PhD chair of Politics of Machines – Art and After EVA 2018 Copenhagen together with David Kadish and Maja Bak Herrie
• Participating in collaborative project “Beyond Digital: Towards Biological” between SIVA (Shanghai Institute of Visual Art) and the IT Univ. of Copenhagen funded by The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation / International Network Program.
• Paper presentation at MOCO’17 conference at Goldsmiths Univ., London (June 30, 2017)
• Paper presentation at ISEA 2017 at Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia (May 20, 2017)
• Peer reviewing for MOCO’17 (April-May, 2017)
• Some interviews for the media (researcher profile series ITU News / Mød forskerne (ITU webpage and social media), AutomationsFokus (industry newsletter), PlastForum (industry newsletter))
• Exhibiting prototypes and speaking on soft robots at Vartovs Videnskab, Vartov, Copenhagen (April 21, 2017)
• Teaching lab part of MSc course “Artificial Life and Evolutionary Robotics” together with Alberto Rodriguez at the IT University of Copenhagen
• Lots of press on the Hybrid Matters exhibitions featuring Laura Beloff and I’s “The Condition” – here’s a selection:
  • WeMakeMoneyNotArt #1
  • WeMakeMoneyNotArt #2
  • Kunsten.nu
  • Copenhagen Post
  • Radio24syv
  • Weekendavisen
  • VINK
  • idoart.dk
  • Helsingin Sanomat
  • Luonto ei ole enää entisensä Taide biologian ja teknologian leikkauspisteessä
• Exhibiting the artwork “The Condition” made together with Laura Beloff at the Hybrid Matters exhibition in Forum Box, Helsinki (November 25 – December 18, 2016)
• Recipient of grant “Christian og Ottilia Brorsons Rejselegat for yngre videnskabsmænd og -kvinder”, November 2016
• Chair of panel on “Hybrid Growth” at Hybrid Matters Symposium, Helsinki, Finland (November 25, 2016)
• Visiting PhD student at Centre for Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths Univ., London (hosted by: Matthew Fuller) (November 1-30, 2016)
• Co-organizer of panel on “Hybrid Growth” with Erich Berger, Laura Beloff, Christian Ravn Brems at Hybrid Matters closing symposium (November 24-25, 2016).
• Conducting workshop with Frank Veenstra on soft robotics at Pixelache Festival, Helsinki (September 24-25, 2016)
• Exhibiting the artwork “The Condition” made together with Laura Beloff at the Hybrid Matters exhibition in Nikolaj Kunsthal, Norway (May 20 – July 31, 2016)
• Paper presentation at ISEA 2016, Hong Kong (May 20, 2016)
• Exhibiting the artwork “The Condition” made together with Laura Beloff at the Hybrid Matters exhibition in Kunsthall Grenland, Norway (March 19 – May 7, 2016)
• Paper presentation at Aesthetics, Ethics and Biopolitics of the Posthuman conference, Århus Univ., Denmark (December 10, 2015)